Beastie Boys ‘Check Your Head’ 25th Anniversary
Release date: 21st April 1992
Label: Capitol
Producers: Mario Caldato Jr.
Profile (courtesy of Wikipedia):
“Check Your Head is the third studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on April 21, 1992 by Capitol Records. Three years elapsed between the releases of the band’s second studio album Paul’s Boutique and Check Your Head, which was recorded at the G-Son Studios in Atwater Village in 1991 under the guidance of producer Mario Caldato Jr., the group’s third producer in three albums. Less sample-heavy than their previous records, the album features instrumental contributions from all three members: Adam Horovitz on lead guitar, Adam Yauch on bass guitar, and Mike Diamond on drums. It was re-released in 2009 in a number of formats and featured 16 b-sides and rarities as well as a commentary track. The album is extensively broken down track-by-track by Diamond, Yauch, Horovitz, Caldato, and frequent Beasties collaborator Money Mark in Brian Coleman’s book Check the Technique.
In contrast to their previous album, Paul’s Boutique, the Beastie Boys returned somewhat stylistically to their crust punk roots on Check Your Head, playing their own instruments for the first time on record since their early EPs (although they did provide live instrumentation on at least two songs on Paul’s Boutique). Hence photographer Glen E. Friedman’s idea to shoot photos with their instrument cases (one of which became the cover). Supposedly, a trading card with Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. from a set of Desert Storm trading cards was the inspiration for the title.”
Additional info:
- The track ‘Jimmy James’ appears on our Classic Material 1992 Mixtape.
- The album comes in at #7 in Ego Trip’s Top 25 Rap Albums of 1992.
- The single ‘So Watcha Want’ comes in at #32 in Ego Trip’s Top 40 Rap Singles of 1992.
- Listen to samples used in the making of the album on WhoSampled.
- The track ‘Pass the Mic’ appears on our 1992 Rap Megamix.
Purchase: Discogs