Ill Communication

Ill Communication is the fourth album by the Beastie Boys. It was released on May 23, 1994. It was remastered and made available on the Beastie Boys’ Web site on July 7, 2009.

It was their second #1 album on the Billboard charts due to their hit “Sabotage” which was accompanied by a music video produced by Spike Jonze that parodied 70s cop shows. The album would also be their second triple platinum album.

Ill Communication was co-produced by Beastie Boys and Mario C. Featuring musical contributions from Money Mark, Eric Bobo and Amery “AWOL” Smith, vocal contributions from Q-Tip and Biz Markie.

Mike D and Adam Yauch collaborated with Gibran Evans of T.A.Z. to create the album packaging, and to choose the unique cover photo. The hand-drawn typeface was created by designer Jim Evans specifically for Ill Communication, and was used throughout the promotion of the album.


Reception:

* Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.54) - Included in Rolling Stone’s “Essential Recordings of the 90’s.”

* Spin (12/94, p.78) - Ranked #19 in Spin’s list of the `20 Best Albums Of ‘94’.

* Q (12/99, p.82) - Included in Q Magazine’s “90 Best Albums Of The 1990s.”

* The Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #15 in the Village Voice’s 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.

* Mojo (p.60) - Ranked #54 in Mojo’s “100 Modern Classics.”

* NME (12/24/94, p.22) - Ranked #3 in NME’s list of the `Top 50 Albums Of 1994.’



(from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ill_Communication)