Beastie Boys
"Ill Communication" (CD)

The fourth album from Brooklyn's own Beasties was released in 1994.  Hopefully by this point any talk of the Boys as being purely party rockin' frat boys had been put to rest.

For a while I've regarded 'Hello Nasty' as my favorite Beasties album, but I've also regarded their instrumental-only 'The Mix Up' as some of the funkiest tunes made lately.  After giving 'Ill' a closer listen, I feel its genealogy is very in line with the 'Mix' that would come over a decade later.

The Beasties are unafraid of blending a plethora of styles and influences together; even during this age, it was uncommon for such diverse flavors to be combined into a single stew.

Bolstered by hits like "Sabotage" (which received a well-deserved introduction to a new generation of listeners with J.J. Abrams' use of it in the 'Star Trek' re-boot) the album was both critical and commercial success.