''Aglio e Olio'' is an
EP by the
Beastie Boys, released in 1995. The EP showcases a return to the band's
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...
roots.
Recording and release
The EP was released after the band realized that it had written too many hardcore punk songs for its next record.
Michael "Mike D" Diamond later said, "When we first started working on ''
Hello Nasty
''Hello Nasty'' is the fifth studio album by American rap rock group Beastie Boys, released by Capitol Records and Grand Royal Records on July 14, 1998. It sold 681,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album ...
'' in New York, Amery "Awol" Smith was around helping us get set up. Along with the usual bunch of experimental jamming/sampling etc., we started playing a bunch of hardcore, putting song arrangements together really quickly. Then I started writing vocals. Soon we realized that we had way too many hardcore songs to possibly put on the next album, so we decided to release them all together as an EP."
"Aglio e Olio" means "
Garlic and
Oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
" in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, a reference to one of the simplest
pasta
Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ar ...
dressings used in Italy. According to Mike D, the title was chosen "to let the kids know, it's eight songs but only ten minutes. It's important to let the people know".
[ ''Aglio e Olio'' was the first album released by the Beastie Boys since their 1982 EP '']Polly Wog Stew
''Polly Wog Stew'' is the first recorded release by Beastie Boys, released as an EP in 1982 on the independent record label Rat Cage. Now out of print in its original form, all eight songs saw reissue on the 1989 punk rock compilation '' Kill ...
'' to feature entirely hardcore punk songs. All but one of the songs contained on the EP are under two minutes in length; each song is played quickly in the style of punk rock.[ Initial pressings of the CD and Vinyl release came with a small adhesive label affixed with the following warning to music buyers: "Only 8 songs, Only 11 minutes, Only cheap $."
The EP was released to digital streaming services in 2020.]
Critical reception
Despite the EP only being about 10 minutes in length, the record received mostly positive reviews. Punknews.org complimented the EP, saying that ''Aglio e Olio'' is "a testament to times when hardcore was about attitude, not drop D tuning
Drop D tuning is an alternative form of guitar tuning in which the lowest (sixth) string is tuned down from the usual E of standard tuning by one whole step to D. So where standard tuning is E2A2D3G3B3E4 (EADGBe), drop D is D2A2D3G3B3E4 (DADGB ...
, playing really fast, and listening to too much Pantera."[ Similarly, Randy Silver, ]Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
said, " ere are better hardcore albums out there, and there are better Beastie Boys discs, but fans will still enjoy ''Aglio E Olio''."[ Jam! Showbiz Music Reviews stated that the EP, and the song "Deal with It" in particular, "is entirely representative of the faster-louder sound, which makes the Ramones seem like restless experimentalists by comparison."][
]AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
awarded the EP two out of five stars, but did not publish a review.
Track listing
Charts
References
{{Authority control
1995 EPs
Beastie Boys EPs
Grand Royal EPs
Hardcore punk EPs