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Check Your Head

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For the Buckcherry song, see "Check Your Head" (song). For the TV episode, see "Check Your Head" (Young Rock).

Check Your Head is the third studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on April 21, 1992, by Grand Royal and Capitol Records. Three years elapsed between the releases of the band's previous studio album Paul's Boutique (1989) and Check Your Head, which was recorded at the G-Son Studios in Atwater Village in 1991 under the guidance of producer Mario Caldato Jr., the group's third producer in as many albums. Less sample-heavy than their previous records, the album features instrumental contributions from all three members: Adam Horovitz on guitar, Adam Yauch on bass guitar, and Mike Diamond on drums.

Check Your Head
Studio album by
Beastie Boys
ReleasedApril 21, 1992 (1992-04-21)
Recorded1991–1992
StudioG-Son, Atwater Village, California
Genre
Length53:29
Label
ProducerMario Caldato Jr.
Beastie Boys chronology
Paul's Boutique
(1989) 		Check Your Head
(1992) 		Some Old Bullshit
(1994)
Singles from Check Your Head
  1. "Pass the Mic"
    Released: April 7, 1992
  2. "So What'cha Want"
    Released: June 2, 1992
  3. "Jimmy James"
    Released: August 28, 1992
  4. "Gratitude"
    Released: October 4, 1992
  5. "Professor Booty"
    Released: December 15, 1992

The album was re-released in a number of formats in 2009, with 16 B-sides and rarities, as well as a commentary track, included as bonus material.[7] It is one of the albums profiled in the 2007 book Check the Technique, which includes a track-by-track breakdown by Diamond, Yauch, Horovitz, Caldato, and frequent Beasties collaborator Money Mark.[8]

Background

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Check Your Head was the first Beastie Boys album to be fully co-produced by Mario Caldato Jr., who had been an engineer on Paul's Boutique and was credited as producer on that album's track "Ask for Janice".[9] It also marked the first appearance on one of their albums of keyboardist Money Mark, who became a regular collaborator of the band.[9]

The album was somewhat of a return by the Beastie Boys to their punk roots. It featured the trio playing their own instruments on the majority of the album, for the first time on record since their early EPs, due to the commercial failure of Paul's Boutique.[9][10] This inspired photographer Glen E. Friedman to shoot photos of the Beasties with their instrument cases, one of which was used as the cover of the album.[9] Supposedly, a trading card for Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. from a set of Desert Storm trading cards was the inspiration for the album's title.[9]

The Beastie Boys toured with the Rollins Band and Cypress Hill in early 1992 to support Check Your Head.[9]

Critical reception

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Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [1]
The A.V. ClubA−[11]
Entertainment WeeklyA[12]
Mojo     [13]
Pitchfork6.7/10[5]
PopMatters9/10[14]
Q     [15]
Record Collector     [16]
Rolling Stone     [17]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[18]

In The New York Times, James Bernard wrote that the "frenzied hybrid" of musical styles on Check Your Head "is tough to follow but well worth the effort", concluding that the album "demonstrates that the Beastie Boys will risk commercial failure to do what they please."[19] Adam Higginbotham gave it a four-out-of-five rating in Select and called it an "excellent" record that he nonetheless felt would sell poorly due to its "hopelessly eccentric" nature.[20] Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot awarded it three out of four stars and credited the Beastie Boys for "showing surprising resiliency and versatility",[21] while Steven Blush of Spin praised the album's "thick, deep, textured, and varied" songs and emphasis on groove.[22] Writing for Rolling Stone, Kevin Powell deemed it the group's "most unconventional outing to date" and found its eclecticism "confusing at times" but distinctive, giving the album three-and-a-half stars out of five.[23] At the end of 1992, Check Your Head was named the year's fourth-best album by Spin,[24] and it placed fifth in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[25]

