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33⅓ Main Series #30
The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique
Not only did Paul's Boutique transform the Beastie Boys from frat-boy novelty to critically lauded hip-hop giants, its groundbreaking collage of rhyme and recycled soundbites made it one of those rare releases that forever alters the course of popular music. Through interviews with Mike D, the Dust Brothers, and legendarily reclusive producer Matt Dike, among others, Dan LeRoy uncovers the story of this outrageous era in Beastie history.
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First published March 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 140 reviews
November 21, 2023
I was afraid that I'd heard all I needed to know about this album, thanks to Wikipedia and Beastie Boys Book, but LeRoy put in a great effort to find some untold details about Paul's Boutique. I'm a fan of the record, so I'm a fan of the book. Simple as that. I only wish it went into MORE detail.
December 20, 2013
Paul's Boutique - the book - succeeds because the author is able to express his love for the album without descending into complete fanboy raving. But the book earns high marks by actually telling the story of the making of the album. Blessed with interviews with key figures, including Mike D., the book is elevated above merely re-introducing old interviews and using rumor and conjecture to draw a picture of what might have happened. I even enjoyed the track-by-track analysis, because LeRoy also used that as an opportunity to provide more anecdotes, rather than only going through a study of samples, beats and chord changes.
March 19, 2020
"Because the rhymes I say, sharp as a nail/Witty as can be and not for sale/Always funky fresh, could never be stale/Took a test to become an MC and didn't fail/I couldn't wait to demonstrate/All the super def rhymes that I create/I'm a wizard of a word, that's what you heard/And anything else is quite absurd" - Run & D.M.C
"La-di-da-di, we like to party
We don't cause trouble, we don't bother nobody" - Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh - La Di Da Di
What can you say about youth when you're young. You're in it, and you hardly know it. Weekends slip away with abandon. Impulse wins out over consequence. Hutzpah inflates to cover insecurity. Once the ribbon to family rules and school administration is cut you're loose. There is a sense of building yourself into adulthood. Creating, designing, building, with promises, dreams, and testing out every boundary possible.
The Beastie Boys encapsulates that freedom of youth sonically and lyrically in the endless rabbit hole called "Paul's Boutique". As a sampling record, it's a landmark. The dust brothers liberally snip across the annals of rock history, hip-hop royalty and flamboyant vocal clips. There have been other albums stretching the legality and artistry of sampling in their work of course. (Avalanches - "Since I left you" (2001); DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (1996), Girl Talk - Night Ripper (2006). But more than any other sampling based album I can think of, the imprint of the artists with the samples is seemless.
The story is also the improbably maturity arc of these young guys full of sonic ideas, leaving their privileged worlds of the New York boroughs to explore the hedonistic pleasuredom of Los Angeles. The pranky world of egg-throwing, sexual exploits, party pills and dank weed make their way from the backstory to the lyrics. The slapdash density of the sonic collages and the playful clowning makes these songs endless reels to replay. Like a Youtube AMSR video, the type of sonic flourishings reveal attention to the creation, and a spirit of relentless joy.
My own experience with the album has always one of appreciation. Like De La Soul's "Three Feet High and Rising", it feels like a party on ascendant. Although it's a bit drugger and immature in some ways. "Car Thief", the decadent night-clubbing stimulant-inducing track has always been my favorite on the album. And the goofy high-energy of "Shake your rump" and "Hey Ladies" feel as audacious as they do essential. I'm not a hip-hop person per say..but a good time is a good time, and Paul's Boutique is drowning in revelry.
As essential as "Paul's Boutique" feels, it occupies the space of youth that can not be returned too. Certainly the Beastie Boys never made an album as slapdash and unstudied. Their attitudes naturally became more responsible toward human rights. As artists they became more observant to song structures, be it the funkiness of "Check your head" or the futurism of "Hello Nasty". In many ways it inhaling the fumes of the 1970s, but it's playful pastiche feels like a predecessor to the establishment of EDM culture.
There is always a space to grow, challenge and free yourself of anyone's idea of you. But I would argue there is only one time in your life you can do that and fool yourself too. Living life without a template happens once, and no one recorded quite as deliciously as the Beastie Boys!
