Licensed To Ill
by Beastie Boys

Album
Licensed To Ill by Beastie Boys
Year: 1986
Release date: 1986-11-15
Overall rank: 532nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 874 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1986 (9th)
Award Top 100 albums of of the 1980s (79th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (532nd)

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Beastie Boys bestography

Licensed To Ill is ranked 2nd best out of 16 albums by Beastie Boys on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Beastie Boys is Paul's Boutique which is ranked number 253 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,231.

Beastie Boys album bestography « Higher ranked (253rd)
Paul's Boutique This album (532nd)
Licensed To Ill Lower ranked (762nd) »
Ill Communication

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Licensed To Ill track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Rhymin' & Stealin'
Average Rating: 84 (143 votes)Comments: View 5
2.
The New Style
Average Rating: 79 (117 votes)Comments: View 3
3.
She's Crafty
Average Rating: 81 (123 votes)Comments: View 4
4.
Posse In Effect
Average Rating: 75 (111 votes)Comments: View 2
5.
Slow Ride
Average Rating: 76 (112 votes)Comments: View 3
6.
Girls
Average Rating: 80 (132 votes)Comments: View 4
7.
Track pick (880 - 199 votes)
Fight For Your Right
Average Rating: 88 (199 votes)Comments: View 5
8.
Track pick (870 - 177 votes)
No Sleep Till Brooklyn
Average Rating: 87 (177 votes)Comments: View 5
9.
Paul Revere
Average Rating: 80 (116 votes)Comments: View 4
10.
Hold It Now, Hit It
Average Rating: 78 (109 votes)Comments: View 3
11.
Brass Monkey
Average Rating: 83 (133 votes)Comments: View 3
12.
Slow And Low
Average Rating: 79 (113 votes)Comments: View 2
13.
Time To Get Ill
Average Rating: 78 (110 votes)Comments: View 2

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Licensed To Ill rankings

Licensed To Ill rankings summary
Overall rank: 532nd | 1980s rank: 79th | 1986 rank: 9th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 1 hour ago)

Licensed To Ill collection

Licensed To Ill ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 874 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 874 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !		10/03/2026 18:01 Siromynian  Ratings distribution  1,78674/100
 
50/100
 !		09/29/2026 14:20 greatson  Ratings distribution  1,91771/100
 
75/100
 !		09/26/2026 23:43 dsavard  Ratings distribution  68077/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.9/100, a mean average of 75.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.6.


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Licensed To Ill favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 131 members

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Licensed To Ill forum mentions

This album has been referenced 126 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026
“The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…”
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From BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movements - August 2026
“The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…”
View forum post →

From BestEverAlbums 08/24/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5414): By Graeme2
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Graeme2 () 1. (1973) 2. by (1989) 3. by by (1988) 5. (2002) 6. by by by (1972) 9. (1996) 10. by by (2003) 12. (1994) 13. by (1984) 14. by by by (1973) 17. by by (1977) 19. by (1979) 20. by (1970) 21. by (1992) 23. by (1969) 24. by (1993) 25.…”
View forum post →

View all forum mentions

Licensed To Ill comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 46 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/15/2015 01:28 | #134985 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
One of the best fusions of rock and rap. This album is out of this world!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 6
Reply
From 12/27/2016 08:25 | #181063 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
As much as I enjoy it, I feel like this is one of those albums that I'd appreciate even more if I had been alive when it was first released.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 3
Reply
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/05/2016 17:59 | #170601 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
An enjoyable crossover record. Worth it for, fight for your right, alone, the ultimate geek's party record. All good stuff.
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From 10/08/2015 09:07 | #151160 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Fantastic album, a benchmark in rap and rap fusion with the mainstream while still maintaining this amazing unique edge that keeps this album sounding fresh. This was one of the albums my dad pretty much raised me on so I get this huge wave of nostalgia when I listen which is like the icing on the cake.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
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Rating:  
90/100
From 04/01/2015 04:13 | #138482 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
One of the best rap album of 80
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 4
Reply
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Best Albums of  1986
1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
2. Master Of Puppets by Metallica
3. Graceland by Paul Simon
4. So by Peter Gabriel
5. Skylarking by XTC
6. The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk
7. Reign In Blood by Slayer
8. Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.
9. Licensed To Ill by Beastie Boys
10. Black Celebration by Depeche Mode