Written By Kelly Stifora
Intro
The bad boys from Brooklyn dish up an audio/video career retrospective from seemingly endless angles, and raise the bar on the entire DVD format just as they’ve always done in the worlds of rap and music videos.
Synopsis
Three geeky white kids from the Brooklyn underground punk scene form a band, calling themselves the Beastie Boys. A couple of years later they release their first album, Licensed to Ill, helping to spawn both the rap and the rap/rock genres. In the ensuing two de…ades they serve up five more albums, countless singles and videos, growing from punks into social activists and musical pioneers. Almost everything they’ve ever put on film or video, and an astonishing selection of their music, is packed into this two-disc set.
Audio
Put on one of the several 5.1 digital surround remixes of the Boys’ best tunes (I recommend Sabotage or Intergalactic), crank it up, and watch stuff start falling off of your walls. Even at ear splitting levels, the audio in these remixes remains crystal clear. Not every track is remixed into 5.1, but at any rate, your neighbors may ask you to move out to the country.
Eighteen songs are featured; most with at least three different remix options by some of the best in the business (Fatboy Slim, Moby, Prince Paul and Soul Assassins, to name a few), 67 audio tracks in total.
Video
Not quite as many of the songs include alternate video tracks, but there are enough to keep you busy for at least a few hours. The quality, as can be expected from a retrospective of music videos, varies, but from the frat comedy of Fight for Your Right to the 70s send up of Sabotage to the Sci-Fi schlock of Intergalactic, these are some of the most memorable videos ever.
Features
First of all, the set comes with an instruction book that neatly lays everything out by song, with lists of audio and video tracks as well as icons indicating other features (still photos, short films, commentaries, and so on). Pop in the disc, and its set up the same way. Pick a song, pick your options, and kick it. Or just watch the standard audio and video versions of the tracks in order. Genius in simplicity.
Closing Thoughts
Buy this disc, and find out how good your sound system really is. If you’re not Beastie Boys fan, well… then… I’m sorry.
Special Features List
- Commentary by Beastie Boys
- Commentary by video directors
- 100+ video angles and audio tracks
- 40+ remixes
- A cappella versions
- Rare still photographs
- Storyboards
- Interview with “Sabotage” cast
- The world-premiere director
