On the half hour-long bonus disc, you get rarities like a laugh-filled live acoustic version of “Heart Attack Man,” b-sides that should’ve been album cuts like the killer telephone signal-looped “Resolution Time” and “Dope Little Song.” And if they could have cleaned up the rough production of the rockin’ punk of “Mullet Head,” which features one of the first known uses of the term “mullet,” it too would’ve been a solid album track for this or any Beasties era.
There’s amusing but non-essential filler too, including “Atwater Basketball Association File No. 172-C,” which is just audio of the Boys playing an intense game of b-ball, a favorite pastime of theirs. But flaws like this are few and far between on this release.
Ill Communication was then, as it is now, a record full of the cool, crossover and kickass hip-hop you’ve come to expect from the NYC trio.
As a re-issued set with a bonus disc of rare mixes and some golden b-sides, this essential collection of 32 tracks has even more gems now than you bargained for. All told, this LP was the Beasties’ third instant classic in three tries and listening to it all over again without hitting the skip button once only confirms that it was and still is one of the top hip-hop records of the 1990s. ![]()
To get more info on the remastered Ill Communication, stream all 32 remastered tracks and download the Beasties’ recent audio commentary on the making of the album, visit this link.







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