I finally had to replace my old copy of this. I love it! Beastie Boys' classic album mixes their "new style" lyrics (one-liners as I like to think of them) with all the classic party/dance tracks: No Sleep 'til Brooklyn, Fight for Your Right to Party, and Brass Monkey, not to mention "GIRLS". What fun it is, they obviously had so much fun with this album.

License to Ill--

Formerly a punk-rock outfit called the Young & the Useless, New Yorkers Mike D, MCA and King Ad-Rock hooked up with Def Jam founder Rick Rubin in the mid-1980's to create a hip-hop masterpiece. Released in the fall of 1986, License to Ill took both the hip-hop world and mainstream pop culture by storm. Though this was their debut LP, the three MC's traded verses like veterans. Hip-hop rhythm tracks were combined with guitar licks for one of the first rap/rock fusion efforts, sowing seeds for the sub-genre's late 90's resurgence in the likes of Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine.

Lyrically, the Beasties are basically college-age party animals throughout the album, telling wild stories about getting kicked out of White Castle, get-togethers stocked with Budweiser, and related tales of cheerful, hedonistic mayhem. In interviews, band members admitted to having a Schoolly-D fixation at the time, and so there are also some casual gun references here and there. "Slow and Low" covers an unreleased Run-DMC song, with the unforgettable line "White Castle fries only come in one size.." "Rhymin' & Stealin'" is pre-gangster rap pirate fantasy, where the Boys vow to send sucker MC's "to Davy Jones' locker.." "No Sleep `til Brooklyn" has a great guitar contribution by Slayer's Kerry King, as the Boys vow to keep the party going "eight days a week.."; the now-legendary "Paul Revere" is a cowboy fantasy (co-written with Run DMC) where the Beasties play desperadoes on the frontier, set to a reverse-drum track rhythm: "MCA was with it, and he's my ace, so I grab the piano player and I punched him in the face; piano player's out, the music stopped; his boy had beef, and he got dropped.."

The album's signature song was the top-10 pop smash "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right". The rocker is almost out of place amidst all the straightforward hip-hop, but it's just as well that it was the album's closer. The Beasties expanded the cultural diversity of rap as well as expanding its cultural acceptance worldwide.

As of 2007, the LP's 20th anniversary has already passed; a deluxe re-release is in order; it should include any unreleased songs (such as the early "Rock Hard" EP; also, bootleg releases have included rare songs like "Scenario", "I'm Down" and an alternate take of "Fight for Your Right"), as well as a DVD version of the now-rare VHS home video compilation.

In response to Rickey Wright's editorial review (this guy's an editor and didn't see this?)...

The joke, Mr. Wright, is not them crashing their jet into the side of a mountain and surviving, but rather what the image turns into when you unfold the album cover and hold it length-wise with the tail-end up. It's the image of a 'joint' being mashed out (like a cigarette in an ashtray). So I think the genius behind it works, making the obvious - unobvious.

Also, the call letters on the rear of the plane (3MTA3) actually spell 'EAT ME' when viewed in reverse - which is what is usually done when you're smokin' a fatty and 'Jake' is on ya.

As for the album itself - CLASSIC! True Beastie Boy gold!

Who didn't listen to the Beastie Boys back in the '80's? Their crossover appeal to rap and rock fans made the group one of the biggest hits during that era. The album was indicative of their unique style of rap, along with their penchant for including heavy rock sounds/backgrounds into their music. Although some thought that this album was a bit commercialized, it didn't keep it from becoming one of the most popular releases during that time. "Brass Monkey" is a memorable track that almost every Beastie fan can sing along to, and "Fight For Your Right" almost became an anthem for party-crazed teens in the '80's. "Time To Get Ill" was one of my favorite songs on this album, since it displayed skilled Dj'ing and catchy backdrop beats. Lyrics were also easy to memorize, which always helps when you feel like rappin' along with the track being played in your car. "Hold It Now, Hit It" is still one of the most sampled tracks in today's rap songs, and its catchy beat and rhythm allows for regular play in many listener's stereos. "She's Crafty" and "The New Style" were less-known hits, but still allows for fans to enjoy, as beats and sounds are similar to other hits... but, just different enough to keep the album from being boring. With their unique style and memorable lyrics, who wouldn't want to buy this album for the right price?