"La-di-da-di, we like to party
We don't cause trouble, we don't bother nobody" - Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh - La Di Da Di
What can you say about youth when you're young. You're in it, and you hardly know it. Weekends slip away with abandon. Impulse wins out over consequence. Hutzpah inflates to cover insecurity. Once the ribbon to family rules and school administration is cut you're loose. There is a sense of building yourself into adulthood. Creating, designing, building, with promises, dreams, and testing out every boundary possible.
The Beastie Boys encapsulates that freedom of youth sonically and lyrically in the endless rabbit hole called "Paul's Boutique". As a sampling record, it's a landmark. The dust brothers liberally snip across the annals of rock history, hip-hop royalty and flamboyant vocal clips. There have been other albums stretching the legality and artistry of sampling in their work of course. (Avalanches - "Since I left you" (2001); DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (1996), Girl Talk - Night Ripper (2006). But more than any other sampling based album I can think of, the imprint of the artists with the samples is seemless.
The story is also the improbably maturity arc of these young guys full of sonic ideas, leaving their privileged worlds of the New York boroughs to explore the hedonistic pleasuredom of Los Angeles. The pranky world of egg-throwing, sexual exploits, party pills and dank weed make their way from the backstory to the lyrics. The slapdash density of the sonic collages and the playful clowning makes these songs endless reels to replay. Like a Youtube AMSR video, the type of sonic flourishings reveal attention to the creation, and a spirit of relentless joy.
My own experience with the album has always one of appreciation. Like De La Soul's "Three Feet High and Rising", it feels like a party on ascendant. Although it's a bit drugger and immature in some ways. "Car Thief", the decadent night-clubbing stimulant-inducing track has always been my favorite on the album. And the goofy high-energy of "Shake your rump" and "Hey Ladies" feel as audacious as they do essential. I'm not a hip-hop person per say..but a good time is a good time, and Paul's Boutique is drowning in revelry.
As essential as "Paul's Boutique" feels, it occupies the space of youth that can not be returned too. Certainly the Beastie Boys never made an album as slapdash and unstudied. Their attitudes naturally became more responsible toward human rights. As artists they became more observant to song structures, be it the funkiness of "Check your head" or the futurism of "Hello Nasty". In many ways it inhaling the fumes of the 1970s, but it's playful pastiche feels like a predecessor to the establishment of EDM culture.
There is always a space to grow, challenge and free yourself of anyone's idea of you. But I would argue there is only one time in your life you can do that and fool yourself too. Living life without a template happens once, and no one recorded quite as deliciously as the Beastie Boys!
September 2, 2015
This book made me so happy.
It's divided into three parts. The first is what you might call the business end, as it delves into the events leading up to the making of the album, the band's disputes with Def Jam, their desire to move the hell away from their Licensed To Ill image, their escape to LA, how the team all came together that would make it happen, and finally the actual making-of, followed by critical reactions. It’s packed with quotes from the people who were there, including members of the band as well as the Dust Brothers. I never realized before that Paul’s Boutique was, in many ways, the band’s reaction to the whole "Fight For Your Right To Party" image that they’d come to embody, or that they were so sick of Licensed To Ill even that early in their career. It’s like all the success and excesses of that era - not to mention all their difficulties with their label - catapulted them off into a completely different direction. It’s funny to think now, but back then, everybody was expecting Paul’s Boutique to be Licensed To Ill Part II. Funny enough, as much as that first album is considered to be the sound of rebellion, the second album is even more so just by virtue of its rejection of the first one.
The second part is where it gets nice and nerdy, digging into the elements of each individual song. It talks about the samples that went into each one - or at least the ones that anybody who was there a) could remember and b) was willing to disclose. It gets into the story behind each song - and every single track has one. I especially liked the story behind “Shadrach” and how it fit in with what was happening with the band at the time. The author even breaks down all of the little songs that make up “B-Boy Bouillabaise” which, to be honest, I’d never really paid that much attention to before. There’s a story in this section about MCA and one of the songs that he put together for “BBB” that got me a little misty-eyed thinking about the person that he would become. And it’s nice to finally know what’s up with those ping-pong ball noises at the start of “3-Minute Rule.” If reading this section doesn’t make you want to go back and listen to the album really closely, well then you’ve been paying a lot closer attention than I have all these years.
