"Check Your Head" is, simply, the Beastie Boys' best album. They have done nothing better (only Paul's Boutique comes close) and I find it doubtful they ever will. Although this is awesome to listen to at any time, I personally prefer putting it in my walkman and listening while I'm walking or on the bus. It just puts you in an irrepressable groove. As the Boys say "Life ain't nothin' but a good groove, a good mix tape to put you in the right mood" and that was their intention with this album, which they undoubtedly succeed at. "Pass the Mic", "So Watcha Want", and "Professor Booty" are all hip-hop perfection. They take the genre to its absolute height. All of the other hip-hop songs are excellent too. The instrumentals are better than on any other of their albums, mostly because they're the most funky. I will always love to turn the gain up on my bass amp and play the riff from "Gratitude". This album is also Money Mark's first, and he makes his presence known, ruling most of the instrumentals. I can not say enough good things about this album.

Well, after you have phenomenal chart success with your first album ("Licensed to Ill") that you will never see again, and you make a cut-and-paste masterpiece with your second album ("Paul's Boutique") that nobody has equaled since, what do you do for the third? Apparently, if you're the Beastie Boys, whatever you want. Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA actually picked up their instruments for this album and created a lot of funk and punk instrumentals, and then added some rap along the way. Of the rap songs, the high points are "So What'cha Want", "The Maestro", and "Professor Booty", and some of the non-rap songs that are really great are "Gratitude", "Funky Boss", and "Time For Livin'". Even parts of the album that would normally be filler are interesting: this is the sound of the Beastie Boys expanding their horizons even further. Second only to "Paul's Boutique" (and possibly "Hello Nasty") in the Beastie catalog.

Since everyone in the entire world is stupid except me, and Paul's Boutique was NOT the commercial blockbuster smash that the Beastie Boys' record company had hoped, the boys went back into the studio and thought, "Well, we gotta try SOMETHING new. Otherwise we'll get dropped again and it'll be over for good." So they started playing their own instrunents, something that hadn't been done in rap EVER (at least I can't think of anything off the top of my head that sounds like this). Yes you get several awesome wonderful fuzzed-out riff rockers like "Finger Lickin' Good" and the two MTV megahits "So Whatcha Want," and "Pass The Mic." HOWEVER, you also get some lazy "dub" and "funk" instrumentals like "Lighten Up." Now I know that these instrumentals offer a nice break between the rockers, but the fact remains that there are simply too many of 'em. I also don't really like the Sly Stone cover. But it's only like two minutes long, so as soon as you get sick of it, it's gone.

Coolest sample on the album: RIGHT THERE at the end of "Finger Lickin' Good" the Beastie Boys rap about something and end it with "stuff," and then Bob Dylan's voice comes out of nowhere and sings "I'm goin' back to New York City I do believe I've had enough" (from "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"). A great moment.

Though I hate to make this official (because I am no masochist) I may have to proclaim this my favourite Beastie Boys album. Don't get me wrong; Paul's Boutique was good, but a little too profane, you know? I mean, I'm not really into screwing women so that might have something to do with it. Check Your Head, however, is just... Oh man. It is amazing. I'm not into the activist, "oh, man, peace is great and I'm sure one day it will happen because it isn't impossible or anything so let's write 23 songs about it" tracks but in judging the whole album...
I would be lying if I said I wasn't blown away. The Beastie Boys stunned me with just the right amount of sampling, droll verses, and innovative, addictive beats. I got the album over a month ago and it has not yet come out of CD rotation. It is incredible. I love it. Did I mention it's amazing?
"Pass The Mic"? Great. A perfect equilibrium of Beastie goodness.
"Gratitude" (oh man, "Gratitude"!) and "Finger Lickin' Good" are songs that just don't leave your head.
Who couldn't eventually find himself mumbling the lyrics to "What'cha Want"?
And only someone without a soul would be opposed to "The Maestro" or "Live At P.J.'s".
"Mark On The Bus" should please everyone who doesn't like rap, as should "Namasté".
Might I add that "Professor Booty" is really cool?
I didn't even mention everything.
The Beastie Boys had then created a beautiful, flawlessly balanced, and melodious way to coalesce their tastes into one album.
It makes me want to eat yogurt and hop on two or more feet while reading Douglas Adams books and murdering geometric equations.
I love this album.
It will make you a cooler person.
Listen to it.

Check your Head has to be my favorite Beastie Boy album of all time. In this album, the beastie boys blur the lines between hip-hop, jazz, funk, and rock. All this genre-switching upsets alot of people because their too stupid too realize that the Beastie Boys are far too ecclectic and well versed in music to just stick in one category. What i love about the album is that it's a completely untraditional hip hop album. Since when have you seen people rap and play their own instruments? This album is just another display of their excellent skills as artists. Some favorite songs of mine, are "Pass the Mic" ,"Professor Booty", and "Somethings got to Give".

If you've ever heard of the Bad Brains (a black punk rock group) the Beastie Boys give a nod to them and their own punk rock background by sampling the guitar riff in "pass the Mic".

Other than that, it's a great album in it's own right, and a must if you ever consider getting into the Beastie Boys.