The Beastie Boys released their fourth solo album, “Ill Communication,” on May 24, 1994. The album followed the band’s successful 1992 release “Check Your Head,” which included their influential tracks “So What’cha Want?” and “Pass the Mic.”Following a tour behind “Check Your Head,” the Beasties returned to their adopted home of California and hit the studio right away to start recording “Ill Communication.” In Alan Light’s biography “The Skills to Pay the Bills,” longtime Beastie recording engineer Mario Caldato Jr. says the trio had a clear vision for the album from the outset. “That record was made really fast. After we finished the tour everyone was excited, like, Wow, let’s make another record. And the last record did really good so we went into the studio and we did that record in six months. We had a flow. The band was tight.”“Ill Communication” yielded the band’s signature smash hit “Sabotage” and claimed the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart in June.