Rock Hard (song)

"Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdrawn. When the group planned to include the out-of-print song on their 1999 compilation, Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science, AC/DC refused to clear the sample. Mike D spoke to AC/DC's Malcolm Young personally on the phone when their lawyers refused to clear the sample, and later said that "AC/DC could not get with the sample concept. They were just like, 'Nothing against you guys, but we just don't endorse sampling.'" Ad-Rock then added, "So we told them that we don't endorse people playing guitars."[3]

"Rock Hard"
Single by Beastie Boys
Released1984
Recorded1984
GenreRap rock
Length4:55
LabelDef Jam
Songwriter(s)Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, Rick Rubin, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Brian Johnson
Producer(s)Rick Rubin
Beastie Boys singles chronology
"Cooky Puss"
(1983)		 "Rock Hard"
(1984)		 "She's on It"
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[2]

Reception

John Leland of Spin noted the song's, "parodic extremes. I mean, no one has a beat this big and this wet. While this platter delivers ample boasts for the buck, the Beasties never take themselves or their genre too seriously."[4]

Track listing
Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Rock Hard"4:55
2."Party's Gettin' Rough"5:58
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Beastie Groove"3:37
2."Beastie Groove" (instrumental)3:37

References
  1. "Rock Hard - Beastie Boys" at AllMusic. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 16, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. "AC/DC nix Beastie Boys sample" (LexisNexis Academic Search). New Musical Express. November 11, 1999. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  4. John Leland (June 1985). "Singles". Spin. No. 2. p. 73.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.