Natural Ingredients (1994)

Forget Luscious Jackson's connection to the Beastie Boys. Though the female foursome is signed to Mike D.'s Grand Royal label, and one member is a former Beastie girl (she played drums with the group), LJ's full-length debut doesn't aimlessly jump genres like the Beasties' recent albums have. Natural Ingredients' low-budget sound is impossible to peg — think funk, punk, jazz, pop, disco, and hip-hop — but is so nicely balanced that, unlike the Beasties, the group never seems indecisive or schizophrenic.