The Sounds Of Science

Since emerging as a hard-core group from New York City's Lower East Side in 1980, the Beastie Boys have explored the worlds of rap, funk, and punk while simultaneously managing to influence music and society on a grander scale. SOUNDS OF SCIENCE documents all of the band's innovative turns on a beautifully packaged 2-CD set complete with a 77-page booklet brimming over with track-by-track commentary.
The care taken in documenting the band's activity up through 1999 is impressive. It's all here, including early punk sides ("Beastie Boys" and "Egg Raid on Mojo", featuring then-member Kate Schellenbach, later of Luscious Jackson), early marriages of rock riffs and hip-hop ("She's on It"), and the frat-goon success of LICENSED TO ILL ("Fight For Your Right", "Brass Monkey"). Also included is the unpredictable trio's groundbreaking work with the Dust Brothers on such mind-blowing sound collages as "Shake Your Rump" and "Shadrach" (presaging Beck by seven years). Even after the boys returned to playing instruments, the results bounced between fat-back instrumentals ("Sabrosa") and hard-rocking masterpieces ("Sabotage"). Throughout the '90s, hip-hop was never far away, whether it was with sci-fi bombs ("Intergalactic") or collaborations with like-minded rap visionaries like Q-Tip ("Get It Together").|