Stephen Dalton was less impressed in NME, rating Check Your Head six out of ten and finding that the Beastie Boys had regressed as lyricists, "mimicking the music's laid back laziness and trading much of their trademark humour for seemingly improvised shouting matches."[26] In Entertainment Weekly, David Browne gave it a "D" grade and panned it as "sophomoric" and sounding "as if it were recorded underwater."[27] Robert Christgau deemed the album a "great concept" executed only "halfway there at best" in a year-end essay for The Village Voice,[28] later assigning it a "neither" rating.[29]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that on Check Your Heard, the Beastie Boys "repositioned themselves as a lo-fi, alt-rock groove band" who "had not abandoned rap, but it was no longer the foundation of their music, it was simply the most prominent in a thick pop-culture gumbo". He cited the album's "earth-bound D.I.Y." approach as "a big reason why it turned out to be an alt-rock touchstone of the '90s, something that both set trends and predicted them."[1] The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin called it "a dorm-room staple and cultural touchstone" that "was just as radical a reinvention" as Paul's Boutique and marked the group's "strangely organic evolution into adventurous sonic astronauts".[11]

In 1995, Alternative Press placed Check Your Head at number 23 on its list of the top 99 albums released from 1985 to 1995.[30] Four years later, Spin listed Check Your Head as the twelfth-best album of the 1990s.[31] In 2022, Pitchfork ranked it as the 67th-best album of the 1990s, praising the album's funk-inspired instrumentals.[32] It was ranked at number 261 in the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.[33]

Track listing

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All tracks written by Beastie Boys (Adam Yauch, Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz) and "Money" Mark Nishita, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Jimmy James"
3:14
2."Funky Boss" 1:35
3."Pass the Mic"
  • Beastie Boys
  • Caldato
4:17
4."Gratitude"
  • Beastie Boys
  • Tom Cushman
2:45
5."Lighten Up" 2:41
6."Finger Lickin' Good"
3:39
7."So What'cha Want"Beastie Boys3:37
8."The Biz vs. The Nuge"
0:33
9."Time for Livin'"
1:48
10."Something's Got to Give"
  • Beastie Boys
  • Nishita
  • Caldato
3:28
11."The Blue Nun"Beastie Boys0:32
12."Stand Together"
  • Beastie Boys
  • Caldato
2:47
13."Pow" 2:13
14."The Maestro"Beastie Boys2:52
15."Groove Holmes" 2:33
16."Live at P.J.'s" 3:18
17."Mark on the Bus"Nishita1:05
18."Professor Booty"
  • Beastie Boys
  • Caldato
4:13
19."In 3's" 2:23
20."Namasté" 4:01
Total length:53:29
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
21."Dub the Mic" (Instrumental) 
22."Drunken Praying Mantis Style" 
23."Skills to Pay the Bills (Pass the Mic, Pt. 2)" 
24."Netty's Girl" 
2009 Remastered Edition Bonus Disc
No.TitleLength
1."Dub the Mic" (Instrumental)4:30
2."Pass the Mic (Pt. 2, Skills to Pay the Bills)"4:25
3."Drunken Praying Mantis Style"2:40
4."Netty's Girl"3:24
5."The Skills to Pay the Bills" (Original Version)3:16
6."So What'cha Want" (Soul Assassins Remix Version)4:08
7."So What'cha Want" (Butt Naked Version)3:29
8."Groove Holmes" (Live vs The Biz)6:13
9."So What'cha Want" (All The Way Live Freestyle Version)3:39
10."Stand Together" (Live at French's Tavern, Sydney, Australia)2:32
11."Finger Lickin' Good" (Government Cheese Remix)4:15
12."Gratitude" (Live at Budokan 9-16-92)4:28
13."Honky Rink"2:13
14."Jimmy James" (Original Version)3:44
15."Boomin' Granny"2:18
16."Drinkin' Wine"4:42

Personnel

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Beastie Boys
Additional personnel
  • Money Mark – organ, synthesizer, keyboards, clavinet, Wurlitzer
  • James Bradley, Jr. (Tracks 2, 4, 10, 13, 16, 20) – percussion
  • Juanito Vazquez (Tracks 5, 15) – percussion (cuica, conga)
  • Art Oliva (Tracks 5, 19) – percussion (batá, shakeree)
  • Drew Lawrence (Track 6) – percussion (tamboura, mridungan)
  • Biz Markie – vocals on "The Biz Vs. The Nuge"
  • Alexandra "Xan" Cassavetes (credited as "Nax Setevassac") – background vocals on "The Maestro"
Technical personnel

