To the 5 Boroughs is an extremely impressive album. On the one hand, it is pure, vintage Beastie Boys. You need only listen to about ten seconds of the album to know that these are the Beastie Boys you know and love. And yet, on the other hand, these are a noticably older, more mature Beastie Boys. The tracks are richer and more complex. Their flows now come gravel voiced and with the authoritztive tones of the elder shamans of rap. But the Beastie Boys have aged like great Scotch. They are still full of energy and carry the same eccentric wit, only know they have become deeper and smoother. These guys are real artists and there is just no denying it.

If you've liked any of their previous albums, I can't imagine not liking this one. I bought it having not heard a single song and haven't regretted it for a second.

Come on, if you ever listened to Check your Head in high school - Paul's Boutique _ or any of their albums for that matter. Demos and Outtakes was a personal fav. - You have to LOVE them. Sure they are outraged about what happened to NYC, it is their home. I lived there when 9/11 happened and get what they are saying to all the new yorkers...Sure, they bash Bush, that is only because they are cool as hell and smart enough to see the truth in the world.. I think this album is in reaction to 9/11 in a way. They are older, wiser, still amazing, sexy and cool ARTISTS. Artists create things of importance. I was so refreshed to hear this album because it made me feel less alone - it actually gave me hope in a time when the world seems to have gone conservative and crazy. I love it.

Not to mention, there are loads of things that make me laugh out loud in the car when I am listening to it. MCA's smooth and he is sexy (freshly dressed) as hell, Adrock is cute and silly as hell - and Mike D is just hilarious and great, as always. ie..."Riunite on Ice" - like its so classy, that is hilarious and classic beasties humor and "The truth is brutal, you'r grandmas coo-coo " - HA! and "I'm the one who one that dance contest 'cause you know I dance the best.." who else can pull this off? The wit..Anyway, They felt they had to speak up- and I for one am thrilled (even if it does make the album dated sooner than later, it will be historical) they had something important to say so "If you dont like the news then press eject" people.

Back when they made music with a perhaps lighter tone the world was different and they were younger with less pressing things on their minds. But they were still very much politically aware (esp. about racism, classism). Anyone who just wants some mindless booty shaking should just listen to pop. These are the people that were never true Beastie fans, they just got on the bandwagon back when they were really popular and went to lalapalooza or whatever, like '96-ish? perhaps?

Okay, the CD is good. I've always been more of a fan of the hip-hop Beasties than the punk Beasties. It's a pleasure to hear the silly rhymes again...especially the 'dissing (and slamming beat) on "Well F___ You". The bad is mainly that this CD musically lacks the creativity of most of their former CD's. Do we really need to hear ANOTHER song that samples "Rapper's Delight"? They could've dug a lot deeper on some of these songs, especially with six years to work with.

For everyone that doesn't like the fact that they mention politics...get over it. Music has always been a venue for freedom of speech and God willing it always will be. It's one of the things that makes our country great and the Beastie Boys know that. If you were somehow unaware they were political then you've had your head in the sand (or somewhere else) for quite a while now. If I have to start seeing "Caution, political ideas expressed that may not agree with yours" warning stickers I'm going to be really upset...

It cracks me up that some of these little tools are so offended by the political content. I recommend listening to Paris' album Sonic Jihad. On the music quality tip, I listen to A LOT of hip-hop, and it is just obvious in most of the negative reviews that you people don't, or you'd know this album is an instant classic. To think I almost didn't buy the album.....really, y'all need to be offended at the state of this nation! But your kids will probably be referring to these bleak times in their history books years from now. If they lost you on this album, all the better. That's probably why it took 6 years: trying to shake the low common denominator off of the fan base. Really people, wake up.

Six years is a long time, about one-and-a-half generations in pop music and a fairly large chunk out of anyone's life, two sentiments that come into play on the Beastie Boys' sixth album, 2004's To the 5 Boroughs. When the Beasties last delivered an album, it was in the summer of 1998 as the Clinton impeachment scandal was heating up, and just as that sordid saga closed the curtain on the swinging '90s, Hello Nasty served as both a culmination of the New York trio's remarkable comeback and as a capper to the alt-rock boom of the '90s, the last album of the decade to capture what the '90s actually felt like.

Not only is the political and cultural landscape of 2004 much different than that of 1998, the Beasties are a different band in a different position. They're no longer on the vanguard of pop culture, setting the trends and styles, nor do they embody their time; like it or not, the po-faced, humorless brooding of Coldplay and Wilco is an appropriate soundtrack to the drab, dark days of the early 2000s. No, the Beastie Boys are no longer groundbreakers; they're elder statesmen, operating outside of the fashions of the time. This has as much to do with maturity as it does with changing times. Now that Ad-Rock, MCA, and Mike D are all nearly 40, they're not as interested in being the world's hippest group, as evidenced by their abandonment of their Grand Royal empire at the turn of the decade, and that suspicion is borne out by To the 5 Boroughs.

Like many musicians at middle age, the Beasties are a little set in their ways, ignoring modern music nearly entirely and turning to the music of their youth for sustenance. For the Beasties, this means heavy doses of old school rap spiked with a bit of punk, which admittedly isn't all that different from the blueprints for Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty, but the attack here is clean and focused, far removed from the sprawling, kaleidoscopic mosaics of their '90s records. In contrast, To the 5 Boroughs is sleek and streamlined, with all the loose ends neatly clipped and tied; even the punk influences are transformed into hip-hop, as when the Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer" provides the fuel for "An Open Letter to NYC." Given the emphasis on hip-hop, it may be tempting to label Boroughs as an old-school homage, but that isn't accurate, since nothing here sounds like a lost side from the Sugarhill Records stable.

Still, old-school rhyme schemes and grooves do power the album, yet they're filtered through the Beasties' signature blend of absurdity, in-jokes, and pop culture, all served up in a dense, layered production so thick that it seems to boast more samples than it does. Apart from an explicit anti-Dubya political bent on some lyrics, there's nothing surprising or new here, and the cohesive, concise nature of To the 5 Boroughs only emphasizes the familiarity of the music. Familiarity can be comforting, though, particularly in troubled times, and there's a certain pleasure simply hearing the trio again after six long years of silence, particularly since the Beasties are in good form here, crafting appealing productions and spitting out more rhymes than they have since Paul's Boutique.

If there are no classics here, there's no duds, either, and given that the Beasties' pop culture aesthetic once seemed to be the territory of young men, it's rather impressive that they're maturing gracefully, turning into expert craftsmen that can deliver a satisfying listen like this. That's a subtle achievement, something that will likely not please those listeners looking for the shock of the new from a Beastie Boys record, but judged on its own musical merits, To the 5 Boroughs is a satisfying listen, and convincing evidence that the trio will be able to weather middle age well.