I've waited way too long to buy this album. This album is definitely a must-have in my book, not only for pioneering the area of Caucasian rap, but also for the unique style of rap that they brought. As I get older, it makes me sad when I see the generation gap, and "Fight For Your Right" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" isn't part of the new generation's collective memory. If I ever have a child, I'm buying the casette tape for this album, sticking it a boombox, putting that boombox on my shoulder, and blasting "Paul Revere" as the child exits the womb. These songs are simply classics, and it's a crime for kids today to not know what they are.

I can remember buying this when it came out, but somehow lost it, and recently repurchased it. These rhymes are that good...Wearing headphones at the mall, I burst into laughter and got many stares when they sang "I got a girlie in a castle, and one in a pagoda, and I got rhymes like Abe Vigoda!" How can you beat this stuff? Very fun, musically sound, well done all around.

this is the best rap album of all time. no one comes close. this will never be beat.

If you liked them on the radio this is the album for you. Nearly every song often played was released on this disc, and those lesser heard songs are just as good. One of the best albums I have ever bought.

this was fun to listen to. it takes us back to a time when life was less stressful and music was more enjoyable. Enjoy!

I got your attention you see WHITE RAPPERS and think oh no here we go again. Well I have to say I have been listening to hip hop for 25 years now and have over 45,000 records yeah im 37 but know more about hip hop than the average person on the Street. Back to the review when this album came out it was 1986 and no one had really heard of these guys but after all the hype started it was like a wild fire. Me being a white guy was blown away by these guys as I had something to relate to. Well when I bought this album I was amazed at how many cuts were that good on the album Brass Monkey and Paul Revere are my two favorites on there. I was like I have to see these guys in concert which I did in 1986. My first concert I had ever been to and it was going to be the Beastie Boys I was in awe going to the Capital Center in Landover to see these guys. Well I got to the Cap Center to see them and this group opened up for them some group called Public Enemy who was fairly new but really sounded good. Hell who would know at that time that they would become one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time and here I am watching Chuck,Flav and Terminator X perform. Well PE did there thing and I was a fan right there after they were done. Well the Buzz was going in the Cap Center waiting for the Beastie Boys to come on. They finally came on and I was hyped up for this. When the lights came on there were females danceing in cages and a giant inflatable Penis on stage. I was sitting there at 16 and like there living the life. Well they came out and did there thing had the beer on stage and were like crack heads :) They had so much energy through out the show they never slowed down at all. To this day I am still a fan of the Beastie Boys and support them. Thanks for a great concert in 1986.

I was 13 years old when I got the vinyl LP for the Beastie Boys debut album. This was the era of Run-DMC, Eric B. and Rakim, LL Cool J, etc. Most of the rappers in this so-called golden age of hip-hop pretty much rapped over sampled and mixed beats and scratching. The Beastie Boys debut album, Licensed to Ill, added a new flavor in that mix: rock riffs combined with hip-hop beats and scratches. The fact that they were a trio of white kids from Brooklyn only helped to add to their charm.

Licensed to Ill doesn't deviate from the tried-and-true one-up-manship in the lyrics. Most of the tracks include bragging, partying, and a slew of other juvenile acts. It was great. My favorite tracks from this album has to be "Brass Monkey", "Paul Revere", "Hold It Now, Hit It", and "Slow and Low". They've become better artists since their debut in 1986, but none of their later albums have had the same kid of impact as Licensed to Ill nor as fun as that first album.

Old school. If you have a teen into rap this is a great alternative to "SHOW THE PUPS" how it was done before all women were treated as dirt in videos and and gangsters were hero's. The topic is party. the beat is rap/rock and it the "BOYS" influenced many of todays artists. And the infamous Brass Monkey song is still HOT HOT HOT. If you're a fan of any rap or roc or a parent that wants to add some depth to your teen's gangster heavy library-head to the old school kind of cool and you will find music you can both live with.

