How many of you still know every single word to every single song on License to lll?

[-]

grimmtoke@reddit

That's the one album I refuse to listen to. Having to bear 'Fight for your Right' being your 8th grade 'class song' has had a lasting impact. Man I hate that album.

Paul's Boutique, now, that's the good stuff.

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

Fight For Your Right was just MTV bait. That's the worst thing on the album, and they didn't even like it that much. There's lots of good shit on there.

[-]

They ended up not liking much of that album in general. They talk about in their book how all the frat boys and bros they were making fun of started showing up to their shows, and that's why they decided to go in a slightly different direction with their sound.

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

This is true, and even the bangers are pretty obnoxious like that. But I'm really just talking about that song in particular because there is still good stuff on there. The sounds are still good albeit it the vibe shifted.

I would posit that Fight For Your Right was basically the frat bro call that drew in the audience they were getting and opened their eyes. Had that not been on the album, I wonder if it would have been the same.

[-]

grimmtoke@reddit

I'll admit, part of my hate is for that song specifically. And sure, I'll always sing along to Girls, but, if I compare song-for-song with anything from their later albums, it's pretty shallow stuff.

I didn't like a lot of other rap from that time either - Fat Boys, Run DMC, etc... it wasn't until 92 or so that I finally got it, after Check Your Head (along with De La, ATCQ, etc...). I always avoided License though lol.

[-]

SMUHypeMachine@reddit

IIRC with modern copyright laws it would cost more than $2 million to license all the samples in Shake Your Rump today.

[-]

terryclothtracksuit@reddit

The Dust brothers that produced the album had already secured the rights to the majority of the songs they sampled from.

[-]

SMUHypeMachine@reddit

Right, and it was MUCH cheaper back in the day!

[-]

Invasive-farmer@reddit

This is accurate.

[-]

MartinMcFly55@reddit

Ya got mailbox on ya bumpa, and bald front tya

[-]

ucankickrocks@reddit

I went on a weeklong silent meditation retreat (December) and Mike D sat one person over from me. When I walked into the mediation hall to my assigned cushion I was so confused. Was it him, was it not? Then while meditating every single Beastie Boy lyric ran through my head. I was shocked at how much I recalled. On the last day he asked a teacher a question and it was 100% him. That voice is like a thumb print.

I think I'm losing my mind, this time. This time, I'm losing my mind.

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

!!!!! That must have been nuts! Very cool

[-]

ucankickrocks@reddit

Absolutely surreal watching him wash dishes while I was folding dishes towels. BTW this wasn’t a posh place. Everyone sleeps on twin beds in tiny little rooms and we all do chores.

[-]

the_47th_painter@reddit

Has it really been 14 years?!?

This one stung when the news broke.

[-]

_semaJ77@reddit

That was my fault. That time span is unreal to me.

[-]

TheObviousChild@reddit

I remember hanging on the playground during 6th grade recess trying to memorize all the words to Paul Revere.

[-]

_sonidero_@reddit

Oh the nights with the shoebox player rewinding and rewinding...

[-]

refreshing_username@reddit

Sounds like you have a little story you got to tell

[-]

nerd_of_gods@reddit

My name is MCA and I got a license to kill

I think you know what time it is

Its time to get ill

Now what do we have here, an outlaw and his beer

I run this land you understand do I make myself clear

[-]

SMUHypeMachine@reddit

We stepped into the wind, he had a gun, I had a grin

You think this story's over, but it's ready to begin

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

Now I got the gun, you got the brew, you got two choices of what you can do.

It's not a tough decision, as you can see, I can blow you away or you can ride with me.

[-]

_sonidero_@reddit

I said I'll ride with you if you can get me to the border...

The Sheriffs after me for what I did to his daughter...

I did it like this, I did it like that, I did it with a whiffle ball bat... Sooo...

[-]

christina311@reddit

I do.

[-]

Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

I tried to like the BB, was just never my thing and I've never understood the allure. I doubt I've heard every song on that album.

[-]

MiltownKBs@reddit

Maybe consider give their instrumental albums a shot.

[-]

Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

Sure, could be enlightening. I didn't know they did instrumental albums.

[-]

myusernameiszane@reddit

Most of their other albums too.

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

My man MCA’s got a beard like a billy goat.

[-]

jadepartida@reddit

Immediately thought "now I rock a house party at the drop of a hat" but wait... wrong album!

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

Ya Paul’s is my jam.

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

Oooo oooo! is my disco call!

