Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

Tuesday. Boom. As I think most of you know by now, sometimes Techno Tuesday can be just a straight up electronic sound, versus true dance music. I'm okay with that, hopefully you guys are too. Today, it's this funky, electronic record by an old favorite - The Beastie Boys. Who doesn't own at least one Beastie record? They seem to be "one of those bands" that everybody likes, but nobody seems to love. Anyway, this record actually came out last week. You probably didn't know, but this album was nearly two years in the making. They talked about dropping it in 2009 - and calling it Tadlock's Glasses. And there is a story behind that name, but who cares - it didn't make the cut. They announced on Jimmy Fallon's show in May of '09 that it changed to Hot Sauce Committee, and it was due out soon. Then MCA was struck with cancer in his lymph nodes. That pretty much put a halt to all things Beastie. So Part One is on a permanent hiatus, and part 2 came out last week. There have been a ton of confusing statements by the Beasties, leaving fans scratching their heads. Whatever this is, it could be Part One, Part 2 or mixes of both, it's the only new thing you're going to hear from them for a while. Basically this album is a hodgepodge of sampling and experimental work with random sounds. And honestly, it's probably the most refreshing Beastie's record since 'Hello Nasty'. I've only gone through this once so far, but it's going to be on my list of things to continue with. It honestly is rocking my socks off pretty hard this morning. Just a different record, which is nice.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Make Some Noise
2. Nonstop Disco Powerpack
3. OK
4. Too Many Rappers
5. Say It
6. Bill Harper Collection, The
7. Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win
8. Long Burn the Fire
9. Funky Donkey
10. Larry Routine, The
11. Tadlock's Glasses
12. Lee Majors Come Again
13. Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament
14. Here's a Little Something for Ya
15. Crazy Ass Shit
16. Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine, The

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Too Many Rappers
2. Make Some Noise
3. The Larry Routine

FINAL RATING:
4.25 out of 5 stars

Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill

Man do I love when I get to hip/hop day. As all of my devotees know, I probably listen to rap overall more than any other genre. When I finally get to that review, I'm like a kid in the candy store. I strum through my collection trying to decide which gem to drop on the B Side world! Seems like many of you aren't big on rap, so I seriously hope you give some of these albums a chance. Most of them I think you'll enjoy - even if you generally hate rap. Beasties are probably the easiest rap to listen to. Most of the major issues folks have with hip/hop - the lyrical content, inability to understand lyrics, crude remarks about women and the idea of promoting killing - Beastie Boys have none of that stuff. I can't immediately come up with a song I remember them cursing in, and they usually talk about "fun" stuff as opposed to other artists out there. Personally I have no problems with an artist expressing themselves to the fullest - and I feel the Beasties do that without having to talk about anything rough. This is far and away my favorite record by them, and has a lot of songs that many of you would recognize. You watch these guy perform or even on some of the videos, and they look like such nerds from your local high school - but they survived over two decades in the rap game. They garnered a ton of respect from current artists and even paved the way for a guy like Eminem to drop onto the scene. You HAVE TO check this one out today. No question your hump day will be over in what seems like an hour if you toss this on!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Rhymin & Stealin
2. New Style, The
3. She's Crafty
4. Posse in Effect
5. Slow Ride
6. Girls
7. Fight for Your Right
8. No Sleep Till Brooklyn
9. Paul Revere
10. Hold It Now, Hit It
11. Brass Monkey
12. Slow and Low
13. Time to Get Ill

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Brass Monkey
2. No Sleep Till Brooklyn
3. Paul Revere

FINAL RATING:
4.25 out of 5 stars