Ill Communication

Review

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ill Communication follows the blueprint of Check Your Head, accentuating it at some points, deepening it in others, but never expanding it beyond the boundaries of that record. As such, it's the first Beastie Boys album not to delve into new territory, but it's not fair to say that it finds the band coasting, since much of the album finds the group turning in muscular, vigorous music that fills out the black-and-white sketches that comprised Check Your Head. Much of the credit has to go to the group's renewed confidence in -- or at least renewed emphasis on -- their rhyming; there are still instrumentals (arguably, there are too many instrumentals), but the Beasties do push their words to the forefront, even on dense rockers like the album's signature tune, "Sabotage." But even those rhymes illustrate that the group is in the process of a great …  » Read more

Tracks

				Title	Composer	Time
		1		Sure Shot	Beastie Boys, Caldato, DJ Hurricane	3:19
		2		Tough Guy	AWOL , Beastie Boys	0:57
		3		B-Boys Makin' With the FreakFreak	Beastie Boys	3:36
		4		Bobo on the Corner	Beastie Boys, Bobo, Money Mark	1:13
		5		Root Down	Beastie Boys	3:32
		6		Sabotage	Beastie Boys	2:58
		7		Get It Together	Beastie Boys, Davis	4:05
		8		Sabrosa	Beastie Boys, Bobo, Money Mark	3:29
		9		The Update	Beastie Boys, Caldato, Money Mark	3:15
		10		Futterman's Rule	Beastie Boys, Money Mark	3:42
		11		Alright Hear This	Beastie Boys	3:06
		12		Eugene's Lament	Beastie Boys, Bobo, Gore, Money Mark	2:12
		13		Flute Loop	Beastie Boys, Caldato	1:54
		14		Do It	Beastie Boys, Biz Markie, Caldato…	3:16
Composed by: Beastie Boys, Biz Markie, Caldato, Money Mark
		15		Ricky's Theme	Beastie Boys, Bobo, Money Mark	3:43
		16		Heart Attack Man	AWOL , Beastie Boys	2:14
		17		The Scoop	Beastie Boys, Caldato	3:36
		18		Shambala	Beastie Boys, Bobo, Money Mark	3:40
		19		Bodhisattva Vow	Beastie Boys, Caldato	3:08
		20		Transitions	Beastie Boys, Money Mark	2:31

indicates Track Pick

indicates a click-through to a song review

Releases

Other Editions