Mike D, MCA and AD Rock still have much to offer those who like their rap with more than a large dollop of irony and irreverence.  Full text...

Ho, ly, shit. This record kicks ass.   Full text...

This greatest hits album is a party mix of familiar favorites ready to go.  Full text...

But any release that includes Fight for Your Right, the evergreen paean to teenage existentialism, Sabotage, a theme song in search of a cop show, and Shake Your Rump, perhaps the funkiest piece of sampling kleptomania ever conceived, cannot be all bad.  Full text...

Solid Gold Hits spans eighteen full years of musical chaos, during which the three skinny white boys from New York matured from macho party dudes into right-on hipster kings.  Full text...

For the novice, this is a quaint introduction, but one that fails to recognize the congealing brilliance of the Beastie canon.  Full text...

Solid Gold Hits does exactly what it says on the tin - all the hit singles over the last 20 years are present and correct, and while the album may not be an in-depth exploration of the Beasties' career (try the anthology The Sounds Of Science for that), it demonstrates exactly why the 'joke rappers' tag that was bestowed on them early in their career was so woefully incorrect.  Full text...

The album was assembled for the newest generation of fan or just the casual listener who wants to hear the "frozen metal and lead guitar" by Slayer guitarist Kerry King on 'No Sleep to Brooklyn' (besides the singles from To the 5 Boroughs, the only song on Solid Gold not to be found on Sounds of Science).   Full text...

The Beastie Boys at this point are the kind of band that other people sound like.  Full text...

The Beastie Boys will be remembered for their throwaway pop numbers, not their brainy funk, not their clumsy politics or their high-profile spirituality. For all the gray hairs, spiritual discovery and attempts to distance themselves from their roots, the Boys will always just be boys at heart.  Full text...