Anyway this cd deserves to be remastered and re-released for it's 20th anniversary. I think def jam can afford that.

I just can't think of a good title to start this review. Same thing when I first wrote this review.

I've had this album forever, and it still rocks, for the most part. It's crude, stupid, and tasteless, but that's the way we like it sometimes! If you can't at least take a laugh (even a "ha ha this sucks, these clowns _____") of the lyrics on this album, you are way too uptight. Crank it loud! Annoy some old people. Well not all old people, believe me, my grandma could dance to some of the beats on here (no joke)!

Their debut is definitely the most immature album they have recorded. I'm cool with that. It's not their best, can't compare to Paul's Boutique or Ill Communication. Basically, it maybe be one of their worst, but it's still a great listen. Heck, some of the funniest songs are on here. Well, the jokes wore thin with me, but that's because this album spun and spun ENDLESSLY when I first got it. It may have been one of my most prized possesions back in the day. No wonder...
Must have been the hilarious Girls
The all out funky Brass Monkey
The hilarious samples on Time To Get Ill
More laugh out loud hilarity on The New Style

It was a breath of fresh air to me, since the stuff I used to live on was _______ pop music like Aaron Carter. But please, don't buy this one only.

7.5/10

Many people state that the Beastie's are not as great as they were back in the early 80's, Check your head is 10000 times better than this, although this is a great album. My favorites include(besides the obvious, No sleep till, Fight for your Right, and Brass Monkey, ect.):

Slow Ride
Posse in Effect
The New Style
Paul Revere and of course the awsome Time to Get Ill

This is undoubtably the Beasties' best CD. There still great now, but on here they're more Rap/Rock, which they left behind later on for straight up rap/hip-hop, which isn't a bad thing. Most rap nowadays really sucks goats(*cough*cough50centmikejonesliljonseanpaulpaulwall *cough*cough). This great disc features such classics as Girls, No Sleep Til' Brooklyn(the Beasties best song), Rymin and Stealin(which has a rather nice tribute to The Clash), Fight For Your Right, Hold it Now Hit It, And the infamous Brass Monkey. If you're a fan of any rap or rock, I highly reccomend this amazing CD.

I was gonna write a negative review of this album until, one cold gray day in 1987, I was told that BY LAW YOU MUST LIKE THE BEASTIE BOYS!! I said, wait, "I don't like songs about parties and retarded sexuality." YOU MUST LIKE THE BEASTIE BOYS!!!!! Two jackbooted thugs from Rolling Stone put me in cuffs and dragged me to their offices and put me in a cell where I was forced to listen to this album and all the Beasties records for two weeks straight. I said: "This is torture." They said: YOU MUST LIKE THIS ALBUM AND PAUL'S BOUTIQUE even more. After the 1,000th listen, while being forced to guzzle Natty Light beer and read the works of the Buddha, I submitted. Now, I walk in a daze singing "Brass Monkey." I like the Beasties now, I really do. And I want to make sure the music police know that.

Perhaps Licensed to Ill was inevitable - a white group blending rock and rap, giving them the first number one album in hip-hop history. But that reading of the album's history gives a short shrift to the Beastie Boys; producer Rick Rubin and his label, Def Jam; and this remarkable record, since mixing metal and hip-hop isn't necessarily an easy thing to do. Just sampling and scratching Sabbath and Zeppelin to hip-hop beats does not make for an automatically good record, though there is a visceral thrill to hearing those muscular riffs put into overdrive with scratching.