Finally, it all wraps up with a section that can only be described as the author getting philosophical about what this album in this particular time and place means, which by this point in the book, he’s earned the right to do, and I as a reader was in the mood for. And just as the beginning lays out how Licensed To Ill helped spawn Paul’s Boutique, it describes how Paul’s Boutique led right into yet another great album that was another evolutionary step forward for the band, Check Your Head.
It's divided into three parts. The first is what you might call the business end, as it delves into the events leading up to the making of the album, the band's disputes with Def Jam, their desire to move the hell away from their Licensed To Ill image, their escape to LA, how the team all came together that would make it happen, and finally the actual making-of, followed by critical reactions. It’s packed with quotes from the people who were there, including members of the band as well as the Dust Brothers. I never realized before that Paul’s Boutique was, in many ways, the band’s reaction to the whole "Fight For Your Right To Party" image that they’d come to embody, or that they were so sick of Licensed To Ill even that early in their career. It’s like all the success and excesses of that era - not to mention all their difficulties with their label - catapulted them off into a completely different direction. It’s funny to think now, but back then, everybody was expecting Paul’s Boutique to be Licensed To Ill Part II. Funny enough, as much as that first album is considered to be the sound of rebellion, the second album is even more so just by virtue of its rejection of the first one.
The second part is where it gets nice and nerdy, digging into the elements of each individual song. It talks about the samples that went into each one - or at least the ones that anybody who was there a) could remember and b) was willing to disclose. It gets into the story behind each song - and every single track has one. I especially liked the story behind “Shadrach” and how it fit in with what was happening with the band at the time. The author even breaks down all of the little songs that make up “B-Boy Bouillabaise” which, to be honest, I’d never really paid that much attention to before. There’s a story in this section about MCA and one of the songs that he put together for “BBB” that got me a little misty-eyed thinking about the person that he would become. And it’s nice to finally know what’s up with those ping-pong ball noises at the start of “3-Minute Rule.” If reading this section doesn’t make you want to go back and listen to the album really closely, well then you’ve been paying a lot closer attention than I have all these years.
Finally, it all wraps up with a section that can only be described as the author getting philosophical about what this album in this particular time and place means, which by this point in the book, he’s earned the right to do, and I as a reader was in the mood for. And just as the beginning lays out how Licensed To Ill helped spawn Paul’s Boutique, it describes how Paul’s Boutique led right into yet another great album that was another evolutionary step forward for the band, Check Your Head.
June 8, 2012
This is the book you hope you're getting when you cop one of these 33 1/3 books (which I'm not saying you definitely should). It manages to shed quite a bit of light on something you feel you should know more about than you do.
Paul's Boutique is regarded as one of the top rap albums in the history of everdom - the Sgt. Pepper's of rap, according to many an older CAC. Or, at one point in time it was. It doesn't seem to be as well regarded as it was when I copped, back in the mid '90s, and I think that's because it's not that good. It's impressive for the number of samples used, but it sounds like it was put together using a computer. When MCA bit it a few weeks ago, it seems like a lot more people were reaching for Licensed to Ill.
Anyhoo, there's a great story behind the making of Paul's Boutique. It picks up in the aftermath of the aforementioned Licensed, when no one made any money except Run and Russell Simmons and so the Beasties had to bolt Def Jam for Capitol, out in California. There they joined forces with the Dust Brothers and Delicious Vinyl. No one knows the history of that scene, because no one with the sense god gave geese cares about music from California. This was news to me. The album was an epic commercial failure, and this had vast implications for the future of major label rap music.
Paul's Boutique is regarded as one of the top rap albums in the history of everdom - the Sgt. Pepper's of rap, according to many an older CAC. Or, at one point in time it was. It doesn't seem to be as well regarded as it was when I copped, back in the mid '90s, and I think that's because it's not that good. It's impressive for the number of samples used, but it sounds like it was put together using a computer. When MCA bit it a few weeks ago, it seems like a lot more people were reaching for Licensed to Ill.
