Beastie Boys :: The In Sound from Way Out!

Did you enjoy the “jam session” songs from Beastie Boys albums like “Check Your Head” and “Ill Communication” as much or perhaps more than the raps? Then by God do I have the album for you! Here’s “The In Sound From Way Out!“

What we have here is a self-made compilation album where Ad Rock, MCA and Mike D decided to do away with all of the rhymes and just give you the beats. Ten of the thirteen tracks on this release are from the two albums I just mentioned, and if they weren’t the talented musicians playing grooves without vocals, then the songs were altered for this release to NOT have vocals of any kind. It becomes a somewhat surreal experience to listen to an entire album of Beastie Boys music without ever once hearing them speak.

That’s not a huge drawback given that they are all capable musicians who in fact got their start initially as a rock band before following their rap dream. The album’s major deficit is the lack of NEW content. Had they recorded original jams for “The In Sound From Way Out!” I would’ve been totally down with it, but recycling tracks I already heard on prior Beastie Boys releases just doesn’t cut it. It’s difficult to call anything “new” here but for less die hard Beastie fans, it’s possible to have not heard “Son of Neckbone” (a B-side from “Sure Shot”) or “Drinkin’ Wine” (a B-side from “Jimmy James”) before. That’s about it.

There’s a Japanese version of this release that includes four extra tracks, but they too are instrumental versions of Beastie Boys cuts most listeners are well familiar with. In short “The In Sound From Way Out!” is a perfectly fine album and is going to get a score that reflects that, but this is a case where the score REALLY doesn’t tell the whole story. If you already owned the entire Beastie Boys discography save for this album, you don’t need this album. Even if you only owned their “big” albums, you still don’t need it. A collector might want this one just to complete a set of officially released Beastie Boys albums, but otherwise it’s wholly unnecessary.