But, much of that is due to the producing skills of Rick Rubin, a metalhead who formed Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons and had previously flirted with this sound on Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, not to mention a few singles and one-offs with the Beasties prior to this record. He made rap rock, but to give him lone credit for Licensed to Ill (as some have) is misleading, since that very same combination would not have been as powerful, nor would it have aged so well - aged into a rock classic - if it weren't for the Beastie Boys, who fuel this record through their passion for subcultures, pop culture, jokes, and the intoxicating power of wordplay. At the time, it wasn't immediately apparent that their obnoxious patter was part of a persona (a fate that would later plague Eminem), but the years have clarified that this was a joke - although, listening to the cajoling rhymes, filled with clear parodies and absurdities, it's hard to imagine the offense that some took at the time. Which, naturally, is the credit of not just the music - they don't call it the devil's music for nothing - but the wild imagination of the Beasties, whose rhymes sear into consciousness through their gonzo humor and gleeful delivery.

There hasn't been a funnier, more infectious record in pop music than this, and it's not because the group is mocking rappers (in all honesty, the truly twisted barbs are hurled at frat boys and lager lads), but because they've already created their own universe and points of reference, where it's as funny to spit out absurdist rhymes and pound out "Fight for Your Right (To Party)" as it is to send up street-corner doo wop with "Girls." Then, there is the overpowering loudness of the record - operating from the axis of where metal, punk, and rap meet, there never has been a record this heavy and nimble, drunk on its own power yet giddy with what they're getting away with. There is a sense of genuine discovery, of creating new music, that remains years later, after countless plays, countless misinterpretations, countless rip-off acts, even countless apologies from the Beasties, who seemed guilty by how intoxicating the sound of it is, how it makes beer-soaked hedonism sound like the apogee of human experience. And maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but in either case, Licensed to Ill reigns tall among the greatest records of its time.

I'd have to say that I was the perfect age when this album came out. I was 15 and just into high-school. I had the tape, the shirt, and I thought it was so cool that on the cover, the numbers on the plane were 3MTA3. Sure there was rap and rock on albums before this, but this was the big splash right here. "Licensed To Ill" was stupid, loud, fun, and totally awesome. Not only did it contain the anthem of a generation in "Fight For Your Right", but every other track was great as well. Everybody loved the un-PC "Girls", "Brass Monkey", and I know a million people out there could still sing "Paul Revere" word for word. It definitely ushered in a new era of rap, rock, and alternative music in one package. I might not like it as much as their next album, but I still find "Time To Get Ill" often.

. Rhymin & Stealin 0/10
2. The New Style 2/10
3. She's Crafty 8/10
4. Posse In Effect 10/10
5. Slow Ride 5/10
6. Girls 10/10
7. Fight For Your Right 10/10
8. No Sleep Till Brooklyn 10/10
9. Paul Revere 10/10
10. Hold It Now, Hit It 10/10
11. Brass Monkey 10/10
12. Slow And Low 5/10
13. Time To Get Ill 5/10
this is a great cd. i've listen to them sence i was 5. i'm now 15. you won't be disapionted by this cd.
toledo's east side juggalette

You can't say enough about this album. Classic rock samples, great DJ scratching, irresistibly funky beats and three of the hottest emcees (with undoubtedly the best chemistry hip-hop has ever seen, and still is today 20 years after their debut) in hip-hop all combined together to make one of rap's landmark albums. 5 mics from the source, 5 stars from Amazon and more radio play than anything I've ever heard. Hell, 103.9 (it's not even hip-hop, it's an alternative rock station!) here in Arizona is still playing "Girls" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" on a regular basis and the songs are older than half the kids that listen to Fall Out Boy or whatever else they play. What the hell have you been doing if you dont have this album already?

YEAH BRING BACK SOME GOOD TIMES,WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID.

This album is a classic and a real breakthrough of hip hop influence. The Beastie Boys are a fresh blend of rhymes and beats that are just true to the roots of hip hop. They are fearless when it comes to collaborating their sounds with rock.

Obviously Rock Fan doesn't even know what he's claiming. Just because they made a hit rock song doesn't mean that's all they can do. If you look deep into the origins of rock and roll, those were slang terms by slaves for 'sex'. Therefore, rock and roll AND hip hop are the sounds of African-American culture. If you are a classic rock fan, you would know that. In a sense, dissing hip hop means you are dissing rock and roll as well. Gotta know your roots.

