The judgement that came in the last days of 1991 against Biz Markie and the criminal abuse he had made of the samples, destabilized hip-hop forever and forced the producers to renew themselves. If life didn't changed that much for those who never knew what a sample was, what it was for and how to use it, like Just-Ice, for many top mainstream rap groups, the exact opposite happened and their career ended, as in the case of Public Enemy.
And as in the case of the Beastie Boys, here on their third studio album, three years after the critically acclaimed "Paul's Boutique", which still falls short in the number of copies sold. Forced by the exorbitant requests from the holders of the samples, in most cases the producers are divided between significantly decreasing the number of samples present in the individual cuts, replacing them with some scratches, some choristers and some more guests, and the interpolation of the sample, which consists in remaking the sample with your own instrumentalists.
The Beastie Boys noticeably reduce the gap between samples and at the same time provide their own rhythms by playing the instruments as at the beginning of their career, helped by the production of Mario Caldato Jr: Adam Horovitz on guitar, Adam Yauch on bass, Michael Diamond on drums, with the addition of James Bradley Jr to percussion and especially the multi-instrumentalist Mark Ramos Nishita, who deals with keyboards, organ, electronic piano and clarinet. Biz Markie, friend of the Beasties, is the unique guest of the whole LP, in a short skit.
From a commercial standpoint, the album does no worse than the previous one, but it doesn't do better either, curiously. Of these 20 tracks in 53 minutes, five singles are extracted: only "So What'Cha Want" can barely rank at home, "Pass the Mic" and "Jimmy James" rank in the UK, their songs are stronger in the dance charts than on the rap charts. The band changes its sound, going back to basics and finding a particularly funky production, with decent samples, discreet rhythms and raw instruments, but nothing exceptional.
The lyricism doesn't improve, but the trio wasn't asked for this, they were simply asked to continue entertaining, however even the rapping style doesn't improve, indeed, it's inferior to their previous efforts. Here they venture a simple, quick and effortless delivery, often shouted, which doesn't work, they sound dull and bland. In the first part, the group compresses four of their five singles into the first seven tracks: "So What'Cha Want", first single and song number seven, is easily the best one, with minimal hip-hop rhythm, hard boom bap with jazzy vibes, decent bridge hook and youthful rapping.
The rest leaves something to be desired, most of the cuts have discreet beats, but "Gratitude", one of the other singles, doesn't: good punk rock production, ridiculously low pop delivery. They try the "Run This Way" hit in a piece that Esham would surely have turned into a classic, while these guys don't seem capable, so much so that the first instrumental "Lighten Up" is one of the best tracks. In the second part the record collapses: they mix hardcore productions and light instrumental choices, not knowing what to do in the latest section. The latest single from this effort, "Professor Booty", is rightfully ignored by the public and features a sexual insert that is as casual as the whole record.
Released by Grand Royal and Capitol, the album is warmly welcomed by music critics that celebrate it as a new classic LP by the group, kissed even by retrospective. Promoted by six singles among which only "So What'cha Want" manages to break into the Hot 100, the album peaks #10 on the Billboard 200, being certified platinum in Canada in 1995 and double platinum in US in 1998.
It's not a sophomore, but it sounds like a sophomore and it looks like a sophomore. Coming after a classic is never easy, but the whole record sounds like a weak and average project: the lyrics are stripped of their intelligence, liveliness and jovial irony, at best they're decent, and the sound is a noisy mix of different genres, the music changes markedly track after track and is never cohesive, the trio takes the time to make party songs, jazzy, ballad, reggae, funky, punk rock, chill out, skits, instrumental tracks, all one after the other. The end result is a bloated, erratic, and inconsistent product: there's a lot of mediocre material and several weak moments caused by random tracks put in a random sequence with random lyrics and random sounds. The album is experimental, obviously confusing and overall, mediocre, very disappointing and forgettable, they seem like a mundane and lean version of Run-DMC. Not recommended.
Rating: 6/10.
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