Beastie Boys Story (2020)
August 22, 2022 5:53 PM - Subscribe

Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz share the story of their band and 40 years of friendship in a live documentary.
posted by The corpse in the library (4 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I really liked this! I could've done with a few more of the "we'll edit this out" bits actually being edited out, but other than that it was well paced and interesting.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:54 PM on August 22, 2022


Turns out the story behind the Beastie Bots was actually much more interesting than I would have ever imagined! Loved the story about Yauch’s DIY tape loop experiments. Also, I appreciate how readily and repeatedly they owned up to their old bad behaviors, especially their apology to former member (and Luscious Jackson founder) Kate Schellenbach. (I don’t know whether she accepted it or not, but it’s refreshing that someone at least tried.)
posted by ejs at 7:39 PM on August 22, 2022 [1 favorite]


Agree that the bits about Adam Yauch were the most interesting, as was the early story of how a bunch of knucklehead teens from NYC became the Beasley Boys. But it was a little slick and self-serving. Mike and Adam have clearly morphed into middle-aged showbiz professionals who want to be liked above all else, so what is presented is often self-effacing spin.

One thing they don't really seem to grasp is that the early, obnoxious stuff just doesn't work as satire, exactly, however much they might insist that that was their intent. Sure, it wasn't the "real them," but it was the persona they put on because (a) they thought it was funny and (b) they were rewarded for it. That's not the same as making an ironic critique of that attitude - there simply was no critique (until Ill Communication, with MCA's verse.)

So, to be blunt, I'd say that one of the major themes of the show is "we're not dicks," (with perhaps an "...any more" appended onto it) and I think they are a little delusional about that.
posted by anhedonic at 7:55 AM on August 23, 2022 [1 favorite]


I would have enjoyed this more without an audience, because the huge warm reception for the very modest bits of banter was a little hard to take. It felt oddly like parents gushing over a school play.
posted by argybarg at 1:02 PM on August 28, 2022 [1 favorite]


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