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for Check Your Head
Chart (1992) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[34] 74
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[35] 32
US Billboard 200[36] 10
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[37] 37

Certifications

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Certifications and sales for Check Your Head
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[38] 2× Platinum 200,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Silver 60,000*
United States (RIAA)[40] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Check Your Head – Beastie Boys". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  2. ^ Coffman, Tim (May 5, 2022). "10 Perfect Albums That Will Make You Love Alternative Rock". WhatCulture. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  3. ^ "Why The Beastie Boys' Check Your Head Is Still Rap-Rock's Greatest Masterpiece". LA Weekly. April 19, 2017. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Maider, Ted (August 30, 2013). "Wait, You've Never Heard: Beastie Boys – Check Your Head". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Patrin, Nate (April 14, 2009). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head: Deluxe Edition". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  6. ^ Abramowitz, Ari (2004). The Pockit Rockit Music Finder. Music Guru, Incorporated. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-9759787-0-2.
  7. ^ "Beastie Boys' Check Your Head "special features" posted". Punknews.org. April 7, 2009. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  8. ^ Coleman, Brian (2007). Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard. ISBN 978-0-8129-7775-2.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Coleman, Brian (2007). Check the technique: liner notes for hip-hop junkies. Random House. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-8129-7775-2. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  10. ^ Reynolds, Simon. "Beastie Boys: 'Check Your Head' @ 30 – TIDAL Magazine". Tidal. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (July 14, 2009). "Beastie Boys". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  12. ^ Nashawaty, Chris (April 1, 2009). "Check Your Head (Remastered Edition)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  13. ^ Harrison, Ian (August 2022). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head". Mojo. No. 345. p. 105.
  14. ^ Murphy, Sean (April 29, 2009). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  15. ^ Barlow, Eve (November 2018). "Beastie Boys Album-by-album". Q. No. 391. pp. 58–59.
  16. ^ Easlea, Daryl (November 2022). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head". Record Collector. No. 537. p. 98.
  17. ^ Rosen, Jody (May 14, 2009). "Check Your Head (Remastered Edition)". Rolling Stone. No. 1078. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  18. ^ Sheffield, Rob (1995). "Beastie Boys". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 33–34. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  19. ^ Bernard, James (May 17, 1992). "The Beastie Boys Are Still Winging It". The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  20. ^ Higginbotham, Adam (June 1992). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head". Select. No. 24. p. 69.
  21. ^ Kot, Greg (April 23, 1992). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head (Capitol)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  22. ^ Blush, Steven (May 1992). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head". Spin. Vol. 8, no. 2. p. 76. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  23. ^ Powell, Kevin (June 25, 1992). "Check Your Head". Rolling Stone. No. 633. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  24. ^ "20 Best Albums of the Year". Spin. Vol. 8, no. 9. December 1992. pp. 67–69. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  25. ^ "The 1992 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. March 2, 1993. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  26. ^ Dalton, Stephen (April 18, 1992). "Mow Better Blues". NME. p. 27.
  27. ^ Browne, David (May 1, 1992). "Check Your Head". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  28. ^ Christgau, Robert (March 2, 1993). "Between a Rock and a Hard Place". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  29. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Beastie Boys: Check Your Head". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 20. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  30. ^ "Top 99 of '85–'95". Alternative Press. No. 84. July 1995. p. 81.
  31. ^ Light, Alan (September 1999). "The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s – 12. Beastie Boys: Check Your Head". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 9. p. 124. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  32. ^ "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. September 28, 2022. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  33. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  34. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  35. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1396". RPM. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  36. ^ "Beastie Boys Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
  37. ^ "Beastie Boys Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  38. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Beastie Boys – Check Your Head". Music Canada. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  39. ^ "British album certifications – Beastie Boys – Check Your Head". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  40. ^ "American album certifications – Beastie Boys – Check Your Head". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
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