1) These aren't the bands' first-ever albums
2) These aren't considered the bands' best albums ever by critics- only me.
9th Grade- Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty (1998)
Yet another album that is disgustingly good from start to finish! The only thing I knew about the Beastie Boys in 9th grade was that they did the song "Girls, Fight for Your Right," and "Brass Monkey"- all awesome songs in their own right, but I had never cared to listen to anything else by them. WELL, one day my friend Jenny was telling me about how a new Beastie Boys album was coming out. A week later, a Rolling Stone issue came out that was interviewing the Beastie Boys about their new album. Around this same time, "Intergalactic" was getting HEAVY rotation on the radio and MTV. Anyhow, I read the interview, thought the band sounded awesome, and so I picked up the album on the day it came out. Just like all the other albums I've talked about, I was drawn in by one song here: "Intergalactic." The song is sick, and the video is sick, and the album turned out to be just stupid amazing.EVERY song on this disc is good AND- the album has incredible staying power. 11 years later, this STILL is one of my most played ablums. Why is the album good? The lyrics are hilarious, the beats are phenomenal, and there is a lot of variety from track to track. Mix Master Mike is by far the sweetest turntablist on the planet, and the Beasties all have really sweet flows. They paved the way for dudes like Eminem to be taken seriously!
Anyway, because of this album I got into a lot more hip hop, but "Hello Nasty" serves as the meter stick by which I measure all the other stuff that comes my way! In case you were curious, T Pain does not measure up (though that track with Jamie Foxx is SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!).
9th Grade- Rage Against the Machine- Evil Empire (1996)
Ahhh yes, Evil Empire. This album came out in 1996 but I got into it a little bit later as a freshman in high school- The first time I saw the CD, it was in my friend's older brother's record collection. Then, I saw the video for "Bulls on Parade" on MTV (at the same friend's house), and didn't really know what to think. "What was this crazy noise?!" Keep in mind, the whole rap-rock thing wasn't all that big at this point and people weren't familiar with Tom Morello's guitar craziness either! ANYHOW, I actually don't remember at what point I was inspired to own this album, but it happened- I went to school one day and paid this guy Adam $5.00 (cold hard cash) to use his amazing CD burner technology to copy the album for me. And sure enough, I had it the next day! Again, I can't ever really remember listening to it a lot in high school, but as it stands today, this is one of my favorite albums ever and it still gets very heavy rotation in my life!
I consider this album better than the self titled one, and the band's best album overall! Any album with lyrics like: "Turn on the radio, nah, fuck it, turn it off- fear is your only God on the radio!" - is sweet! The whole album is just SO musically tight. Listening to it is the equivalent of injecting steroids and stimulants. It makes you run faster, lift harder, and probably fight more viciously! My favorite songs on this album are probably Vietnow, Tire Me, and Down Rodeo- all of these are lesser known Rage... songs but stellar none the less!
Another awesome thing that I appreciate about Rage a lot more today is how politically active they are/were. Though some of their stances are a bit questionable, for the most part, I think they are pretty awesome for standing up to a lot of bad shit in the world... Look up the band on Wikipedia if you're interested and reach you're own opinion on it.
Anyway, just like "Hello Nasty," I crank out "Evil Empire" out quite a bit these days too!
