Maps of Music

Ill Communication (1994)

Where the lyrics of Ill Communication take you, and where it was really made.

The lead single's backing track was laid down by the band and then sat unused for a year before vocals were added.

Key places

Tin Pan Alley Studios (1994)

Recording site Tin Pan Alley Studios — The band recorded its fourth album at Tin Pan Alley between 1993 and 1994. The backing track of Sabotage was also laid down here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

G-Son Studios (1994)

Recording site G-Son Studios — G-Son Studios is listed as a place where the album was recorded and mixed. The band recorded the album there between 1993 and 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Atwater Village (1994)

Recording site Atwater Village — Atwater Village is listed in the release credits as a place where the album was recorded. The credits also list it as a mixing location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ill Communication: fourth studio album by the American hip-hop group Beastie Boys
• Released May 23, 1994 by Grand Royal and Capitol Records
• Co-produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr.
• Draws on hip-hop, punk rock, jazz and funk; among the band's most varied releases
• Continues the move away from sampling toward live instruments that began with Check Your Head (1992)

Background

• Band became more ambitious after the commercial and critical rebound of Check Your Head
• Formed the Grand Royal label, signed other artists and published Grand Royal Magazine
• Contributed to the AIDS benefit album No Alternative during this period
• Influenced by Miles Davis's jazz rock albums On the Corner (1972) and Agharta (1975) while recording

Recording

• Recorded from 1993 to 1994 at Tin Pan Alley and G-Son Studios
• Atwater Village is listed among the recording locations in the release credits
• Musical contributions from Money Mark, Eric Bobo and Amery AWOL Smith
• Vocal contributions from Q-Tip and Biz Markie

Cover

• Front cover photo taken by Bruce Davidson in 1964 at Tiny Naylor's, a Los Angeles drive-in diner, for an Esquire assignment
• Esquire ultimately did not publish the photos
• Booklet middle pages feature the artwork Gaia by Alex Grey
• Packaging created by Mike D and MCA with Gibran Evans

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• The Beastie Boys were an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1981.
• They began as a hardcore punk band, having previously been members of the Young Aborigines.
• Adam Yauch replaced the departing bassist Jeremy Shatan, and the band took the name Beastie Boys.
• The 1983 single "Cooky Puss" won local success and marked their full move into hip-hop.

Members

• The main line-up was Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass) and Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums).
• Yauch also directed many of the group's music videos under the alias Nathanial Hörnblowér.

Career

• Their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986) was the first rap album to top the Billboard 200.
• Paul's Boutique (1989) was made with the Dust Brothers and was a commercial failure but gained critical acclaim.
• Check Your Head (1992) and Ill Communication (1994) found mainstream success.
• Hello Nasty (1998) and To the 5 Boroughs (2004) followed, and the instrumental album The Mix-Up came in 2007.
• Their final album was Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011).
• The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, becoming the third rap group so honored.
• Yauch died of parotid cancer in 2012, and the group disbanded.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Village Voice critic Robert Christgau rated the album A- and praised its rich rhymes and complex synthesis
• Pitchfork's Nate Patrin gave the album 8.6 out of 10 and argued it was better than often assumed

Reappraisal

• Critically acclaimed at release and in the years since
• Often regarded as one of Beastie Boys' best albums
• Has appeared on best-of lists for albums released in the 1990s

Records

• Debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 in the week of June 18, 1994, the band's second number-one album
• Charted in over a dozen other countries
• Remained on the charts for 63 weeks
• Certified triple platinum by the RIAA, the band's second album with that certification
• Placed number 15 on The Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop poll, number 19 on Spin's best albums of '94, number 3 on NME's top 50 albums of 1994, and number 13 on The Wire's critics' poll
• Ranked number 54 on Mojo's 100 modern classics list

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The lead single Sabotage was accompanied by a music video directed by Spike Jonze that parodied 1970s cop shows
• Sabotage's backing track was laid down by the band at Tin Pan Alley Studios, then sat unused for a year under the working title Chris Rock before vocals were added
• According to Ad-Rock in the 2020 documentary Beastie Boys Story, the lyrics of Sabotage are a fictitious rant about their producer
• Bruce Davidson had not heard the band's music before agreeing to let them use his photo, and he later recalled the demo tape sounding like a secret language
• Ill Communication was released together with Get It Together, which samples the Moog Machine's cover of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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