90's Hit Parade #96

Beastie Boys - Funky Boss

Adolescence is a time for manifestos and mission statements, to defiantly tell the world "this is who I am." You might make several contradictory mission statements over the course of adolescence. That's just how it is. And that's pretty much what the Beastie Boys' two 80's albums are: definitive statements of "who we are," at least for the moment.

In the 90's, the Beastie Boys entered that phase of late adolescence/early adulthood where one becomes less sure of who one is, and embarked on a decade of experimentation and discovery. Check Your Head is like their summer backpacking through Europe, or the year they decided they were bisexual. They try on different styles, different sounds, different combinations. It's a bit messy, but man does it sound good. I love the way DJ Hurricane just lets the reggae record he's been scratching throughout the song play at the end. It only adds to the funky stoner dorm room sound of the track. They would build on this sound, producing more focused versions of it on Ill Communication instrumentals like "Sabrosa," "Ricky's Theme" and "Transformations," but I love the chaos on this track.