Anyhoo, there's a great story behind the making of Paul's Boutique. It picks up in the aftermath of the aforementioned Licensed, when no one made any money except Run and Russell Simmons and so the Beasties had to bolt Def Jam for Capitol, out in California. There they joined forces with the Dust Brothers and Delicious Vinyl. No one knows the history of that scene, because no one with the sense god gave geese cares about music from California. This was news to me. The album was an epic commercial failure, and this had vast implications for the future of major label rap music.
August 13, 2008
This really isn't all that good, but that doesn't mean I didn't love it. I wore out a green Paul's Boutique cassette (literally) in '89 and replaced it with a tie-dyed one that ended up looking gray. So while there's not much here in the way of criticism or insight, I loved reliving the record (and thereby my junior year of high school--through the "making of" story. Hell it would have been worth my time just to learn that "Sounds of Science" begins with "When I'm 64" cranked down to 1/10th the speed. What this certainly did is guarantee that I'm just beginning with the 33 1/3 series. If it was this much fun to throw on the platter and read through a second rate book about a brilliant album, then it's gotta be worth my time to dig around and find one of these where the writing is the equal of the album. Anyone got suggestions?
March 27, 2012
If you love the album (and why shouldn't you?), this is a great afternoon's undertaking, and one of the best in the 33 and 1/3 series. Certainly, you will want to get the record out while you read, because the book uncovers quite a few secrets.
April 18, 2019
Excellent. My first foray into this series and I loved it. The first 1/3 is maybe a little rough trying to get a handle on the scene and the names of everybody, but that is the nature of the beast and no way around it. I learned so much about an album that was one so influential to my adolescence. After finishing I devoured books on Pet Sounds and Let It Be from the same series.
March 7, 2018
Delightful and quick read about this landmark Beasties album. So fun and bizarre to read about the circumstances of its creation. Even wilder than I imagined.
April 9, 2023
made me appreciate the album even more than i already did
November 11, 2025
Paul’s Boutique. I’ll never forget returning to college in the fall of ‘89 with this CD in hand. I thought for sure it would be the party tunes for the entire year, but nope. People weren’t interested.
Good book. It reads like an essay which is what prompted the 4 stars and not 5. I’m pretty well versed in Beastie Boys lore, but Dan Leroy has uncovered troves of seldom told stories.
Good book. It reads like an essay which is what prompted the 4 stars and not 5. I’m pretty well versed in Beastie Boys lore, but Dan Leroy has uncovered troves of seldom told stories.
July 3, 2022
You Can't Make An Album Like That Anymore. At least that's what everyone in this book would have you believe — but is that strictly true? Limited ability to sample whatever you like is certainly an issue, but I mean, c'mon, Kanye could probably get away with it, and he was, after all, the Guy Who Brought Sampling Back. But you can get away with that kind of romantic claim about an album like Paul's Boutique because it does, in the end, feel like such a singular achievement. People call it the Sgt. Pepper's of hip hop, an apt comparison I think, if not a limited one simply because, well... I think Paul's Boutique is, in fact, better than Sgt. Pepper's (though, despite claims in the book, I think it's clear that Sgt. Pepper's did more for four-track recording than Paul's Boutique ever did for digital recording).
December 31, 2020
Not a great book but still a must read if you love Paul’s Boutique - it drops science like Galileo dropped the orange
May 6, 2010
"'I never felt like I knew less, and I have never been more confused about what's going on,' Mike D told Village Noize in 1990. He was talking about movies, but it's easy to read more than that into the statement."
Divided into three sections, David LeRoy's Paul's Boutique charts the making of the Beasties' masterpiece, offers an analysis of each of its songs (as well as the b-sides) and notes the album's impact and influence. I spent three nights simulateously listening to and reading about one of my all-time favorite albums, which was incredibly enriching.
