I found this discussion on the Chud.com boards, and even though it hasn’t yet gotten many replies, I thought it interesting enough to pose here. I take no credit for the OP, but I wanted to discuss with others:
It’s an interesting concept. I’d go one further – since Paul’s Boutique was SUCH a huge departure from the Beastie Boys’ mega-smash License to Ill, is it feasible that many record companies would allow an album like Paul’s to even see release? Beyond the infectious “Hey Ladies,” there’s very little single-potential on the album.
I’d say that this album might have never been released, had it been conceived today. Too prohibitively expensive and too much a departure from previous work to be economically feasible.
As Heard On Radio Soulwax, Part 2 was a moderate success for Belgian indie band Soulwax (aka DJs 2 Many DJs). That and an album by Australian band The Avalanches might just about qualify as similar (in samples, if not sound).
Sure, but we’re still talking about a multi-platinum selling group, and one that was locked into a contract. The record company (Capitol, in this case) ended up being very cool about it, but they didn’t promote or push Boutique, presumably because it was a concept album.
Contrast that to today, where record companies are less likely to allow a group to indulge themselves with concepts, and look solely to the bottom line. I’m not sure Paul’s could have been made today, thanks entirely to the “squeeze out the single and hype it to the roof” industry mentality that’s so pervasive these days. The company might have required a completely different remix, or even the halt of production until “that single” was written and recorded.
Not quite the same. American Idiot is Green Day’s sixth major-label album, and came after their greatest hits package, which I don’t think sold too badly. To add to that, it was pretty much in line with what’s come before, if not entirely. Paul’s Boutique was the Beasties’ second album, and it was a radical departure from License To Ill.