Day 0567 - Licensed to Ill

Beastie Boys "Licensed to Ill" (1986)

The Beasties started off as an obnoxious, 'in your face' hardcore punk band, but tired of the limitations imposed by the expectations of fans of that genre.  The boys dropped a couple of members and gained another to slowly evolve into an obnoxious, 'in your face' hip hop group.

The Beasties kept the party vibe and anarchic spirit of punk while stretching their musical wings a bit more; mixing punk and metal riffs with turntables and rap.   The more serious political sound that the band would move towards later on is not really here, but the sonic experimentalism is.

This went on to become one of the most commercially successful hip hop albums... I wish it could be said that it had nothing to do with a passively (or even actively) racist recording industry, but it's unlikely.  To be fair though, this is a musically interesting album that is not undeserving of some success.

Day 0540 - Cafe Bleu

The Style Council "Cafe Bleu" (1984)

Style Council is another band that I knew by name, but didn't really know much of anything about their music.  In my mind, I think I'd frequently confuse them with Culture Club (who can keep all these clubs and councils separate?).

The Style Council though are a completely different ticket.  With a fairly diverse sound that dips into pop and soul, but mostly hangs around the jazz scene.  Whether it's the almost stride sound of "Mick's blessings", the latin jazz of "the Whole Point of no Return" or the beautiful guest spot from Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn on "The Paris Match".

There are some nice instrumentals on the album along with the great songs.  The only real misstep is the attempt at rap in "a gospel", and even that could've been worse than it is.