<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Seriously though, I've been a Beastie Boys fan for a long, long time. I've got (or owned at one time or another) every Beastie CD made. My favorite album by them is Ill Communication... probably my most favorite album of all time. To the 5 Boroughs is a great CD, it's their return to giving their fans what they want and not just experimenting with new Genres (as on Hello Nasty).
Although Hello Nasty was, in my opinion, a great Cd, I know that many people lost interest in the group because of it. It was almost like what happened to the Smashing Pumpkins... Billy Corgan's head got too big and their last two albums were just Corgan stroking his own ego and going on weird tangents. 5 Boroughs takes all of the things that people liked about Hello Nasty, mixes in a few more modern beats (like on "Right Right Now Now" and "An Open Letter to NYC") and then throws in a bunch of really old-school beats and rhymes like on "Oh Word" and "Triple Trouble". It's different than Hello Nasty in that the B-Boys cuss quite a bit on this CD. They even have a song called "Hey Fuck You" that goes off on some, uh, wack MCs... not sure who they're talking about though.
The liberal politics are thick on this disc, so if you don't agree with their views you might be turned off a bit by some of the lyrics. That's not a problem for me though as I tend to lean to the left on most issues. Mostly they're just ripping on Bush (as on the track "Time to Build") or they're talking about accepting alternative lifestyles and cultures, etc. (as on the track "All Lifestyles"). Nothing too out there, it's just a "We got to get together & take the power back" kind of a thing.
Some people might be turned off by the CDs apparent unoriginality... at times it seems like a re-hash of their older stuff, but a B-Boy fanatic will be able to tell the difference. This CD is 1/2 fresh new style and the other 1/2 is a return to the Beastie Boys roots. Things you won't find on this CD: any Buddhist stuff (although I have no problem with Buddhism personally), any rock (hardcore or otherwise), any nice words for Bush. There's also quite a bit more testosterone on this CD than I expected, it seems to me like they were trying to give the fans what they want... and I think I got it.</div>
Although Hello Nasty was, in my opinion, a great Cd, I know that many people lost interest in the group because of it. It was almost like what happened to the Smashing Pumpkins... Billy Corgan's head got too big and their last two albums were just Corgan stroking his own ego and going on weird tangents. 5 Boroughs takes all of the things that people liked about Hello Nasty, mixes in a few more modern beats (like on "Right Right Now Now" and "An Open Letter to NYC") and then throws in a bunch of really old-school beats and rhymes like on "Oh Word" and "Triple Trouble". It's different than Hello Nasty in that the B-Boys cuss quite a bit on this CD. They even have a song called "Hey Fuck You" that goes off on some, uh, wack MCs... not sure who they're talking about though.
The liberal politics are thick on this disc, so if you don't agree with their views you might be turned off a bit by some of the lyrics. That's not a problem for me though as I tend to lean to the left on most issues. Mostly they're just ripping on Bush (as on the track "Time to Build") or they're talking about accepting alternative lifestyles and cultures, etc. (as on the track "All Lifestyles"). Nothing too out there, it's just a "We got to get together & take the power back" kind of a thing.
Some people might be turned off by the CDs apparent unoriginality... at times it seems like a re-hash of their older stuff, but a B-Boy fanatic will be able to tell the difference. This CD is 1/2 fresh new style and the other 1/2 is a return to the Beastie Boys roots. Things you won't find on this CD: any Buddhist stuff (although I have no problem with Buddhism personally), any rock (hardcore or otherwise), any nice words for Bush. There's also quite a bit more testosterone on this CD than I expected, it seems to me like they were trying to give the fans what they want... and I think I got it.</div>