NEW YORK (Powerhouse Books) - From 1982's Pollywog Stew to 1998's Hello Nasty and this summer's forthcoming To The Five Boroughs,
Beastie Boys have pushed the boundaries of Hip Hop in six albums and countless EPs and B-sides.
Beastie Boys have pushed, bent, and molded the boundaries of music and pop culture worldwide. Starting out as a Punk band from New York City, they mutated into the first Hip Hop act to hit number one on the pop charts, and then went back to live instrumentation, while always drawing on a wide array of musical sources from Funk to Hardcore, from Hip Hop to Afro-Cuban Jazz.
Compiled by the band and art directed by Adam Yauch (aka MCA), Beastie Boys Anthology takes you on a ride through the lives of the three MCs: MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D as they tell the tales and set the stage for the creation of classics such as Brass Monkey, Fight for Your Right (to Party), Shake Your Rump, Hey Ladies, Pass the Mic, Jimmy James, So What'cha Want, Benny and the Jets (with Biz Markie), Sure Shot, Sabotage, Intergalactic, and Body Movin', in their own words. The anthology also includes two CDs with their greatest hits and B-sides, making this ultimate Beastie Boys collectors item.
With photographs taken by Ari Marcopoulos (Pass the Mic: Beastie Boys 1991-1996, powerHouse Books, 2001), Ricky Powell, Glen E. Friedman, and Danny Clinch, as well as director Spike Jonze, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, actor Richard Gere, Slim Pickens, Nathanial HˆrnblowÈr, Robin Moore, and Sean Mortenson, to name a few, Beastie Boys Anthology provides the most insightful look to date at the trip that has defined cutting-edge Hip Hop and alternative music and culture for more than two decades.
In 1981, Beastie Boys, then consisting of Adam Yauch (aka MCA) on bass, drummer Kate Schellenbach (later of Luscious Jackson), guitarist John Berry (of Big Fat Love), and Mike Diamond (aka Mike D) on the mic, made their debut at Yauch's seventeenth birthday party. After releasing one of the first New York Hardcore records, the 1982 EP Pollywog Stew, Beastie Boys recorded their first foray into Hip Hop the following year, The Cookie Puss, replacing Berry with Adam Horovitz (aka Ad Rock).
Their next recording, Rock Hard/Beastie Groove, was produced by Rick Rubin as the second record released on Def Jam. Their first full-length album, Licensed to Ill, was the first rap album to hit number one and has since sold approximately ten million copies in the U.S. alone.
Subsequent records have included Paul's Boutique (regularly hailed by the likes of Rolling Stone as one of the greatest records ever made), the multi-platinum Check Your Head, the instant number one smash Ill Communication, and 1998's quadruple-platinum double-Grammy-winner Hello Nasty. The two-CD set Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science was first released in 1999. The slipcased set of the anthology, including the book and four vinyl LPs, was released in 2000 and is now sold out.
Beastie Boys have just completed To The 5 Boroughs, their sixth studio album and the first to be produced by the boys themselves.
