On the turntable this Sunday...Check Your Head

Check Your Head is the third studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on April 21, 1992, by Capitol Records.

Three years elapsed between the release of Paul's Boutique (the band's second album) and their recording of this album. Check Your Head was recorded at the G-Son Studios in Atwater Village in 1991. It was re-released in 2009 in a number of formats and featured 16 b-sides and rarities as well as a commentary track. The album is extensively broken down track-by-track by Mike D, MCA, Ad-Rock, Mario Caldato Jr., and Money Mark in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique.


In contrast to their previous album, Paul's Boutique, the Beastie Boys returned somewhat stylistically to their punk rock roots on Check Your Head, playing their own instruments for the first time on record since their early EPs (although they did provide live instrumentation on at least two songs on Paul's Boutique). Hence photographer Glen E. Friedman's idea to shoot photos with their instrument cases (one of which became the cover). Supposedly, a trading card with Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. from a set of Desert Storm trading cards was the inspiration for the title.

The album was their first to be fully co-produced by Mario Caldato Jr. Caldato was an engineer on Paul's Boutique and was credited as producer on that album's track "Ask for Janice". The album also marks the first appearance of longtime collaborator keyboardist Money Mark. The Beastie Boys toured with the Rollins Band and Cypress Hill in early 1992 to support Check Your Head.