Beastie Boys are tellin’ all y’all about a 30th anniversary Ill Communication re-release

Beastie Boys’ 1994 masterpiece is getting the triple LP deluxe edition treatment

By Matt Schimkowitz | May 31, 2024 | 1:05pm

Aux News Ill Communication

Beastie Boys are tellin’ all y’all about a 30th anniversary Ill Communication re-release

Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock: The Beastie Boys Photo: Ilpo Musto (Shutterstock)

Beastie Boys have spent the 30 years tellin’ all y’all it’s sabotage, and now they’ve got a deluxe edition of Ill Communication to prove it. Celebrating its three decades among the best of the Beasties’ output, Ill Communication is getting some overdue love. The release resurrects a rare version of the record that has been out of print since 2009, a triple LP deluxe edition that includes the album on two LPs and a third disc of rarities, B-sides, assorted oddities, and live versions of “The Maestro” and “Mullet Head.” The album will also make its long-awaited return to cassette, so anyone still hanging on to their JVC Kaboom Box can finally blast “Heart Attack Man” and “Root Down” to their heart’s content. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include the Beastie Boys audio commentary for the albums that were available for download during the 2009 re-release cycle.

Though their follow-up LPs certainly have highs, Ill Communication was the peak of the band’s power and creativity by building upon the band’s interests. It ties the band’s past, present, and future together in a fluid, infectious duel LP that, yes, has the bloat of all double albums but encompasses everything the Beasties did so well that it’s hard to find an issue with it. Led by the single “Sabotage” and expanding on the jazz-funk instrumentals of Check Your Head, the Beastie Boys seemed intent on crafting their masterpiece with Ill Communication—though we won’t criticize those on Team Paul’s Boutique. Blending their adolescent hardcore punk origins with their newfound interest in jazz performance, the group created a free-flowing, diverse, and revolutionary record that frequently surpasses what anyone thought the Beasties were capable of.