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paul's boutique

Posted by TA on October 7, 2003 at 16:21:56:
> Re: a rap CD that got good reviews, the Beastie Boy's "Paul's Boutique" -- I just can't figure out why some people like it so much.
when this came out, its production was pretty cutting edge. it sounded *denser* than anything else before, and its references (in lyrics and in samples) came from a completely different direction than most rap albums that came before. that is, the music wasn't set to funk & r&b sounds, but the band was sampling and cutting up the albums you'd find in a white person's home, and making a collage of it at a new level of sophistication. you have to remember that the beastie boys were the first white act to really break into rap.
the album also established the beastie boys as a serious act, rather than the "fight for your right to party" frat boy image they had cultivated on their first album. now that producers have computers to work with, and even obscure sources of samples have been tapped out, paul's boutique does sound dated, and i can understand how it's difficult to appreciate it's impact. the beastie boys went on to take another stylistic turn later by playing instruments on their alubms.
many albums that are important for their time don't hold up years later. you may remember that in 1992 spin magazine editors put teenage fanclub's album over nirvana's nevermind, my bloody valentine's loveless and r.e.m.'s out of time as album of the year. i remember reading that issue then, and it didn't seem so weird then.