"Sabotage"

Beastie Boys - Sabotage (1994)

Is there a problem officer?




Handcrafted to get you up out of your seats. The song makes use of traditional rock instruments as well as turntables and a rapped vocal. It's often called rapcore, and yes, this is who you can blame for Limp Biscut. The bass and guitar are heavily distorted, the scratches are sent through echo effects, but the drums are clear, clean and straight ahead rock. Lyrically, my favorite line is /I'm Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle/. Buddy Rich was world class big band era drummer. He was also notorious for screaming and going crazy on people at the drop of a hat. Then right back to business. He had a real short temper, but never really stayed mad at anyone.

You've got to mention a video this important to the song. Almost unknown director Spike Jones came of age in 1994, directing videos for Weezer, Dinosaur Jr. and the Beastie Boys as well as others. He had directed The Breeders Cannonball the previous year, but most people point to the constant rotation of this video's 70's era cop show spoof on MTV as the reason he exploded into the pop culture consciousness.