"'This beat would go into this beat, but you never knew what was gonna come out of it. The Beasties had notebooks and notebooks, but each page began a new rhyme,' Carr recalls. 'The Dust Brothers were, like, splitting the atom. But it all existed as a thousand petri dishes.'"
How it all congealed is mindbogglingly hazy, as all of its creators were out of their heads...egging, clubbing, tripping, smoking, reading, rapping and dipping down deep in their record bins. LeRoy patches together a narrative from interviews with each of the participants and all the available print material. It's funny (when the Beasties, on Capitol's tab, were living in the Mondrian hotel in LA, they'd send iced teas to each others' rooms and tip the wait staff $25), dismaying (Russell Simmons and Def Jam were withholding the Boys' royalties for their multiplatinum album Licensed To Ill and threatening to confiscate the Paul's Boutique master tapes) and unbelievable (when MCA wasn't on acid and reading the Bible, or making out with Madonna, he and John King set the cruise control at 100mph to go snowboard in Utah). The Boys eventually got it together, flew from sunny CA to NY for the mastering, and spent two weeks in the Record Plant playing ping-pong with their friends while they crystallized their kaleidoscopic vision.
"Just as George Martin and the Beatles had taken four-track recording as far as it could go on their 1967 magnum opus, the team behind Paul's Boutique was testing the absolute limits of still-embryonic technologies like computer recording and automation."
I highly recommend this slim 33 1/3 book to any Beastie Boys fan; it brings a living recording that much more to life. As LeRoy notes (below), whether you've heard the album dozens of times, or never before, you won't regret a single plunge into its infinitely delightful soundscape. Check the cool wax!
"That kingdom, somewhere between Oz and Playboy Mansion, still exists, as close as a needle, a laser or a mouse click from entry, yet as impossible as ever to comprehend in its sprawling totality. But there's always the chance that one more journey will make everything clear, and even if it doesn't, there are no bad trips to the musical wonderland of Paul's Boutique. Whether you've never been, or just returned an hour ago - what are you waiting for?"
Divided into three sections, David LeRoy's Paul's Boutique charts the making of the Beasties' masterpiece, offers an analysis of each of its songs (as well as the b-sides) and notes the album's impact and influence. I spent three nights simulateously listening to and reading about one of my all-time favorite albums, which was incredibly enriching.
"'This beat would go into this beat, but you never knew what was gonna come out of it. The Beasties had notebooks and notebooks, but each page began a new rhyme,' Carr recalls. 'The Dust Brothers were, like, splitting the atom. But it all existed as a thousand petri dishes.'"
How it all congealed is mindbogglingly hazy, as all of its creators were out of their heads...egging, clubbing, tripping, smoking, reading, rapping and dipping down deep in their record bins. LeRoy patches together a narrative from interviews with each of the participants and all the available print material. It's funny (when the Beasties, on Capitol's tab, were living in the Mondrian hotel in LA, they'd send iced teas to each others' rooms and tip the wait staff $25), dismaying (Russell Simmons and Def Jam were withholding the Boys' royalties for their multiplatinum album Licensed To Ill and threatening to confiscate the Paul's Boutique master tapes) and unbelievable (when MCA wasn't on acid and reading the Bible, or making out with Madonna, he and John King set the cruise control at 100mph to go snowboard in Utah). The Boys eventually got it together, flew from sunny CA to NY for the mastering, and spent two weeks in the Record Plant playing ping-pong with their friends while they crystallized their kaleidoscopic vision.
"Just as George Martin and the Beatles had taken four-track recording as far as it could go on their 1967 magnum opus, the team behind Paul's Boutique was testing the absolute limits of still-embryonic technologies like computer recording and automation."
I highly recommend this slim 33 1/3 book to any Beastie Boys fan; it brings a living recording that much more to life. As LeRoy notes (below), whether you've heard the album dozens of times, or never before, you won't regret a single plunge into its infinitely delightful soundscape. Check the cool wax!
"That kingdom, somewhere between Oz and Playboy Mansion, still exists, as close as a needle, a laser or a mouse click from entry, yet as impossible as ever to comprehend in its sprawling totality. But there's always the chance that one more journey will make everything clear, and even if it doesn't, there are no bad trips to the musical wonderland of Paul's Boutique. Whether you've never been, or just returned an hour ago - what are you waiting for?"
