The optional 50-minute-long P.B. audio commentary you can download from the Beastie Boys website as an mp3 is very revealing, as the trio goes through what they remember about the recording process of all 23 songs. Here, the aforementioned E.Z. Mike is much heralded by the Boys for his work on the record, along with Matt Dike and other behind-the-scenes people who helped shape it.
Among many facts (too many to mention here), you learn from the commentary that “Egg Man” was partly inspired by these young rappers’ history of throwing eggs at people, and that what they call the “crazy retarded scratch” in the middle of “The Sounds of Science” was based on a vinyl record that kept skipping on E.Z. Mike. It sounded so humorous to the Beasties that it was included on the record. Also, this essential P.B. track included samples of a few Beatles tracks. Indeed, the Dust Brothers brilliantly mixed in samples of “Sgt. Peppers,” “The End,” and “Back In The U.S.S.R.” while the Beasties gang-rapped all over them.
In addition to being remastered, this seminal record was also resequenced. “B-Boy Bouillabaisse” was originally a bunch of short recordings grouped as a suite for the 15th and final track. For the 20th anniversary edition, it was separated into 9 separate tracks, giving the album 23 in total, with track 19, the bass-booming “Hello Brooklyn” being its explosive highlight. What a relief it is to not have constantly press the REW/FWD buttons on your CD player (or cassette tape deck for those of you who had one of those back in the day) anymore to hear your favorite tracks from this formerly 12-minute suite.
And with that, arguably the strongest Beastie Boys record from start to finish just got even better. Thus, the 20th anniversary edition of Paul’s Boutique deserves and has truly earned my first-ever perfect rating.
![Hello Nasty [Explicit]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51e3ZR-u8-L._SL120_.jpg)
![Solid Gold Hits [Explicit]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61UbELFv2SL._SL120_.jpg)
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Then and now, an absolute landmark recording.
-Glen
2 - charlie
I totally agree, Glen (hence the perfect rating, which as you may have noticed I don't give out easily). You'll never see one like this again - with 100+ songs brilliantly sampled and mixed in with one another - because of that Biz Markie lawsuit on sampling rights.
What I love about PB now, especially after doing the background research for this article and looking at the list of all 105 songs sampled via "Paul's Boutique's" Wikipedia page is listening for and recognizing many of those samples. Sometimes it takes 3 to 30 listens to catch some of them (like Pink Floyd's "One of These Days" sample on "Johnny Ryall," for instance), but it's never a dull endeavor because the songs are so good.
Plus, looking at that list in Wikipedia, you can discover some great songs from those samples you never heard before ("It's Hot Tonight" by Alice Cooper, for example). Simply put, PB is just one of those rare albums you can enjoy long after you're done spinning it.
Here's the Wikipedia page for "Paul's Boutique".
3 - Andre
This still resides in the top 2 of more than 110 albums I have reviewed thus far on my blog. It is a true classic, and does not feel dated in the slightest.