[-]

stay_in_the_thalweg@reddit

Still have the CD in my car stereo as we speak!

[-]

Matica-sK@reddit

Paul’s Boutique as well.

[-]

thebiglerm@reddit

Check your head with the instrumentals is peak beasties for me. License to ill was great though my favorite song off that album is posse in effect. So good

[-]

deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

[-]

GenX-ModTeam@reddit

{community rule 7}

[-]

RemyJe@reddit

Nope. Rap was never my thing.

[-]

Vandilbg@reddit

A fair chunk of their stuff was punk\harcore. They did a hardcore album in the mid 1990's called Aglio E Olio

[-]

VinceP312@reddit

Dare I ask, what's hardcore?

[-]

Vandilbg@reddit

The harder and faster sub genre of punk.

[-]

RemyJe@reddit

Neither were those.

[-]

Suitable-Bike6971@reddit

Fuck Cancer.

[-]

Njdevilmn@reddit

Came here to say exactly this!!!

I’ll say it again.

FUCK CANCER!

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

💯💯💯

[-]

Easy_does_it78@reddit

ILL Communication is my favorite Beastie Boys album

[-]

esquirlo_espianacho@reddit

Paul’s Boutique is woefully underrated. That’s my number one but I love them all…

[-]

Johnatron2000@reddit

License to Ill is good but nothing compares to Pauls Boutique

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

gif

[-]

No_Presentation641@reddit

Amen

[-]

serenityplough@reddit

I’m the surgeon, I’ll make the incision. I’ll cut out the part of ya brain that does the bitchin

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

Put it in formaldehyde and put it on the shelf
And you can show it to your friends and say, 'That's my old self!"

(My favorite Beasties bar of all time, not to mention an MCA bar)

[-]

r2killawat@reddit

Anyone else think that Fight for your Right to Party is actually the worst song on the album? Especially in retrospect.

[-]

muffsnake@reddit

“Girls” was pretty bad.

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

Yea that's the other one that is ridiculous.

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

YES. Worst thing on there. I think it was only there as MTV bait.

[-]

TBoopSquiggShorterly@reddit

I could never stand this song

[-]

attaboy_stampy@reddit

Not every single song, but maybe half of them. I can still recall the lyrics to Paul Revere, and I bet I haven't heard the song in a few years.

[-]

CustmineFloyd1@reddit

I was like 11y old when I got that album, together with Run DMC and Kool Moe Dee they became my first English teachers.

Still have this hanging on the wall in my living room:

[-]

muffsnake@reddit

What age were you when you realized that if you held the album up to a mirror the “serial number” on the plane said “eat me”?

[-]

CustmineFloyd1@reddit

I never noticed before 😅

[-]

dodgycool_1973@reddit

Today years old :/

[-]

VinceP312@reddit

Not my genre, but they were great nonetheless

[-]

UncleCoyote@reddit

Pfffft. I spent all my time holding the cassette case up to the mirror and giggling.

[-]

1plus1equalsfun@reddit

I'm not sure that I ever heard it, to be honest.

[-]

Mammoth_Ad_483@reddit

This was my first concert. Public Enemy opened up for them

[-]

Moist_Session@reddit

Did you happen to see this show in Newark NJ? 🤔

[-]

Mammoth_Ad_483@reddit

No Providence

[-]

PhriendlyGhost@reddit

Every. Single. Word. ❤️

[-]

bloom_baby_bloom@reddit

Ok. And what about Paul’s boutique?

[-]

Dakota1228@reddit

Well, if it’s gonna be that kinda party, imma stick my dick in the mash pataytahs

[-]

bloom_baby_bloom@reddit

Bad phonetic spelling is my bête noire.

[-]

Particular_Eye_1643@reddit

That's not Paul's Boutique

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

Paul’s Boutique is their masterpiece

[-]

Wallis614@reddit

I was a 13 year old kid in Brooklyn when this came out, so…🤣

[-]

Aggressive-Salary525@reddit

I still remember the day he died. My husband was on set with MCA’s good friend and he got off a call and burst into tears. I still tear up every year about this one. RIP Nathan Hornblower.

[-]

SeattleBrother75@reddit

We miss you MCA

[-]

Biguzsdikkus@reddit

We did it like this, we did it like that, we did it with a whiffleball bat!

