Beastie Boys - 'Solid Gold Hits' (Parlophone) Released 07/11/05

"We wanted to join the ranks of Elton John, Steve Miller, Kenny Loggins, Cher. We figured it was about time for us to be with them."  That’s how Adrock justified this contract-fulfilling rehash of 1999’s ‘Sounds of Science’ anthology to himself.  Whether he’s being facetious or not, if there’s any of you who need another way to spend £15 on fifty minutes of that infamous “nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah-NAH” rhythm, then this is exactly ‘What’cha Want’.

The thing with the Beastie Boys is that contrary to what MTV will tell you, they’re not really a singles band. Seriously!  Sure, they’ve got some classics, but for every anthemic ‘Fight For Your Right’, there’s a dismal frat-rap by numbers ‘Triple Trouble’.  The albums, on the other hand, are a completely different matter. The disc many view as their magnum opus, ‘Hello Nasty’, took in elements of electronica, trip-hop, straight-up funk, Latin, and world music. It even had a bunch of instrumental tracks ferchristsake! To be fair, this record does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a collection of their most famous songs, their hits.  It just doesn’t show how diverse this band really can be, playing much more on their beer-boy past than the socially conscious political activists they’ve later become. 

If you want nothing more than a ‘Beastie Boys Party Album’ though, you’d be hard pressed to do better than this.  Even the most rabid fan would admit that they’re not the most prolific band in the world, so there’s none of the tracklisting disappointments that you’d get with a single CD collection of the aforementioned Mr John’s chart smashes. They’re all here, from ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’ right up to last year’s ‘An Open Letter To NYC’, proving that no matter how far those Tibetan monks lead them astray, they’re always true to their New York roots. All that’s missing is a giant dancing robot, and a Spike Jonze directed video.