You gotta love this album, it's completley juvenile, its dated, its cheesy, but it's still 100% awesome, to the max! And I mean that literally.
The BEASTIE BOYS were the first type of rap music that I ever really got into via the numerous rock samples on this record. I dig this album because it's hillarious. A few of my buddies memorized practically the whole thing and we used to bust it out outside of CHRISTIES MARKET back in the day.
"CHillin' on the corner on a HOT summers day..."

We used to pretend we were the BEASTIE BOYS as if they were cartoon charecters (which they ARE in my brain).

NO I WANNA BE ADROCK!
SORRY MAN I CALLED IT, YOU CAN BE MCA
BUT I DONT WANNA BE MCA!

Anyway, I'm sure its all been said about this one, ALLS I REALLY GOT TO SAY IS THIS:

If you think this album is the best than you obviously have not heard the 1989 follow up PAULS BOUTIQUE, which is insane genius with all the elements that make this album a classic and MORE. MUCH MUCH MORE! LICSENSED TO ILL is awesomely AWESOME but it is still (as considered) a novelty album. PAULS BOUTIQUE IS THE GREATEST ALBUM OF ALLL TIME!

I love the Beastie Boys and you can't go wrong with an oldie but goodie.

This album is so dated,
Rap is so derivative,
"Fight for your Right" is alright,
but the rest is sedative. ("As Abe Vigoda...!)

Rap will fade,
Rap will wither,
As evidenced by this,
Rappin' time filler.

Sixty years from now,
what music will they play?
In rapper-old-age-homes,
Maybe Ice Ice Babaaay?

Licensed To Ill was one of my very first cassette tapes I ever owned. I owned this back in Ames, Iowa when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I remember being very afraid of getting caught listening to this tape because it contained quite a few bad words for its time.

There some absolute classics on this album. This album launched a very successful career for the B-Boys. This is a good-times record. Licensed to Ill is all about fun, and has a great party atmosphere.

Also, it was one of the first albums to blend rock and hip-hop. Groundbreaking for its time, it still rocks today!

Debut (official) album, 1986

Before the Beastie Boys released Licensed to Ill, they were a punk band that made extremely short songs on an album that wasn't picked up by a major record label. However, once a few old members left and new ones entered, the Beastie Boys started focusing more on rap and were signed by Def Jam records and released Licensed to Ill, which became the top-selling hip hop album of the 1980's, especially because of "Fight For Your Right". Now, nearly twenty years later, you can still rediscover the classic that changed hip hop forever.

Licensed to Ill isn't for everyone but it's a great treat for the people it is for. The lyrics have mischievious comments about life in high school and doing lots of drugs, but with their energetic attitude, the Beastie Boys deliver it in a rather funny way. Other topics include going crazy for girls ("She's Crafty", "Girls"), doing anything just to avoid school ("Fight For Your Right"), and even an interesting story ("Paul Revere"). The only song that isn't silly is "Slow and Low", which was originally done by Run DMC. Profanity isn't really a big concern for kids listening to this, but the content is definitely explicit enough that Licensed to Ill would've deserved Parental Advisory if that existed back then, but hey, without the explicitness, this would have never been the classic it is today.

Production can get pretty darn experimental on here. The Beastie Boys are fond of taking a few songs and sampling their elements together to build some of the craziest beats you'll ever hear. Even though the sound isn't really original, it's still an innovative tactic and fits the hilarious lyrics well. The Beastie Boys also include a lot of punk influence in some of the stuff on here, especially in "Fight For Your Right" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", which I didn't care for at first but soon found to be a really cool song.

With all things said, Licensed to Ill is perhaps the Beastie Boys' greatest attempt at music, and will likely remain their best album forever. It's true that this was the era when they were the most creative, and that explains why it was a classic. Overall, a great buy if you want to have fun with music.