[-]

Iron_Chic@reddit

I'm on the run, the cops got my gun

[-]

Hambone76@reddit

And right about now it’s time to have some fun

[-]

CabriniKay@reddit

The King Ad-Rock that is my name And I know the fly spot where they got the champagne

[-]

SpecificStatic@reddit

I pulled out my jammie, and aimed it at this guy…

[-]

ofthrees@reddit

and right about now it's time to have some fun

[-]

SpecificStatic@reddit

Here’s a little story I got to tell…

[-]

King_of_all_Clover@reddit

about three bad brothers you know so well

it started way back in history with…

[-]

Lobin@reddit

Ad Rock, MCA, and me...

[-]

EmperorBozopants@reddit

Mike D.

[-]

CabriniKay@reddit

Been had a little horsey named Paul Revere

[-]

Joeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyy@reddit

Rip

[-]

siannan@reddit

Born to many, married to none. RIP.

[-]

SubstanceNo1544@reddit

Mcaaaaaay

[-]

Senior_Ad3011@reddit

Get on the mic my man

[-]

manofmystry@reddit

I lived across the hall from Adam at Bard College in the early eighties. Nice guy.

[-]

Wudrow@reddit

gif

[-]

Bucks2174@reddit

Gen X here. Never listened to this one time let alone know the words. I did know of Fight for your Right tho.

[-]

Particular_Eye_1643@reddit

Paul's Boutique

[-]

murrayhenson@reddit

Yup.

License to Ill has a bunch of good tracks on it, but everything on Paul’s Boutique is awesome.

My little personal Beastie Boys reminiscence: I was getting married in early 2007 and a month or so before the wedding a friend let me know that the Beastie Boys would be at the Open’er Festival in June (Gdynia, Poland) later that year. Because of the wedding, we were pretty skint but I also knew this would be my one and only chance to see them in Poland and possibly ever. So… I told my to-be wife: I know money is tight but we HAVE to get tickets…And, of course, we did.

That was my one and only outdoor festival, but it was absolutely worth it.

[-]

twlscil@reddit

Top 5 album for me.

[-]

Derfargin@reddit

My jam.

[-]

Dreaming_of_Rlyeh@reddit

No way it's been 14 years! And he died at 47? I'm that age this year. Dayum.

[-]

S1nnah2@reddit

Still missed every day 💔

[-]

Mental_Relation_2175@reddit

Only here to give him rest in peace

[-]

vinegar_strokes68@reddit

🖐

[-]

Prestigious-Echo-164@reddit

.22 automatic on my person

[-]

Iron_Chic@reddit

I got my hand in my pocket and my finger's on the trigger...

[-]

Prestigious-Echo-164@reddit

My posses gettin big and my posses gettin bigger

[-]

GreatMidnight@reddit

Some voices got travel, some voices got bass

[-]

SpecificStatic@reddit

My mom took away my best porno mag. 😭

[-]

refreshing_username@reddit

Busted!

[-]

Jerry-Lives22@reddit

Pauls Boutique & Ill communication were more in my crosshairs but yeah, he was always my fave of the three as far as attitude wise.

[-]

MongooseFantastic528@reddit

Technically, MCA is a Baby Boomer, and missed being Gen X only by 1 year, while Ad Rock and Mike D are early Gen X .

[-]

trendingtattler@reddit

This thread has reached trending status. Crowd Control has been adjusted to help protect the r/GenX community.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[-]

SiskiyouSavage@reddit

I was from a little small ass town and I went to visit my cousins in New York. My cousin gave me License to Ill and Appetite for Destruction. I was the first person in my town to have those albums. This was before we got MTV in town. Only the 2 or 3 kids with satelite dishes got it.

[-]

OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit

MCA! Where - have ya been?

[-]

gamacrit@reddit

Packed like sardines in the tin

[-]

OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit

gif

[-]

SpecificStatic@reddit

No sleep till…

[-]

TheObviousChild@reddit

Dunn nun......dunt duhhhhhh.

Duhh duh dunn nun....dun duhhhhh

Duhh duh

[-]

SquidLee@reddit

Nobody know what I'm talking about / Yeah that's right my name is Yount

[-]

bodega_steve@reddit

Yauch. The name is Yauch.

[-]

GnorxA@reddit

White Castle fries no longer come in one size

[-]

Sufficient_Space8484@reddit

White Castle fries only come in one size

[-]

digital_mystic23@reddit

He got a license to ill!🖤

[-]

random420x2@reddit

ANY song from License To Ill comes on the radio, cars 3 lanes over on the freeway will hear my wife spit every single word. ❤️❤️

[-]

Alaska_Roy@reddit

My favorite bassist, and I’m a huge Primus fan so that’s saying A LOT!

