They are undoubtedly one of the most influential rap rock bands in history, but even die-hard fans of the Beastie Boys have been left ... as a four-piece hardcore punk band named The Young ...

The Beastie Boys would officially form that year, initially hanging around the New York punk scene before making a foray into hip-hop. Sonic Youth would also come together in 1981, and that August ...

When the Beastie Boys came down and saw four black dudes from D.C. shredding this punk, and then when they see Cool C or the early rap days [and] they say they want to rap: "If the Bad Brains played ...

The press release pretty casually describes it as a "magnum opus," in which "every single song [is] a single, every single ...