Beastie Boys are marking the 40th anniversary of Licensed to Ill, their diamond-certified debut album, with a limited edition vinyl reissue. The Vinylphyle edition is due out March 18 and is available for preorder.
Album background#
Originally released on Nov. 15, 1986, the album was produced by Rick Rubin and became the first rap record to top the album chart. It reached that position on the strength of music videos for “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” and “No Sleep till Brooklyn,” along with a string of singles that included:
- “Brass Monkey”
- “Hold It Now, Hit It”
- “Paul Revere”
The group’s surviving members, Mike D and Ad-Rock, are scheduled to appear on The Daily Show on Monday to discuss the album’s legacy. The SmartLess podcast is also released that day.
Vinyl reissue details#
The limited Vinylphyle edition was cut from a high-resolution digital transfer of the original 1986 quarter-inch master tape. It is pressed onto 180-gram black vinyl long-playing records (LPs).
Audio engineer Joe Nino-Hernes worked from the physical tapes at Sterling Sound, adding a digital step to help preserve them. In a statement, he said:
“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.”
“It also allowed me to minimize handling of the tapes that have become fragile with time,” he said.
The reissue will come in a gatefold sleeve and includes the following:
- New liner notes by Public Enemy’s Chuck D
- An etching on the fourth side of the second LP
- A four-panel insert with photos of the master tapes
Missing master tapes#
In 2019, Mike D told A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, host of the 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 whether Rick Rubin knew where the tapes were, Mike D repeated the claim. “No,” he said. “Literally nobody can find it.”