[-]

Alaska_Roy@reddit

just watch

[-]

Far-Ad5796@reddit

The summer this came out my neighbor across the street (we were 12/13) played it at top volume, with the windows open, on a permanent loop, morning, noon, and night. If he was home, we were all listening to the Beasties. He’d play the whole album, but was particularly fond of Girls and Brass Monkey. I don’t have the album memorized, but I’m pretty sure when the day comes that I am shuffling off this mortal coil the last thing firing through my fading brain will be “Brass Monkey, that funky monkey …”

[-]

Kim_in_CA@reddit

🙋‍♀️

[-]

ArcanumAntares@reddit

The sun is beating down on my baseball hat.

The air is gettin' hot the beer is getting flat.

[-]

New-Pudding-3030@reddit

Absofrekinglutely! GONE.TOO.SOON. ❤️

[-]

Johnlc29@reddit

I know. I saw the year of his passing on that photo, and I was shocked it has been that long.

[-]

AlternativeProduct78@reddit

Rapper? Beastie Boy, maybe?

[-]

aran_maybe@reddit

Maybe not all but at least half.

[-]

Zigihogan-v2@reddit

I can sing all of Polly Wog Stew...not all of License to Ill.

[-]

elladoherty@reddit

I do!

[-]

Iron_Chic@reddit

Because, mutiny on the bounty's what it's all about

[-]

More_Pineapple3585@reddit

was my first CD

[-]

ofthrees@reddit

i was new wave, this was my first rap CD.

[-]

jstrong559@reddit

Ridin' 'cross the land, kickin' up sand

[-]

sheezy520@reddit

Sheriff’s posse’s on my tail cuz I’m in demand.

[-]

Iron_Chic@reddit

One lonely Beastie I be

[-]

Zargoza1@reddit

Sheriff’s posses on my tail cause I’m in demand

[-]

jstrong559@reddit

Sheriffs after me for what I did to his daughter

[-]

H__Dresden@reddit

Now here is a little story that I got to tell. About three bad brothers you know so well…….

[-]

Iron_Chic@reddit

It started way back in history, with Ad-Roc, MCA and me, Mike D

[-]

ofthrees@reddit

what's the time? it's time to get ill.

[-]

ABustedCanOBiscuits@reddit

gif

[-]

Somone-Who-Isnt-Me@reddit

EZ

[-]

Jonas_VentureJr@reddit

gif

[-]

LukeLovesLakes@reddit

Adam would be disgusted if that's the music he's most remembered for.

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

You are having an argument with someone who isn’t arguing back.

[-]

LukeLovesLakes@reddit

Two comments is not having an argument. I'm just explaining my position. Relax. It's all good.

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

And yet you still won’t shut the fuck up

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

Really?! I had no idea he felt that way. How did you know him?

[-]

LukeLovesLakes@reddit

Literally wrote an apology into a song ...

“I want to say a little something that’s long overdue, The disrespect to women has to got to be through, To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends, I want to offer my love and respect till the end.”

[-]

LukeLovesLakes@reddit

How about the fact that they stopped performing those songs live.

[-]

bloom_baby_bloom@reddit

He spoke about it many times in interviews. 🤦‍♂️

[-]

CoverCommercial3576@reddit

pay attention.

[-]

theantidrug@reddit

“I would like to… formally apologize to the entire gay and lesbian community for the s—ty and ignorant things we said on our first record,” Horovitz wrote. “There are no excuses. But time has healed our stupidity…. We have learned and sincerely changed since the ’80s…. We hope that you’ll accept this long overdue apology.” Literally one search away. Knowing is half the battle.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/why-beastie-boys-regret-debut-album/

[-]

mden1974@reddit

My 13 year old knows every word from Paul revere. We sing it together regularly.

[-]

Zargoza1@reddit

Whenever we go we bring Monkey with us

[-]

Glitterbomb4274@reddit

First album I ever bought and even all these decades later, I still listen to at least one song a week. I swear it’s ingrained into my DNA.

[-]

SixAndNine75@reddit

Very similar, although my neighbour stole my orig LP. Have it again on vinyl but never stopped listening to it

[-]

hotdoginathermos@reddit

[-]

happycj@reddit

"Mah name's Yauch."

[-]

HiddenUser1248@reddit

And all their other albums.