May 26, 2013
A must read for any serious Beastie Boys fan. The book covers the time from the end of the License to Ill tour to the release of Paul’s Boutique. Between these first two albums, the Beastie Boys left Def Jam and went to Capitol Records. They wanted to get away from making a second License to Ill, a decision with which Rick Rubin (their original DJ, producer of License to Ill, and founder of Def Jam) had serious issues. Because of this, and loss of group cohesion during the License to Ill tour, Def Jam withheld $2 million that was owed to the Beastie Boys fearing they would break up. The Beasties left Def Jam and were sued for breach of contract. The Beasties countersued for unpaid wages. Def Jam and the Beasties ended up settling by being let out of their contract with Def Jam in exchange for giving up any royalties to License to Ill thus far.
The Beasties wanted to stake their claim as more than drunken frat boys a la License to Ill, but they were still not quite as mature as when they put together Check Your Head. The boys were hard into drugs and pranks (Egg Man), and MCA was not yet into Buddhism, but was studying various religious texts (the inspiration for Shadrach). There was never a tour for Paul’s Boutique as it was a flop on release. Contrary to popular belief, they did receive permission for the samples they used, they just were able to pay a lower price than they would have after the Biz Markie case. The Dust Brothers were behind the beats in Paul’s Boutique, and this was their first foray into professional music. It was also the first time the Beastie Boys worked with sound engineer Mario Caldato (as in “Mario C likes to keep it clean”). After the story about the Beasties time between albums, the author goes into detail about each song on Paul’s Boutique. The beat to Shake Your Rump was called Full Clout (which they chant during the song) by the Dust Brothers before the Beastie Boys added vocals. Egg Man was about them going out on egging runs and egging the building across the street from their studio. Mike D was behind Johnny Ryall. Mike was living in the Village and Johnny Ryall was the name he gave the bum that would often hang out on his stoop. Paul’s Boutique is an excellent book. It not only covers the Beasties’ most complex and arguably their second (or even first) best album, it covers an important transition in their history as a group and as people.
The Beasties wanted to stake their claim as more than drunken frat boys a la License to Ill, but they were still not quite as mature as when they put together Check Your Head. The boys were hard into drugs and pranks (Egg Man), and MCA was not yet into Buddhism, but was studying various religious texts (the inspiration for Shadrach). There was never a tour for Paul’s Boutique as it was a flop on release. Contrary to popular belief, they did receive permission for the samples they used, they just were able to pay a lower price than they would have after the Biz Markie case. The Dust Brothers were behind the beats in Paul’s Boutique, and this was their first foray into professional music. It was also the first time the Beastie Boys worked with sound engineer Mario Caldato (as in “Mario C likes to keep it clean”). After the story about the Beasties time between albums, the author goes into detail about each song on Paul’s Boutique. The beat to Shake Your Rump was called Full Clout (which they chant during the song) by the Dust Brothers before the Beastie Boys added vocals. Egg Man was about them going out on egging runs and egging the building across the street from their studio. Mike D was behind Johnny Ryall. Mike was living in the Village and Johnny Ryall was the name he gave the bum that would often hang out on his stoop. Paul’s Boutique is an excellent book. It not only covers the Beasties’ most complex and arguably their second (or even first) best album, it covers an important transition in their history as a group and as people.
February 25, 2023
This is exactly what a 33 1/3 should be: authoritative but condensed and to the point. Three sections: a history of the recording and disastrous release of the album, a track by track tour that focuses mainly on the multitude of samples used (and includes all of the B-sides and remixes,) and a short synopsis of how the world finally caught up to the genius of this classic record. I'm going straight from this book to the follow-up, For Whom the Cowbell Tolls: 25 Years of Paul's Boutique.
December 14, 2020
My own opinions of the album* aside, this was a great book.
