Beastie Boys - Solid Gold Hits

Genre hip hop Publisher Capitol Records External Links Official Website Capitol Records

What an amazing thing a greatest hits album can be. Here we have 15 tracks by the leading white boy group in hip-hop, the Beastie Boys. 15 tracks that, when lined up all together make for one of the most enjoyable listening experiences in musical history. Song after song is proof to the success of these three MCs from New York. These guys have been at it for over 24 years now and Solid Gold Hits, the band's latest retrospective lays out the pearls of their success.

One grand nugget follows another, and even without a linear outline, Solid Gold Hits is still successful simply because of the power of its material. The Licensed To Ill hits, generally considered to be played out, here are born anew when interspersed with the Beasties' more experimental, genre defying output.

"Hey Ladies" off of Paul's Boutique drives the funk home (with help from the Dust Brothers), and signals a distinct shift away from the manic, mook mode of Licensed. Trippy psychedelic melds with fat bass and a groove most performers still can't seem to nail down. The scratching on "Triple Trouble" still can't be touched, while the hard rocking thrash of "Sabotage" (as well as its accompanying video) are why this group is so ingrained in the fabric of musical society.

Solid Gold Hits is more than just a greatest compilation of a legendary musical group, even more than one of the greatest party albums ready to order. This album is everything that music can be. Raucous, incendiary, heartfelt and color blind. Solid Gold Hits and the Beastie Boys themselves are just that goddamn good.