Nesmith beat Sweetheart of the Rodeo to it on numerous country-rock songs he penned for the Monkees, however.
Why are you picking Paul’s Boutique over Licensed to Ill?
Just curious, thanks.
License to Ill was huge because it combined rap with sampled hard rock to achieve commercial success, similar to Run-DMC’s Kings of Rock. But Paul’s Boutique was a complete shift in direction - many more layers of production, subtle beats and complex songs and rhymes. It’s like they went from “I Want to Rock and Roll all Night” like KISS to, I dunno, Exile on Main Street - I didn’t know the Beastie’s had it in 'em before that point - and PB was a huge influence on rap/hip hop and other alt musicians like Beck…
Great album, and one of the first to build songs around samples in an accessible way. A few others had done it before, but the Byrne/Eno connection made it golden.
XTC’s English Settlement was another album I couldn’t get enough of in the early '80s. I’m still struck by how perfect it is.