The Beastie Boys had a lot to run from on their sophomore record: their stifling association with Def Jam (who wanted License to Ill 2 as a follow-up), the claims that they were a Rick Rubin product and not a talent unto themselves, and the jokester image perpetuated by "Fight for Your Right" and, well, their real-life prankster behavior both on- and off-tour. (Egging was a favorite pastime of the group.)
Though Paul's Boutique is viewed as a mature step forward for the group, they were still in their early twenties when they started making the album and had a lot of maturing to do as people at this point. So much money was poured into any request the group made.
This book details how disparate elements came together to create an album that was originally a commercial flop for Capitol Records, but is now a cult classic widely regarded as an all-time great.
*For your "who cares" department, my own opinion of the album is that it bridges the jokester persona and the more serious artists the Beastie Boys would mature into, best expressed in their third album Check Your Head; the real prize of Pauls' Boutique is the Dust Brothers' production/sampling, something that came into clearer focus for them later on Beck's Odelay.
The Beastie Boys had a lot to run from on their sophomore record: their stifling association with Def Jam (who wanted License to Ill 2 as a follow-up), the claims that they were a Rick Rubin product and not a talent unto themselves, and the jokester image perpetuated by "Fight for Your Right" and, well, their real-life prankster behavior both on- and off-tour. (Egging was a favorite pastime of the group.)
Though Paul's Boutique is viewed as a mature step forward for the group, they were still in their early twenties when they started making the album and had a lot of maturing to do as people at this point. So much money was poured into any request the group made.
This book details how disparate elements came together to create an album that was originally a commercial flop for Capitol Records, but is now a cult classic widely regarded as an all-time great.
*For your "who cares" department, my own opinion of the album is that it bridges the jokester persona and the more serious artists the Beastie Boys would mature into, best expressed in their third album Check Your Head; the real prize of Pauls' Boutique is the Dust Brothers' production/sampling, something that came into clearer focus for them later on Beck's Odelay.
January 13, 2020
If you're looking for an encyclopedia of all the samples used on the album, you're out of luck (though the author will cover some of it in the text and direct you to online reference resources for the rest of it). Speaking as someone who had heard the album before but didn't know a whole lot about either the Beasties or the Dust Brothers, it was an enjoyable and informative read, with more space devoted to the background of the album and its creators than the tracks themselves, though the track-by-track breakdown is still interesting. It's probably more like a 3.5 out of 5, rating-wise, but it was better written than a number of the other entries in the 33 1/3 series, so I rounded up rather than down.
May 6, 2020
I was 11 years old when this album was released, in the now distant before times of the pre-internet age. I also lived in the rural midwest, so literally the only info I had about this album when I bought it was the sleeve notes. And this album was so unique, even to me, at 11 years old, I could tell. Not all the songs resonated with me honestly, but the ones that did, they grabbed my imagination and filled me with a sense of amazed wonder. This was not the same Beastie Boys from Licensed to Ill. They still retained a bit of the goofiness, but now in an “artful” way. It is hard to really explain looking back. But the bottom line is there was a mystery to Paul’s Boutique, and that lingered for years. This book helped explain that mystery and all the background and players involved in it. Highly recommended if you have any interest in this album.
August 3, 2018
One of my Top 3 albums of all time, and an album that will never be recreated or duplicated...a touchstone of my youth. This is an in-depth look at a legendary record, full of stories and anecdotes and information...can't wait to sink into the 66-2/3 follow-up, which is waiting for me. Even if you have a passing interest in the Beastie Boys, it's still a stellar read. The behind-the-scenes looks at how it was made and the people involved just fills in every gap in your synapses. Lotta fun, lotta memories...good time reading this.
January 10, 2022
Like many people I had never heard Paul’s Boutique until after I listened to the brilliant Check Your Head - though few admitted to this ignorance. The pressure of following up a hit first album nearly tears apart many if not most bands, and the Beastie Boys were no different. The groundbreaking sound of Paul’s Boutique may not have been entirely their own, but they found their sound through the process. The “failure” of Paul’s Boutique paved the way for the birth of a sound that was entirely their own and unrivaled commercial success on Check Your Head.
August 28, 2025
I absolutely adore this album and I love the 33 1/3 series of books so it was pretty much a given I would enjoy this book.
