Just how cool are the Beastie Boys? Three white, suburban punk rockers turned bothersome, beer-guzzling gatecrashers turned hi-fi aficionados turned Pink Floyd-quoting rap-rockers turned Cthulhu-punching sentai spacemen turned respectable Jewish family men; it’s hard not to think of them as accidental visionaries. As Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock made music callously straddling the line between genius and stupid that eventually crash landed into the former territory, they unknowingly fought the cultural excess of the past three decades. And one of the main reasons why many continue to think of them as the only good thing to come out of the ’80s was their kitschy, funny-as-hell videos.
With MCA battling cancer, the Beasties could just be at the end of their road. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of their Dawn of the Dead referencing video for the guitar-rap anthem ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)’, they dropped a 30-minute short sequel titled Fight For Your Right Revisited packed with enough celebrities to put a whole SNL season to shame. With another brilliant video added to their Critereon approved catalog, we pick the ten best.
#10. ‘So What’cha Want’
With 1992′s Check Your Head, the Beasties decided to give up their three MCs and a DJ shtick to better fit into an alt-rocker’s record collection. ‘So What’cha Want’, with it’s supermassive beat and majestic guitar lick is the archetypal Check Your Head-era track. This werewolf-vision video of them jamming in the woods is undoubtedly the best among their ‘three guys dicking around’ series.
#9. ‘Gratitude’
The video for the punk-as-fuck Check Your Head standout ‘Gratitude’ is a direct throwback to Pink Floyd’s landmark concert film Live at Pompeii. Watch as Ad-Rock stomps his pedal and belts out the chorus to give us one of the most badass moments in rock and roll history.
#8. ‘Intergalactic’
Before Power Rangers, the whole Giant Robot vs. Mega Octopus phenomenon was mostly restricted to Japanese sentai TV shows. In ‘Intergalactic’, the Beasties star in their own, manning a gargantuan dance robot pitched in heated battle against rubber Cthulhu. Isn’t that reason enough to warrant inclusion in any top 10 list ever?
#7. ‘Root Down‘
The Beasties were never shy of flaunting their roots, and video for ‘Root Down’ is a striking homage to their towering muse – New York City.
#6. ‘Three MCs and One DJ’
Like Slug and Ant in Atmosphere, Mix Master Mike and the Beasties molded too fittingly in each other’s sonic identities. Three MCs and One DJ is a shout out to how vital he is for their trade. The Beasties dare not make a move till the proton-pack sporting MMM mans the deck.
#5. ‘(You Gotta Fight) For Your Right (To Party)’
For the better part of their career ‘(You Gotta Fight) For Your Right (To Party)’ remained the video the Beastie Boys would rather not talk about. In retrospect, that frat boy rap manages to point-and-laugh at every hard-type party fiend in spectacular fashion. Like a friend once said, “There’s a whole lost generation of Sigma Epsilon Xetas who want their money back.”
#4. ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’
Joey DeMaio of the self-proclaimed “loudest band on earth”, Manowar once said, “Adding rap to rock is like taking the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen to a plastic surgeon, and asking him to put a penis on her.” The Beastie Boys however, say:
#3. ‘Something’s Got to Give’
Given the Beasties’ eclectic spectrum, ‘Something’s Got to Give”s meandering footage of concussive bombings doesn’t come as that big a surprise. It’s still an anomaly of sorts in their catalog, as they’ve never been this blatant while making a statement.
#2. ‘Sabotage’
The Beasties play mecha-mustached coppers kicking serious ass in this Spike Jonze directed video for mad-as-hell punk stomper ‘Sabotage’. With it’s near-meteoric momentum acquired by virtue of the nimble editing, ‘Sabotage’, much like the song is exhilarating in the truest sense.
#1. ‘Shadrach’
The Beasties’ debut on Capitol Records famously bit the dust on the billboards, despite being perhaps their most artistically radical effort. The video for Shadrach, each frame for which was hand-painted, shows the extent of hard work behind the album, evoking a certain curiosity. Just how different would pop culture be today, if they’d decided to continue in this direction?
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