Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique 2LP (20th anniv.)

Musically, few hip-hop records have ever been so rich; it's not just the recontextulations of familiar music via samples, it's the flow of each song and the album as a whole, culminating in the widescreen suite that closes the record. Lyrically, the Beasties have never been better -- not just because their jokes are razor-sharp, but because they construct full-bodied narratives and evocative portraits of characters and places. Few pop records offer this much to savor, and if Paul's Boutique only made a modest impact upon its initial release, over time its influence could be heard through pop and rap, and stands alone as a record of stunning vision, maturity, and accomplishment.

•  To All the Girls
•  Shake Your Rump
•  Johnny Ryall
•  Egg Man
•  High Plains Drifter
•  The Sounds of Science
•  3-Minute Rule
•  Hey Ladies
•  5-Piece Chicken Dinner
•  Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun
•  Car Thief
•  What Comes Around
•  Shadrach
•  Ask for Janice
•  59 Chrystie Street
•  Get on the Mic
•  Stop That Train
•  A Year and a Day
•  Hello Brooklyn
•  Dropping Names
•  Lay It on Me
•  Mike on the Mic
•  A.W.O.L