Beastie Boyz

They started as a punk rock band. They originally had a female drummer (kate from luscious jackson). But they were always called the beastie boys.

Three kids from New York city got together at the height of NYC's influence on urban culture: the mid eighties. They somehow got hooked up with Rick Rubin, who at the time was starting Def Jam in a dormatory at Columbia University. They had rhymes written for them by the likes of Run DMC (slow and low). And they rocked.

At first they were sort of mysogenistic (the song 'girls' for example). They got more socially and morally conscious as they got older (like most adolescents), likewise they were a great band to grow up with.

License to Ill is their breakthru album, and it's really simple. It contains tons of Led Zeppelin samples.
Paul's Boutique was recorded in LA with the Dust Brothers.
Check your Head and Ill Communication were recorded in NY at approximately the same time, and features their first use of live instruments since their punk rock days. Hello Nasty and To the Five Boroughs are dubious in relevance but fun to listen to. They also released a ton of b-sides and EP's. A live show known as "Oh No It's the Beastie Boys" is floating around out there and it's phenomenal. They also re-released their old punk rock stuff on a CD called "Some Old Bullshit" which is not hard to get.