Has there ever been a bigger creative leap between a debut and follow up album than what the Beasties pulled off in 1989?
It's unbelieveable that these dudes were the same group that put out "Fight for Your Right" and "Girls" on "Licensed to Ill" (although you could hear hints of something a little bit better in "Hold it Now"
We call this foreshadowing in the English biz
One thing that always bugged me, though, was that as soon as the Beasties started to get some true cred with this CD and more mainstream popularity with "Check Your Head" ("Paul's Boutique" tanked upon release, but became well respected later. We call that the "Pinkerton" effect, for what it's worth), they wanted to distance themseves from their fratty, party boy past, dismissing it and calling it an obvious joke, which apparently no one was in on except them.
Come on, guys. No one with any sense was buying that. Just because you're all Buddhist and shit now doesn't mean you were a bratty little Brooklyn kid once. The Dali Llama won't think any worse of you. Embrace it!
Anyway, back to "Paul's Boutique" and "Eggman"...I'll admit that I didn't get where they were going at first. I remember seeing the video for "Hey Ladies" and thinking, "Now hold on..."
Not that I didn't like it, because I did (and they were on the 70's retro tip way back before everyone else was , to their credit), but it did take some getting used to. And with this CD, it's so dense with samples and great production that you always are getting something new from it.
For example, "Eggman" starts with a Curtis Mayfield sample. Now, I'm not gonna lie and say I knew who he was back when I was 17, but this is what I mean by appreciating this CD more over time. The structure of this song (like many of their songs)is a traditional verse / chorus / verse, which I suspect had a lot to do with thier success among white audiences who unconsciously find that pleasing. The chorus would be the parts with the siren sound in the background with one of the Boys talking over it. (By the way, if anyone has a clue as to the lyrics or meaning of this song, please feel free to fill us in).
One part I love is the last time they sart the verse at 1:55 : "We - all - dressed in black". Something about how they are all rapping the same part pretty emphatically is cool (check it out in the live version below). They still have that same Beasties meter, though. It's in almost every damn song (One says a line and they all hit the last word / Over and over it gets quite ab-surd).
I also like the couple of Public Enemy shout outs (and given that this CD was in the late 80s, the golden years of rap, it would make sense) the "Boyeeee" at :50, a Flava Flav trademark and a clip from PE's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" at 1:34 ("Now they got me in a cell"). It would take more room than I've already used to unearth all the other great samples in, so I'll just finish by saying that I like thier ending - the "Jaws"attack music. Go figure. Scary Eggman!
http://www.mediafire.com/?zhbgztuyl2n
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4 comments:
I looked out the window and seen his bald head
I ran to the fridge and pulled out an egg
Scoped him with my scopes he had no hair
Launched that shot and he was caught out there
Saw the convertible driving by
Loaded up the slingshot and let one fly
He went for his to find he didn't have one
Put him in check correct with my egg gun
The egg a symbol of life
Go inside your house and bust out your wife
Pulled out the jammy he thought it was a joke
The trigger I pulled his face the yoke
Reached in his pocket took all his cash
Left my man standing with an egg moustache
Suckers they come a dime a dozen
And when I say dozen you know what I'm talking about
Humpty Dumpty was a big fat egg
He was playing the wall and then he broke his leg
Tossed it out the window three minutes hot
Hit the Rastaman he said *bloodclot*
Which came first the chicken or the egg
I egged the chicken then I ate his leg
Riding the trains in between cars
When I pull out the station *you're gonna get yours*
Drive by eggings plaguing L.A.
*Yo they just got my little cousin ese*
Sometimes hard boiled sometimes runny
It comes from a chicken not a bunny dummy
People laugh it's no joke
My name's Yauch and I'm throwing the yoke
*Now they got me in a cell* but I don't care
It was then that I caught catching people out there
We all dressed in black we snuck up around the back
We began to attack the eggs did crack on Haze's back
Sam I am down with the program
Green eggs and ham Yosemite Sam
Come Halloween you know I come strapped
I throw it at a sucker K-pap
You made the mistake you judge a man by his race
You go through life with egg on your face
You woke up in the morning with a peculiar feeling
You looked up and saw egg dripping from the ceiling
Families puck rocks the businessman
I'll dog anybody with an egg in my hand
Not like the crack that you put in a pipe
But crack on your forehead here's a towel now wipe
Always been a favorite of mine. This is the first time I've read the lyrics, and it makes no sense, I can pick up some of the references but it seems to be more jibberish than anything. I think, "Hit the Rastaman he said "bloodclot"" has to be my favorite line. For some reason I picture a guy in dreads, not a true rasta, but a wanta be, who walks around saying bloodclot, or bumbaclod or the other few phrases that seem to be popular with these types. I agree this album was much better than the first. The first had some great songs, but I guess Bryan said it perfect, seemed "fratty". Still in my humble opinion the best BB song of all time is Brass Monkey.
Totally agree about how you always get something new from this record. I remember hearing some Beatles song off Abbey Road years later and thinking 'hey, that's Dropping Science'.
And Hey Ladies is their best song. Come on, it's got a bull whip. Wapeesh!
As for groups making the leap in their sophomore years, how about your very own Rush. Their first effort was okay for butt rock. 'Fly by Night' was way better. Maybe not a fair comparison, though, since they didn't have Neil on the first one.
Good find with the lyrics, d. I agree -just some fun stoner music, nothing greater. "Brass Monkey", though? Give me "Shake Your Rump", "Pass the Mic" or as ej says, "Hey Ladies"
ej- same exact thing happended with me on that sample. I think it's that two chord riff that's somewhere on that string of mini-songs that close out Abbey Road (which is not unlike the string of mini-songs on Paul's Boutique, "B-boy Bouilbasse" hmmmmm...)
That's a good try with the Rush thing too, but you should know us true Rush dorks don't count the debut, really, except for "Working Man", of course.
I keep waiting for the first Rush song to come up here. Keep your fingers crossed that it's not something ghey like this blog's namesake.
I remember buying this on cassette and being freaked out because it was green. And I remember seeing JJ listening to "Shake Your Rump" one night and looking up at me all puzzled and saying, "We're making history". Only album I can think of that is so all over the map but still somehow fits together perfectly is Ween's "Chocolate with Cheese". It's a trip....it's got a funky beat....and I can BUG OUT to it.
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