Day 0644 - Paul’s Boutique

Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique" (1989)

The Beasties had parted company with Rick Rubin and Def Jam records, and were being written off in some corners as a bit of a one-hit wonder.

Rather than just repeat their 'bratty frat-rap over rock' approach, the Beasties enlisted the help of sampling and sonic-weaving extraordinaires: the Dust Brothers.  A good deal of the music for the album had already been completed by the DBs with the intention of it being released to clubs as an instrumental album.  The Beasties convinced them to make it the basis for their album.  The Dust Bros suggested that they could strip it back to just the beats, but the Beasties wanted the density of the sound.

There is still a bit of the smartass party rap present but the Beasties do branch out.  The interesting production acts as an a bridge to their later more serious work.  Apart from the vocals, the rest of the album is almost entirely composed of samples, and is viewed by some as one of the last big 'sample albums' before the copyright laws really started to clamp down (though the claim that the samples were never cleared has been contradicted by one of the album's engineers).

Day 0550 - Songs From the Big Chair

Tears For Fears "Songs From the Big Chair" (1985)

This is something of an 80s pop power-house.  It's an album that featured the hits "Shout", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Head over Heels" and which would go on to help TfF find success in the US as well as continuing their success in their native England.

There is the bombastic power of pop anthems like "Shout", but also the moody, noirish jazz vibe of a track like "I believe" and the low-key, vaguely world-music outro "Listen".  That variety makes for an enjoyable listening experience and stops the album from being anywhere near one dimensional.

The album title came from a film called 'Sybil' about a woman with multiple-personality disorder, who only felt safe while recounting her problems to her therapist while sat in the 'big chair' in his office.