To the 5 Buroughs - The Beastie Boys sad decline
Published August 04, 2004
I very much hate to say this, but the Beastie Boys have simply lost it. To the 5 Buroughs has almost no musical value whatsoever. The muse seems to have fled from them. Or perhaps they're just tired.
In any case, there is not even one decent song on this record. There is no melody, no song structure, nothing of interest. A lot of bar bands might cover "Sabotage" or even "Fight for Your Right to Party." No one will be covering any song from this album, because there simply are no "songs" here that you would use the word for without scare quotes.
It doesn't even have the rhythm part, which is usually the strong suit of rap. It might be considered to have "beats" in that there are repeated rhythmic patterns, but there are certainly no real grooves.
Then again, the groove thing will be lost in that they are back to not playing instruments, or at least not by much. They're reduced to basically random samples stuck together. Boring. Been done, and much better by the Beasties themselves among others. This is highly artistically regressive.
The lyrics are simply garbage. For starters, there's little in the way of structure, discipline, any kind of pattern. They're just random lines of words, regurgitating the same half-ass smart-ass schtick as ever, only less creatively. At one time they came up with, for example, "Shadrach," framing the rap boasts in a clever Hebrew joke, casting themselves as Biblical prophets.
Whereas now, the more coherent end of their lyrics is something like "WE GOT TO KEEP THE PARTY GOING ON ALL LIFESTYLES, SIZES, SHAPES AND FORMS" That's not a song lyric, it's a mindless piece of liberal PC boilerplate. It shows no creativity. It has no imagery. It's just pointless.
This whole record is so worthless that I'd rather listen to the Katie Melua snoozefest. It does at least have songs, even if they're not much good. Hell, I'd listen to Barbara Streisand before I listen to this again.
Look, the Beasties made several really outstanding albums. There's no shame that it's dried up. However, that does not excuse taking people's money for nonsense like this. Plus, it actively detracts from their legacy.
So then, the moral of this story is that if you don't have any decent songs, you shouldn't put out a record.
- To the 5 Buroughs - The Beastie Boys sad decline
- Published: August 04, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: DJ, Music: Electronica, Music: Rap
- Writer: Al Barger
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Comments on this articleComments
I listened to this CD 1 time, and at first listen I found abotu 3 good songs, the rest was not so great. Good thing I have a copy of Paul's Boutique.
Same here. A few decent tracks, nothing much to keep me rivetted for repeat listens. "3 the Hard Way" and, to a lesser extent, "Ch-Check It Out" are the only songs I find I can actually remember even many spins later. It's a far cry from my favorite, Check Your Head and a lot farther from Paul's Boutique, that's for sure.
Al, when i Reviewed This Here Record
i was very positive, and i gotta say, i still feel that way. I can see why it might seem a bit underwhelming, its certainly stripped down to all hell, but i thought it was actually rather brave. The lyrics ruled, also.
You're all wack.. this is some bullshit review made by some no talent critic who has no idea what good music is.
To say the beastie boys are "Dried up" is fuckin BS. I just got back from their show in SF with Talib Kweli. DUDE they rocked the fuckin house, playin cuts off of all different albums from check your head to ill communication to the most recent 2the5boroughs. They even threw in their acid jazz cuts from "in sounds from way out" (playing live instraments) and punk songs. The best was Sabotage (dedicated to GWBush). To say they've lost their musical talent is bullshit. Get off the wall and get INVOLVED you sack of shit. Go out and listen to the beasies and you'll see they haven't lost anything.
fuckin' biter.
There live show is the best in the game to be sure. The LP is a little flat at times but they have someone transformed into an increbible and perhaps untouchable live act. Back in the day they were not as tight. I guess artistic development is a bit of a tradeoff.
I saw a live show of theirs on MTV about six months ago and it knocked me on my ass -- probably the best live music event I've ever seen on television.
5 Boroughs isn't their best record, but it's got several good-to-great songs. "An Open Letter to NYC" is right up there with the best they've ever done. Makes me emotional every time I hear it, too, I'm not ashamed to say. Queens born, I was.
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Thank you for having the courage to say it. I love the Beastie Boys and they had a profound affect on my college life. However, this record (though musically tight) is simply going through the motions. I mean, I though Primus was musically redundant... but this takes the cake. Since they only do an album about every 6 years, I was hoping for a breakthrough.
Oh well, the Beasties still rule... just get Ill Communication or Check Your Head.