Beastie Boys Book

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would! This book is amazing. It makes me want to go back to New York and visit some of the places they talk about. Adam H, my biggest crush, writes so much! Very well written. I love all the pictures and the level of detail. I can’t wait to finish reading it.

When this book came out I already knew that I was going to own it. I am a huge fan of music biographies and I am willing to read just about any of them. I knew this book in particular was going to be special as I wasn't the biggest fan of the Beastie Boys, I respected them as a truly creative force that stood out among the hip hop groups of the early 1980's. I originally picked this up on Audible while I was travelling for work but I went ahead and bought the book as well. Let me say that the audio format is really cool. They have a slew of musicians, actors, friends and the surviving members of the group reading this book. Like their music the book took it's self serious while maintaining the sense of humor that the Beastie Boys were known to have. As biographies go this is just one of the best. It starts at their childhood and takes you on the journey of their ups and downs as musicians. What comes out of this book is an honest reflection of their careers, mistake and creative process. You get stories of them being forced into the party band persona when they were young and their disdain of having that image. How they broke free from that and started to reform their image to become the pioneers of hip hop, social justice and equality. Learning their start as a band to their love of music and their time in the studio had me in awe of the Beastie Boys. My respect for their craft tripled and after I finished the book I sat down with their albums that I blew off years ago and listened with a new found appreciation. This is a great read for the casual to the hardcore fan. It's thoughtful, funny and just an all around engaging read. I see myself revisiting this book later on down the road. This is a great way to close out the career of the Hip-Hop legends!

UPDATE: I take back my disappointment with Amazon. They refunded my $5.00 extra I had paid when I pre-ordered it without me even asking. Good job Amazon. “And you know he weighs in pretty hefty…” Hefty is a perfect word for this book. More Chicago style pizza than NY. I’ve not read the book except a few pages I’ve skimmed since I got it a couple of hours ago. So my review is on the Book structure and printing…and unfortunately Amazon’s declining care of products it sells. The Book. As said above it’s huge. Not tall or wide but thick. “Ah, like a thick-ass book that's filled with wack rhymes”. Unlike most biographies where there are about 20 pages in the middle devoted to photos, this book has the photos and illustrations are throughout it’s entirety. It resembles a Fanzine more than a book. Plus there are tons of little extras throughout that only Beastie Fans will appreciate. The binding is quality and seems like it will stand the test of time. From what I can tell it has smyth sewn binding which make it lay fairly flat when opened on a table. This is nice because you can actually see the middle parts of this gigantic book. The paper and printing are quality as well. The paper is a non-coated stock (matte) which allows the ink to absorb into the page creating rich deep colors in the photographs. Plus the paper has a nice nostalgic smell. There are a few glossy sections but only used when appropriate, or to break up the pace of the book. Now onto the Amazon not so Prime deal I got on this book. Note: This is just me being picky. But needs to be noted in case others got the same damage on their book and paid more for it. I pre-ordered my book months ago for $35 through Amazon Prime. I now see it’s $30. “Knucklehead deli tried to gyp me on the price” I get it, prices change blah blah blah. I wouldn’t be so upset except that although my book was on my doorstep at 8am this morning which was sofa king Rad to wake up to, it is damage. The top right corner all the way through the pages to the back cover (see photos). I’ve tried to mend it myself the best I can. I’ll probably keep because it’s a waste of natural resources to ship this back because of a bent corner. I know I sound like I’m being silly about this but when it’s delivered damaged (no way this happened in shipping, the box was in perfect shape) and then you see that you could have waited and saved $5…it just gets under the skin. Anyways, if you love the Beasties and have been with them since the 80s like me, or even if you are a newer fan of this millennium…get this book. R.I.P. MCA.

Buy, steal, beg for, or borrow this book. I'm not going to get into my level of Beastie Boys fandom, because that belongs to me, and it be impossible to explain the importance and impact of the Beastie Boys have had on my life. They've been the soundtrack to my life, the good and the bad. Some of my fondest memories involve going to see them live, or having Paul's Boutique on in the background while something memorable is happening. It's difficult to put into words, though. Seriously. I am who I am (a divorced 44 year old dad of two) today because of them. One of the standout memories of my childhood was, at 11 years old, taking the bus to the next town over, and going to the record store. Inside, they were playing 'Licensed to Ill', and I'll never forget that moment. It changed my life. From what I've read so far, AdRock's chapter on cassette tapes really hit home. It's....perfect. Nostalgia personified, and he absolutely nails it - how ridiculous a method it was to record/playback music, etc., yet how critical cassette tapes were to us as kids, and how their existence and meaning shaped who we became today. To AdRock and Mike D.: A million thank-yous! I know you understand the impact you've had on multiple generations, around the world, and that's something that will live forever. Even now, 30+ years later, me and my kids belt out Beastie Boys tunes while driving around, and it's so much fun! It's truly something special, the impact and importance the Beasties had, and still have, and all I can say is: THANK YOU! For those reading, go get this book. Sure, it weighs over 3 lbs. and as thick as a college textbook (or Bible, even), but man, is it essential reading.

Great Book for all Beastie Boys fans and music buffs in general! Fantastic!

Awesome book for Beasties fans: full of interviews, photographs and artwork. It's pretty thick and is good for a substantial cover-to-cover read or just a quick flick through. If you like the band I can't imagine you wouldn't enjoy the book.

La biblia de los beastie boys. Si eres fan, es para ti

Now here's a little story I've got to tell. Back when I was 14 in 1985 I first heard the "She's on it" 12" round my friend's house and that was it - I was hooked on the Beasties. I bought the 12" for myself that weekend, and it's a record I still have to this day 34 years later. Since that moment I've been a huge fan buying all the early singles, with the release of "Licence to Ill" being a huge moment for me back then. I was there for the infamous Brixton date in 1987 with the go-go dancers in the cage and the hydraulic 'thingy' and I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I was one of thousands up and down the country that stole a VW badge or two (the technique, dear reader, was to use the brake level on your bmx for leverage to get them off. Sorry VW owners in my hometown, I was young and stupid.) Fast forward a few decades and we come to the release of this book. I pre-ordered this to get it on the day of release and then sat it on my book shelf for a while as I had tickets for the "Live and Direct" tour and I wanted to hear the stories within it told firsthand initially before reading them in print. That live and direct date was an absolute delight from start to finish, equal parts funny as hell and moving when speaking about MCA, and a real highlight of recent times for me. It's also sad realising that I'd never get to experience them live again and that was as close as I would get. On to the book itself - I'll refrain form spoiling it too much but it's been years in the making and it really shows, it's a fantastic heavyweight tome full of moments of brilliance and you don't need to be a hardcore fan to appreciate it. There's some amazing photos in there and my only regret is that I'd have liked some sort of deluxe edition with larger glossy pages to really show them off - but hey, thought might well be prohibitively expensive. I suspect that everything will find something in here and the tales of excess are stupidity are a real delight. It's a big old book but one that's east to dip into. You'll find yourself dipping in for long periods a lot though - to paraphrase it's because you can't, you don't and you won't stop reading this book until you get to the end.

Cumple mis expectativas

Fantastico, un libro emozionante e divertente, pieno di aneddoti e foto inedite del gruppo.