[-]

CoverCommercial3576@reddit

f u

[-]

indicus23@reddit

RIP MCA

[-]

CoverCommercial3576@reddit

license to ill and many more. listen to paul’s boutique.

[-]

savedbytheblood72@reddit

NOW MY NAME IS MCA I GOT LICENSE TO KILL

[-]

mkstot@reddit

I think you know what time it is, it’s time to get ill

[-]

haywoodjabloughmee@reddit

Now what do we have here, an outlaw and his beer

[-]

mkstot@reddit

I run this land, you understand? I’ve made myself clear

[-]

Flababulous@reddit

Yep.

[-]

Global-Ad9080@reddit

“Here’s a little story about three bad brothers…”

[-]

reddpapad@reddit

Dude 🤦‍♀️

Now here’s a little story I got to tell

About three bad brothers you know so well

[-]

snark_maiden@reddit

It started way back in history

[-]

catcrapmakesmevomit@reddit

With Ad Rock, MCA and me Mike D.

[-]

correct_eye_is@reddit

Now*

Here's a little story

I got to tell*

About three bad brothers...

[-]

LumpyWelder4258@reddit

Hey what's the time?

[-]

Panem-et-circenses25@reddit

It’s time to get ill!

[-]

catcrapmakesmevomit@reddit

Pour it on Ice!

[-]

Express_Area_8359@reddit

ITS TIME TO GET ILL
gif

[-]

KungFuGiftShop@reddit

I remember being blown away. It was so much more than Fight For Your Right to Party.

And then Paul’s Boutique was just mind blowing and game changing

[-]

mkstot@reddit

Paul’s Boutique is my favorite Beasties album. The samples that the Dust Bros used on that record are next level funky.

[-]

Paperbackpixie@reddit

Love to you MCA

[-]

Escape_Force@reddit

That was 14 years ago?!?!? Dayumn time flies when you are getting old.

[-]

GolfChefCoach@reddit

Came home tonight and listened to Paul’s Boutique with noise cancelling on, I was fucking grooving like no one was watching! Then I see this, the AI saw me! 😂

[-]

regdunlop08@reddit

Got buzzed for the first time drinking stolen beer in my friend's basement while listening to this cassette. It became our drinking music for the next 2.5 years of high school. And yes I still know every word. I'll bet all of those guys do too.

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

Absolutely

[-]

OpusCroakus1@reddit

How did he die?

[-]

GordCampbell@reddit

Cancer. He was 47.

[-]

u2sarajevo@reddit

Every last word. Since 86.

[-]

go-speed-racer@reddit

Proof that the speed of time has shifted.

How was his passing 14 years ago? Still feels recent, or perhaps it’s just one that still stings.

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

Absolutely 💯

[-]

KayNay420@reddit

They formed a committee to throw me off the block

[-]

randombarbs@reddit

my 1st concert!!! with public enemy and Murphy's law as openers

[-]

Dmangoon@reddit

I saw them with Run DMC.

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

SICK!!! That must have been amazing

[-]

TheBaroness1934@reddit

Mine too! The Spectrum in Philly. I was fourteen and had to go with my father.

[-]

randombarbs@reddit

sames!!! i was up in the nose bleed seats!!!

[-]

Hib3rnian@reddit

Fuck yea! Mine too! 215 in the house!

[-]

Ok_Echo_6528@reddit (OP)

Hell yes!!!

[-]

Gratefulgirl13@reddit

His name is MCA, I said howdy, he said hi

[-]

Flababulous@reddit

KING OF THE AVE WITH THE DEF FEMALES

[-]

ajcpullcom@reddit

gif

[-]

ALSISREALAWFUL@reddit

I always loved him the most. My brother looked like him when he was younger. RIP Sweetie ❤️

[-]

mrmyrtle29588@reddit

Cooler that cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce

[-]

Lead_or_Follow@reddit

Was fortunate enough to get a ticket to the next to last live performance of the Beastie’s career…Licensed to Ill was a big part of the soundtrack of my life in ‘86…Paul Revere…RIP MCA

[-]

Jumpy_Employment_371@reddit

This and Paul's Boutique, ill Communication, Check Your Head - love those dudes.

[-]

martin_seamus_mcfIy@reddit

Dude was cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce.

[-]

Miami_Vice_75@reddit

R.I.P. MCA! You were my favorite!

“If you can feel what I’m feeling then it’s a musical masterpiece/ If you can hear what I’m dealing with then that’s cool at least/ What’s running through my mind comes through in my walk/ True feelings are shown from the way that I talk”

[-]