Honestly not much to say besides this book does a great job demonstrating the absolute genius of Paul's Boutique and also explaining the shroud surrounding the album itself, with its limited press tour and poor commercial performance both contributing heavily.
I would say if you're into music at all, check out this series because they cover albums from literally every corner of music history and the authors always nail it.
Honestly not much to say besides this book does a great job demonstrating the absolute genius of Paul's Boutique and also explaining the shroud surrounding the album itself, with its limited press tour and poor commercial performance both contributing heavily.
I would say if you're into music at all, check out this series because they cover albums from literally every corner of music history and the authors always nail it.
February 26, 2018
Another fantastic 33 1/3 record investigation installment.
I learned plent of fun details about the making of the album, got to tie together some loose ends of trivia about the Beastie Boys I had always wondered about.
All around good time read, glad to see the album get this sort of treatment; I dismissed it when it came out and came back around to it after Check your Head came out...they were clearly ahead of their time when it came out.
Dope.
I learned plent of fun details about the making of the album, got to tie together some loose ends of trivia about the Beastie Boys I had always wondered about.
All around good time read, glad to see the album get this sort of treatment; I dismissed it when it came out and came back around to it after Check your Head came out...they were clearly ahead of their time when it came out.
Dope.
July 6, 2019
This was quite enjoyable, if not a literary treasure. I had forgotten just what an ingenious trio of twerps the Beasties had been in the '80s and had kind of lost interest in them during the Paul's Boutique period.
Big ups to my brother-in-law for introducing me to the 33-1/3 series, which includes hundreds of titles about landmark recordings in various flavors of rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop, etc. I'll be seeking out more of them.
Big ups to my brother-in-law for introducing me to the 33-1/3 series, which includes hundreds of titles about landmark recordings in various flavors of rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop, etc. I'll be seeking out more of them.
December 6, 2020
I was quite happy to read this book as I love the Beastie Boys and the Dust Brothers. Until I read it I had never known the reason behind the group leaving Def Jam. One of my favorite parts about this series is the author usually breaks the songs down track by track. It was more interesting to me however how the Beasties came to be on Capitol and met with those who eventually collaborated on what would become Paul’s Boutique.
February 8, 2023
One half a journey fr0m License to Ill to the release of Paul's Boutique
One half the breakdown on each track including a few extras
Five stars for the incredible insight and knowledge alone. It just happens to be based on a precedent setting sampling and music business landmark and eventual GOAT in the early Hip Hop days. Give this a read if you're a B-Boys fan or just wanna make it with the freak freak.
One half the breakdown on each track including a few extras
Five stars for the incredible insight and knowledge alone. It just happens to be based on a precedent setting sampling and music business landmark and eventual GOAT in the early Hip Hop days. Give this a read if you're a B-Boys fan or just wanna make it with the freak freak.
January 11, 2025
This is easily a top 5 33 & 1/3 book. Dan LeRoy does an incredible job at making this essay interesting. He breaks down where the Beasties are coming off the success of Licensed to ill and their fallout with DefJam.
He takes you on a journey of making the album from a recording standpoint and with A&R, even the infamous cover art.
There’s even a samples breakdown of each song.
Den closes the book in tasteful prose that is sweet poetry.
He takes you on a journey of making the album from a recording standpoint and with A&R, even the infamous cover art.
There’s even a samples breakdown of each song.
Den closes the book in tasteful prose that is sweet poetry.
June 18, 2025
I feel very lucky to have stumbled across this book at Skylight Bookstore a couple months ago; Dan LeRoy gives the Beastie Boys the hype they they always deserve and writes a perfectly crafted account of the absolute weirdness of their production. Paul’s Boutique is my favorite album of all time so this book for me was like a treasure trove of Beastie Boys lore that was so perfectly told. What a perfect fucking book!!!!
December 25, 2018
The 33 1/3 series is inconsistent af, but this one is pretty great as a potted history of the making of a record. It's sent me back to listen again, which is what these books should always do. It seems like only one Beastie was interviewed, Mike D, but for what's basically a long magazine article it's enough.
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