Paul’s Boutique

Absolute classic rap album. Has a unique feeling all the way through. Naive and playful pass-the-mic goodness.

This was a reeeally good record. I love this sound. Loved the samples and almost everything about it. There are some stronger, some weaker tracks, but all around i is at least a low 5

'It's the joint.' Paul's Boutique is the logical continuation of License to Ill, which sets the standard for witty rhymes and sample-based production. Tho this goes full throttle in the direction of an avant-garde explosion, it's still dedicated to 'all the girls,' and the three white boys are in no mood to be overly serious: 'A strapped shoplifter, a pirate on cassette'; 'Well, me in the corner with a good-lookin' daughter'; 'I love girlies, waxin' and milkin'.' Musically, things culminate most brilliantly on 'High Plains Drifter,' 'The Sounds of Science,' and 'Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun,' all of which contribute to a sonic experience that is equally brash and temperate. No other Hip-hop record is as unorthodox or as hilariously smashing as this.

Really good album, would’ve been a 5⭐️ if not for the B-Boy Bouillabaisse at the end. It didn’t do much for me

To call this simply a Beastie Boys album is a bit of a misnomer, because Paul's Boutique was a team effort between the boys and the Dust Brothers to create a fresh and innovative venture in the world of sample-based hip-hop.

The production takes center stage as they got wildly creative with the many samples and how they are interweaved in these tracks. Having listened to a fair amount of tracks beforehand, it was fun to follow along and pick out different elements that were inserted, chopped, spliced, slowed down, sped up, and manipulated in other such manners. The bassline from Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" with the string arrangements from the themes of Psycho and Saw on "Egg Man", the multiple Beatles samples on "The Sounds of Science", the opening drums of Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" into a combination of riffs from Gene Harris and The Three Sounds, "Put On Train," and Alice Cooper's "It's Hot Tonight" on "What Comes Around", the back masked guitar play from the Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Are You Experienced?" on "B-Boy Bouillabaisse: 59 Chrystie Street", ending the album on a scratched-out sample of Chic's "Good Times" on "B-Boy Bouillabaisse: A.W.O.L.", I could go on. The samples are even incorporated as ad-libs in the Beastie Boys' rapping, such as the titular phrases for "Shake Your Rump" and "Hey Ladies". Even the Beastie Boys themselves are sampled from their first album, such as the "Kick it" line from "Fight For Your Right (To Party)" on "Johnny Ryall". If this album were just instrumental like the Dust Brothers originally intended, it would have been an underground classic already.

Adding to the experience were the Beastie Boys themselves, with such tight lyrical focus as MCA, Mike D and Ad-Rock effectively bounced off each other's flows. Between the numerous lyrical references, the aforementioned sample ad-lib incorporation, witty humor and self-awareness of the image they garnered from Licensed to Ill, they made the most of their rhymes over the foundation they created with the Dust Brothers.

Between the lyrics and production, never once did Paul's Boutique get stale or overwhelming for me. This is an astounding record from the golden age of hip hop, before copyright laws caught up with sampling. In a word, game-changer.

I didn't go in thinking this was going to be good, but it ended up really impressing me! The songs were pretty varied, the sampling was pretty impressive, and I loved the rock elements that really came in on the second half of the album. 3.7/5 -> 4/5

From what I know of the Beastie Boys, I was prepared to hate this album, but I get why people like this. I don't know who the Dust Brothers are, but they do good work. I still don't like the group. The album as a whole isn't entirely unlistenable, and that's really the highest praise I can give.

Sometimes described as "the Sgt. Pepper of hip-hop", eh? Probably by Jim Shearer, former host of the MTV2 Rock Countdown! The main Beastie Boys association I have is "that man sure loves the Beastie Boys". For me, they're kind of nostalgic, I guess, but that feeling only sustains me for a few minutes, and this album is much longer than a few minutes. Not really my thing, Jim Shearers aside. Lotta egg talk.

Highlights: the phrase "bald feet".

os beat e o uso dos samples aqui são absurdo demais. muito bem produzido e mixado, fiquei supreso.

mas é só isso mesmo. não piro mto no hiphop deles não, mas eles mandaram muito nessa produção aqui. o bom uso dos samples carregou o album nas costas papo reto

Did not put its hooks into me and my sense of nostalgia like License to Ill did. I didn't particularly dislike anything about it, but didn't love anything about it either.

I’ve been listening to this album on a regular basis since the 1990s and I never get tired of it.

I enjoy later Beasties more than this one but it is a major achievement. O wonder how many records from this list are sampled on it.

The Good: We learn that Paul, so it seems, has a boutique!
The Bad: We never really find out why we are informed about his boutique…
The Ugly: I guess that means that I am not allowed into the secret club…

I am no fan of drum machines.
I am no fan of sampling.
I am no fan of rap music.

For me 1989 was a transition year, so I was listening to “old” records and not spending too much time listening to new product being released… for now, it seems like I did not miss out on anything.

2* because I didn’t hate it entirely

Another masterpiece. Trying to think of other artists who did anything like this - MAYBE Run DMC? - just can't think of any. Killer rhymes, sweet-ass grooves, so much funk, always tongue-in-cheek, pure entertainment. A huge step from their first album, which was a blast in its own right. Loved it.

Classic

Really fun to try and recognise as many of the samples as you can. I really like this album, but it's not the Beastie Boys album I keep coming back to. Lots of great music on here though.

I read recently that it is possible to breathe through your anus. This album proves that it is also possible to sing through it.

Die Band, zeigt einen innovativen Einsatz von Sampling mit genreübergreifenden Einfluss.
Es ist kein völlig misslungenes Werk. Der etwas aggressivere Gesangsstil verleiht dem Sound eine musikalischere Note. Dennoch fehlten für mich die Highlights, und es entstand kein gesteigerter Wunsch, das Album erneut zu hören. Insgesamt bleibt es hinter meinen Hoffnungen zurück - zu wenig für den 3. Stern.

joo tokaa levyä tätä bändiä ei kyllä jaksais. ihan hauska se eka mutta tää kyllästyttää jo puolen välin kohdalla. 2/5

Sounded like a bunch of year 7's showing off and trying to be hard

I never want to hear this album again

1 ⭐️