Check Your Head
by Beastie Boys

From buzzdainer TOP 100 COMMENTER 09/08/2016 17:18 | #174550 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Most of my memories of this album are of college, dancing in some hot, sweaty basement with a sticky, beer-soaked floor. You'd think those wouldn't be fond memories, but they are, kind of. Check Your Head was, for me, the bridge between rock, funk, and rap that gave me a fuller understanding of where hip hop came from and why anyone would listen to it (because it's frigging great to dance to). I liked the Beastie Boys before Check Your Head, but this was the album where you could really begin to appreciate their musicianship and creativity in ways that seemed less mature on previous recordings. My only complaint is that some of the tracks, such as the incredibly funny and funky "Professor Booty," feel like fragments that leave me longing for what might have been if they had somehow been fully fleshed out. At the same time, it is the fragmentary nature of Check Your Head that makes much of it so rewarding.

From RoundTheBend TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/14/2016 23:36 | #165979 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Sometimes I think it's musical masterpiece and sometimes I feel like it let's throw everything against the wall and see what sticks.

This isn't an album you listen to if you want the usual Boys' stuff in the realm of Licensed to Ill; it's them with raw rapping power, and proof after the extensive sampling they had done before that yeah, they can play instruments and yeah, they're pretty damn good at it. For the most part, they fool people into thinking they're just acting like regular hip-hop artists showing off supreme sonic ability and hip-hop beats, but occasionally they poke their intelligence and wit through. They're made all the better for it.

Key Cuts: So What'cha Want, Pass the Mic, Gratitude

From Sometype 09/21/2015 22:14 | #150244 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Beastie Boys are one of the most solid artists of all time. This is one of their best. Every track flowing really well and the same great experimentation and uniqueness that almost every album by them has. They do have a distinct sound on this record with rocky hip-hop even punk vibes on display.

From teague TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/30/2020 19:36 | #254841 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

My favorite Beastie Boys album. It's probably the most aggressive of theirs. (Edited)