damn!

This album was definitely worth the wait. From "Ch-Check It Out" to "We got the" this album is pure beastie. True, the album can run a little boring, but it still doesn't have any filler. I can't think of any song I would want to take out on the album. A must have for any true hip hop fan.

Don't believe the other reviews...

I love this album. Yeah is a bit edgy and its not a hip-pop laced album, if you want to listen to that type of music listen to P Diddy. You need to respect the Beasties for progressing their sound, and whoever said the rhymes aren't tight needs their ears Ch-checked Out. If you listen to the album several times the tracks slowly build on ya until you can't live without them and aren't they the type of tracks you keep listening to for years?



Sure, I didn't end up loving every track but you definitely get your money's worth with this album. My favourites include:



Ch-Check It Out, Right Right Now Now, Triple Trouble, That's It That's All, All Lifestyles, Shazam! and The Brouhaha.



My final point is to drive home that you should give this album a couple of plays to let the genius sink in.

Its ok

This isnt a bad cd it just isnt too great either. If you like rap in general you may enjoy it, but im afraid im not in that category and preferred the mixing on hello nasty. There are a spattering of good songs here. Ch ch check it out is great as are tracks 5,6,7 and maybe some of the later ones. In all honesty none of the later songs are memorable enough to recall. It seems like theyve lost their effortless flow which is represented on songs like finger lickin, body movin, and super disco breakin.

Listenable but ultimately forgettable

I kind of dug this album until I went back and listened to "Check Your Head." Then I realized what was missing...there's just no sense of progression. Not that every album released has to push the envelope of music and explore new ground, but the one thing I always loved about the Beasties was their willingness to do just that. Sadly on this release, they seem content on playing it safe and keeping it old-school. I'm not going to use the "age" card because many bands throughout music history have continued to be innovative after a few decades in the industry. (Besides, when the heck did just-about-40 become old?) What I dont like has nothing to do with their age, its just that it has no edge, no new ground is covered, and there's nothing exciting...its surprisingly average and boring. Check Your Head and Ill Communication were nothing short of musical adreneline shots. Instead of moving forward, they seem to have flashed back to 1986. Its also embarrasingly evident that they are losing touch with the times; with too many lame references to 80's pop culture (e.g. - Things you should NEVER hear on an rap album in 2005): Mr. Belvedere, Riunite on Ice, Mr. Furley...yuck. The tracks also have an old-school Rapper's Delight sonic feel to them, which just doesnt sound right in 2005. It's not a totally negative experience though...some of the tracks deal with some politically charged themes and overall it has a more serious tone than their other albums, which is fine (An Open Letter to NYC is a cool tribute to the Beasties home turf) but at too many times on the album they are a bit too preachy. Then when they're not preachy they're just babbling about their fresh rhymes that really aren't that fresh at all. Overall its not a bad listening experience if you compare it to alot of the rubbish that comes out, but its also a surprisingly lackluster-sounding release from a band who redefined the landscape of alt-rock and who were always on the cutting edge and covering new ground. Seems like now they're more content to fit into a formula than making new recordings that challenge their listeners.

Not as bad as the critics said, but not their best either.

Why I hate mainstream rock journalists, #35: When "To The Five Boroughs" came out, the senior music editors/writers raved about this album and heralded the band for coming back and saving music from it's current sorry state. Come December, when the same magazines are compiling their "Best of 2004" issue, they take any possible opportunity to label their album a disappointment..(the magazine I'm mainly referring to rhymes with "Skin.")



My opinion? There's about 7 very good songs (out of 15) on this album. The Beasties always had a significant amount of filler on their albums, staring with "Check Your Head", but the "good song to filler" ratio is more apparent on this one. If they had made an 8 song E.P. , it probably would have flowed better.



The 7 good songs (in my opinion):



"Rhyme & Rhyme Well"

"3 The Hard Way"

"An Open Letter to NYC"

"Ch-Check it Out"

"The Brouhaha"

"Oh Word?"

"Triple Trouble" (although I wish they hadn't used the "Rapper's Delight" baseline as the main backbone for the song. That sample

is too recognizable and reminds me of P. Diddy's unimaginativeness.)



The anti-George W. Bush lyrics didn't really bother me. The Beasties have spoken their liberal beliefs for years now, so I new there would be some political content. If all the songs had a political bent, then I would be pissed.