What time is it? It’s time to get ill! Beastie Boys are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their megaselling debut album, Licensed to Ill, with a limited edition vinyl reissue. Originally released on Nov. 15, 1986, the diamond-certified, Rick Rubin–produced album became the first rap record to top Billboard’s album chart thanks to clever videos for “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” and “No Sleep till Brooklyn” and a string of singles that included “Brass Monkey,” “Hold It Now, Hit It,” and “Paul Revere.” The group’s surviving members, Mike D and Ad-Rock, will appear on The Daily Show on Monday to discuss the album’s legacy, as well as the SmartLess podcast, released the same day.
The lacquers for the limited Vinylphyle edition, which is out March 18 and available for preorder, were cut from a high-res digital transfer from the original 1986 quarter-inch master tape and pressed to 180-gram black vinyl LPs. Audio engineer Joe Nino-Hernes worked from physical tapes at Sterling Sound, introducing a digital step to preserve the tapes. “For this project I felt that making a high-resolution digital transfer, using the same machine and electronics that I use for cutting, would yield the best results and come closest to actually cutting from the first-generation master tape itself” he said in a statement. “It also allowed me to minimise handling of the tapes that have become fragile with time.”
The reissue, which will come in a lavish gatefold sleeve, will include new liner notes by Public Enemy’s Chuck D. The fourth side of the second LP will feature an etching, and a four-panel insert includes photos of the master tapes.
In 2019, the Beasties’ Mike D told A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip on his Apple Music radio show, Echo Chamber, that the Licensed to Ill master tapes were missing. “Nobody can find it,” Mike said. “I’m not even lying.” When Q-Tip blamed the original label, Def Jam, and asked if producer Rick Rubin knew where they were, Mike D doubled down, according to Variety. “No,” he said, “Literally nobody can find it.” (A rep for the Beastie Boys did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s query if the tapes had been located for the reissue.)
Mike D, who released his first-ever solo album, Thank You, this year, reflected on Licensed to Ill’s legacy in a Rolling Stone interview. “I do think about the joy that Adam Horovitz, Yauch, and I had when we were making the demos that became some of those tracks,” he said.
He also reflected on an appearance Beastie Boys’ made on a talk show hosted by Joan Rivers in which she made fun of the album title, calling Licensed to Ill the stupidest she’d ever read. “She’s Joan Rivers,” Mike D said. “You’re supposed to feel a bit belittled. But I guess at the time, I felt like, ‘Oh. I think it’s kind of clever. Don’t we get any points for being kind of clever?’ But that wouldn’t be too on-brand for Joan Rivers, so fair enough.”
In 1987, Mike D told Rolling Stone that he thought the aspect of Beastie Boys that set them apart from other musicians was their sense of humour. “I think people are ready for a group that can laugh at themselves, laugh at everything,” he said. “Especially with all this serious bullshit going on — you know, Live Aid, Egg Aid, Beard Aid and Shave Aid. It’s all so serious, it doesn’t have any sense of humour about itself at all.”
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