(I'm not really a kid)This album is a supurb blend of rock and rap. My fav on this album is Brass Monkey. To know the difference between the Beasties back in the 80's, when this album was released, and the Beasties now, listen to this. Then listen to their most recent album, To the 5 Broughs. They've changed alot, but they're still the same, great rock band/rap group.

this is more like 3.5 stars. the beasties were a fun band and this is pretty much a fun album, but I think that the samples don't add that much to the music and honestly, it seems stupid to me oftentimes. when I am feeling strange and funky inside I put this on, but it is not something I come back to often. It is also not very consistent, and varies little from the "yo I'm so bad" format and repeats itself a lot.
that said, songs like "no sleep til Brooklyn" and "girls" are highly enjoyable, and it was songs like those that convinced me to keep this cd. The beastie boys typically have a good amount of filler, but the whole point of the band was to be "terrible, and admit it" which is a fun and self deprecating thing for them. you should check this out sometime if you feel curious, it is kind of a novelty from back in the day.

At it's time of release in 1986 the blend of rock/rap/hip-hop was the greatest combination for the production found on Licensed To Ill. Not only was this the Beastie Boys debut, it was a breakthrough for rap being this was some white boys doing it. "...the three bad brothers we know so well..." had everything covered from hardcore, party, comedy into this 13 track release. Production was done by co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, Rick Rubin. Getting help from all angles, Run-DMC wrote "Slow And Low" and also co-wrote with the Boys the classic, ever so sampled "Paul Revere". Beastie Boys often flowed in and out well to give us each a part of their personality that still hasn't been duplicated by a rap group to date. All tracks were basically singles, with no fillers, interludes or featured guests.

When it comes to early hip hop...the possibilities were'nt necessarilly endless. The rules basically were if you have some flow and a good dj you were in...oh yeah by the way, ya gotta be black. But Rick Rubin thought otherwise by signing these Jewish Manhattan MC's to his Def Jam label and made hip hop a household name in white suburban America. Not only did white kids love the Beastie Boys, but most hip hop lovers in general loved them. And judging by this album...i can see why:
1.Rhymin & Stealin-A+
2.The New Style-A-
3.She's Crafty-A-
4.Posse In Effect-B
5.Slow Ride-B+
6.Girls-B+
7.Fight For Your Right-A+(3rd Best On CD)
8.No Sleep Till Brooklyn-A+(Best On CD)
9.Paul Revere-A+(2nd Best On CD)
10.Hold It Now, Hit It-A
11.Brass Monkey-A+
12.Slow and Low-A
13.Time To Get Ill-A

If you really sit down and take in all the music on this CD you'll understand it was really ground breaking when it was released, lot's of people can't get past the dorky, obnoxious presence they had then, but the music is excellent. The rapping blends perfectly with the beats in every song, it's produced by Rick Rubin and there's a guest shot from Kerry King of Slayer! Excellence, period. Everyone should own this CD.

Way before Eminem was catching trouble with Ja Rule, this 3-man white boys from the depth of New York's Lower East Side were making it possible for ol' folks of a lighter shade to grab the mic. Though Licenced to Ill was listed in hip-hop's boom bap peculiar smug sensibility that proved popular with Middle America.
The Beastie Boys showed the world that they could play with hip-hop in new ways. Their deliciously twisted Paul Revere was cleverly narrated by the Beastie Boys and the tunes for Hold It Now, Hit It and Brass Monkey seemed irregular and anarchaic. The album was a masterpiece, birthing classic cuts such as the burly (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party), which remains as one of the ultimate rap party anthems 'til this very day. White men may not be able to jump but this 3-man group destroyed the premise that Caucasians couldn't be slamming on the microphone.

Best moments= (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party), No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Paul Revere, Hold it Now, Hit It, Brass Monkey and Slow and Low

This is a GREAT album. Not a single bad song. I EXTREMLEY reccomend it, whether you're a Beasties fan, a rock fan, or a hip-hop fan. It's good music and the lyrics and so true nad can be funny.