CD Review: The Beastie Boys - Solid Gold Hits

The first thing you need to know about this new Beastie Boys compilation is that it's a “greatest hits” album, not a definitive collection. This means that the most popular songs are squeezed onto a single disc. This is great for the casual listener, but a disappointment for the hardcore fan that is looking for rare tracks or a complete overview of the Beastie's career.

The Beastie Boys started as a hardcore punk outfit in New York City. It was producer Rick Rubin who convinced the Beastie Boys to change gears and become a rap act. Rubin certainly has the magic touch and also co-wrote most of the songs on the first Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill, which was released in 1986 and became the first rap album to hit #1 on the Billboard album chart and was the best selling rap album of the 80’s. It’s a classic and influential work no matter which way you look at it. Unfortunately, Solid Gold Hits only contains three tracks from this groundbreaking record. Brass Monkey, No Sleep To Brooklyn and Fight For Your Right all appear. These are important tracks and the most popular from Licensed to Ill, but the exclusion of personal favorites like Rhymin’ and Stealin’, She’s Crafty, Paul Revere and Slow and Low is disappointing. You can’t really lay blame for the omissions, because you simply cannot fit all the Beastie tracks that are deserving of a gold star on one disc.

There are no tracks included from the first three Beastie Boys EPs Pollywog Stew, Cooky Puss or Rock Hard. Serious fans would give their left walnut for the inclusion of the first Rick Rubin produced single Rock Hard, which was also the second release for the legendary Def Jam label. If you have a copy of that record it’s worth a pretty penny. The definitive Beastie box set The Sounds of Science was rumored to have included the song, but AC/DC refused to release rights for the Hells Bells sample used. It’s not here either, nor did I expect it to be.

In 1989, the band released their second full-length effort Paul’s Boutique, this time produced by the Dust Brothers. It was the first release with the mighty Capitol Records who snatched the trio up because; well… they were moving shit loads of product. Although this album did not reach the same level of success as the debut, it is considered by many a stuffy music historian to be the band’s best and most important work. VH1 selected Paul's Boutique as the 74th greatest album of all time and Rolling Stone declared it the ”Pet Sounds/Dark Side of the Moon of hip hop”. Only two tracks from Paul’s Boutique are included on Solid Gold Hits; Hey Ladies and Shake Your Rump.

Article Author: Robert Burke

Robert Burke spends much of his time lovingly crafting thematic music playlists for the Rhapsody Radish and the Yahoo Radish.

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