"To the 5 Boroughs" is a great CD, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing new or freshly impressing. The whole time, the Beastie Boys' perfect rhymes flow over MixMaster Mike's skilled turntable old skool beats. "Check it Out" stands out on the album, so does "An Open Letter to NYC," but the rest seems to blend together. That's not a bad thing, though. The Beastie Boys have a way of pulling off stuff like that smoothly. Secondly, the album seems more like teh soundtrack to that new movie "Farenheit 9/11" at times. The boys bash George W. Bush and his decisions in probably 3-5 songs, slurring out that it's time for a re-election. I bought the clean version of this CD and after a few listens... there basically was no serious foul language. They say "F**K" like 3 times, they say "ass" once, "S**T" only pops up twice and there's a couple of "damn"s and "Hell"s. Otherwise, this CD isn't very "explicitive."

I got this at walmart by accident
(...)
but after listening to the explicit version
you really arent missing out on anything
THIS ALBUM STILL ROCKS!!!!!

it melds the old skool hip hop of license to ill
with the mature sounds of hello nasty in a sweet new
mix
this is one of their best if not the best album
and it ranks up there with check your head and ill communication

Don't get me wrong - I'm a huge fan of the Beasties, and the Beasties bickering about politics doesn't bother me, what's wrong with this album comes in the form of too little, as opposed to too much.

The first Beastie Boys album in 6 years "To the 5 Boroughs", is a very plain Beastie experience compared to the likes of "Paul's Boutique", "Ill Communication", and even "Licensed to Ill". The production on here, all of it done by the Beasties themselves, is sorely lacking. Gone are the guitars, and in once again are tons, and tons of samples. The sampling thing was cool back in '89 with Paul's Boutique, but this is 2004, and I was expecting a new sound from the Beasties, instead of the stripped-down minimalistic beats on here. The only track on here with any sort of production quality at all is "An Open Letter to NYC".

The rhymes however, are on point, as usual. Adrock, Mike D and MCA deliver some great lines and verses, though most of the songs on here follow the exact same rhyme structure. The lead single, "Ch-Check it Out" is probably the best track on here, but that's probably because it doesn't sound much different than the others. "Crawlspace" has some nice funk-elements in it, "Oh Word?" and "Hey F*** You" show the Beasties can still tear it up when they're pushing 40. A few of the tracks on here are really weak though, such as "We Got The" and "Time To Build", I don't think it has anything to do with those two being two of the most political tracks, they just don't cut it for me.

Die-hard Beastie fans might be a little disappointed, and probably will be left waiting until the Beasties pick up their guitars again. This is a decent album, but it's not one that will maintain heavy rotation in your CD player.

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.

Listening to "Ch-Check it Out" all over MTV2 and college radio, you can't help but rock the hell out, but after the first track, you'll quickly learn it isn't the party "Ch-Check it Out" seemingly promised. With much more subversive beats than the single, "To The 5 Boroughs" is definitely more lyrically driven. After a couple of listens though, you'll start to glean your favorite tracks and enjoy the hell out of them, and (assuming you're a liberal) will appreciate the entire album's lyrics as relevent political gospel, one that succeeds without naming too many names or getting down on itself.