Could of been so much more lyrically (Still a dope record)

Hip Hops drunken frat boys are back and they are growing up...sort of. "Hello Nasty" finds MCA, Adrock, & Mike D discovering more styles of music to mess around with and steer away from the drunken rhymes of such seminal albums as their debut "Licensed to Ill". Instead they seem to be talking in rhyme about a whole lot of nothing a lot of the time. They are saying stuff but it is kind of subliminal and not direct. I guess this is my beef with the album while it sounds tight throughout and is worth bumping over a lot of today's hip hop this album generally is not saying anything. I have to respect the beasties for continuing & advancing in a genre where most groups that have been around for twelve plus years are still doing the same things they did at the beginning of their career. The music on this album is pretty amazing throughout and the instrumentals placed on the album are really sick. I guess I would have expected that with all their statements about politics and how bad they feel about their misogynistic lyrics of the past they would have included some of that on here. Either way they dropped yet another groundbreaking album for hip hop and it is definitely worth checking out.

Hello Mediocre

I've been a Beastie Boys fan since I was in 8 years old. I played the cassette version of License to Ill until it did nothing but make a squealing sound in my head phones. And until a while ago I would maintain to anyone that EVERY Beastie Boys album was great, cool in its own right and an evolutionary step forward by some of hip hop's most talented artists. (Get to the point. I know, I know.) But I had never really owned "Hello Nasty' myself. It was the only one of their albums I hadn't picked upon release. Until recently.

Now, upon closer inspection reveals that there really isn't a stand out track on the whole album. "Intergalactic," "Body Movin'" and "Super Disco Breakin'" may have been pseudo hits but they don't really stand out from the rest of the album, which feels like mostly filler. Decent filler, though. There are a few stinkers: "Song for the Man" (It's cool when they try to do new things and the lyrics are interesting, but this track is utterly skippable) and Dedication (following House of Pain's shout out track lead is indulgent and just plain boring to listen to).

Like their previous two LPs, there are a few decent instrumental track that break up the album. But in general the whole album seems to pass unnoticed. I listened to it 4 times in a row while at work an couldn't really discern any standout track. But for what it's worth, I wasn't annoyed.

All in all it's cool to hear the B-Boys make a cohesive album with a unique sound, but it's not mind blowing. I'd recommend it for serious fans and people collecting all their CDs. It's certainly won't detract from your collection and there will be a time you'll want to listen to it. But I wouldn't expect to find yourself picking it over Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head or even To The 5 Boroughs (awesome, by the way) for that matter.

my favorite of the beastie boys collection

I'm a relatively " late" beastie fan, because I only really started listening to them when this CD first came out. I decided to check it out because some of my friends were recommending them and Intergalactic had sounded pretty nice on the radio.



I was pleasantly rewarded when I indeed bought this album. Unlike some albums, it has A LOT of solid songs, and are all well-balanced. These guys can flow.



I then checked out their previous albums, which arent bad, but I still say this one is their best. (song-wise though, nothing tops Fight for your right and Sabatoge!!!).. But for total number of good songs on one CD, this one is up there.



Highly recommended.