MoeFOH's Album of the Week... Week #39

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Album of the Week 🎶

Same as the movie thread, each week we're going to spotlight an album... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite tracks, clips, lyrics, experiences if you saw live, etc... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's an album you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #39: Licensed to Ill

Wiki says:

Licensed to Ill is the debut studio album by American rap rock group Beastie Boys. It was released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records, and became the first rap LP to top the Billboard album chart. It is one of Columbia Records' fastest-selling debut records to date and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2015 for shipping over ten million copies in the United States. The album received critical acclaim for its unique musical style, chemistry between the group members, and their stylized rapping. Since its release, Licensed to Ill has been ranked by critics as one of the greatest hip hop and debut albums of all time.

Thanks to @riderpride for this week's title!

Over to you...

How do you rate it? 🤔

Thoughts, experiences, memories... post em' up! 

Score it out of 10!  

 

 

[MoeFOH]

 

[Ford2112]

Huge when I was in high school. They ended up becoming real artists with Paul's Boutique IMO. This album was fun for the time. 7/10. Beastie Boys was one of the better live shows I've ever seen.

[Edicion]

Nice pick! Good to see a change from the rock albums 

Highly acclaimed rap/hip hop album with that Rick Rubin magic production but not my favorite Beastie Boys album. 

6.5/10

Only because I never connected with the music like I did with their later work. 

[riderpride]

Was just a pup when this came out, so I was oblivious for several years.

Fantastic album with creative usage of samples throughout (rhymin & stealin lol). Not a bad release for a group trying to originally be punk rockers. Tongue-in-cheek, vocally dynamic, and an easy cover-to-cover listen. 8/10

Cheers!

[bassistheplace]

Paul's Boutique is the only one I ever listen to

Ill = 5/10 for me

[BigGuns]

One of the first rap albums I ever bought. A game changer and part of the evolution of rap into the mainstream. Life changing for this 8yo. I can still hear my parents yelling at me through my headphones that it was too loud and they didn’t want to listen to that crap!  
 

9/10 every day

[Doctorossi]

I haven't listened to this album in decades, but my memory will give it a 7/10. No Paul's Boutique in terms of influence, but it did do a lot of groundwork in hindsight.

[Akela3rd]

It's good but dated. Strange to think it was regarded as almost revolutionary at the time and it certainly upped the stakes with the less obvious use of samples ie heavy rock. Their NYC hard-core roots show in the attitude but it was only in later albums they went back to the guitar/bass/drums for a couple of tracks and let rip. Would have loved to have seen them on the NYHC circuit. As a band they grew and developed beautifully and even admitted to being embarrassed by some of the stuff on here. Young, dumb and full of come - just as it should be. 7/10

Sent by spooky action at a distance