"To the 5 Burroughs" review
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I'M ALL SMILES!!!
The day has arrived. Last night at 11:45, Anne, Jace, and I made our way to Hastings music to pick up a copy of the Beastie Boys new album "To the 5 Burroughs."
I've been a Beastie Boys fan for quite some time now. I remember being curious by their music in the "Ill Communication" era. The more I heard, the more I loved. It wasn't until I purchased "Paul's Boutique" that I completely fell in love with the insane genius that is the Beastie Boys music.
The other day, I remarked that it's a crying shame that with all that's going on in the world, there haven't been *that* many songs of protest. Sure there are plenty of Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood "rah rah" songs. But there haven't been too many songs that give the other side of the coin. Or maybe I should say that there haven't been many mainstream artists putting out protest music, since there are plenty of indie artists carrying that torch.
But I don't want to imply that "To the 5 Burroughs" is a protest album. The Beastie Boys are up to their usual antics of mixing politics with their typical mind-bending rhymes and word play. But I'd say that a good 30-40% of this album carries some kind of social or political message.
What's really struck me about "To the 5 Burroughs" on the first few go throughs, is that it seems to me that the Beastie Boys have found a way to work in some of their old wise ass antics with their 40 year old sensibilities. So in some ways, "To the 5 Burroughs" is a mix of "License to Ill" and "Hello Nasty." Whereas their last album and dvd release were devoid of any kind of curse word or b-boy posturing, "To the 5 Burroughs" is filled with them. But their b-boy posturings is more about trying to elevate their game, and bring certain issues to light than it is about any kind of ego driven posturing.
The album isn't quite a grand slam home run in the same way that "Hello Nasty" was. This is more of a home run with 1 or 2 people on base. It's still magnificent, but I don't think it's their best record to date.
Some of the songs really demonstrate that the Beastie Boys are getting older. MUCH older. With artists like Mos Def and Talib Kweli kicking around new flow patterns and "rhymes within rhymes," sometimes the Beastie's old school rhymes fall kinda flat. But that's always been the case with the Beastie Boys so this is nothing new. Although they are excellent at word play, the Beastie Boys have always been blessed with coming up with some of the best beats around.
But some of the hooks from this album are kinda corny. See "Brouhaha" and "Crawlspace" for evidence of this. These particular tracks sound a bit dated, but not in the kitschy way that keeps other tracks from this album sounding new and vibrant.
I'm pretty addicted to this album at this point. I can tell it's going to not be leaving my cd player anytime soon.
I wonder how many more albums the Beastie Boys have left. If this album is any evidence, they have some gas left in the tank yet.
matt out
The day has arrived. Last night at 11:45, Anne, Jace, and I made our way to Hastings music to pick up a copy of the Beastie Boys new album "To the 5 Burroughs."
I've been a Beastie Boys fan for quite some time now. I remember being curious by their music in the "Ill Communication" era. The more I heard, the more I loved. It wasn't until I purchased "Paul's Boutique" that I completely fell in love with the insane genius that is the Beastie Boys music.
The other day, I remarked that it's a crying shame that with all that's going on in the world, there haven't been *that* many songs of protest. Sure there are plenty of Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood "rah rah" songs. But there haven't been too many songs that give the other side of the coin. Or maybe I should say that there haven't been many mainstream artists putting out protest music, since there are plenty of indie artists carrying that torch.
But I don't want to imply that "To the 5 Burroughs" is a protest album. The Beastie Boys are up to their usual antics of mixing politics with their typical mind-bending rhymes and word play. But I'd say that a good 30-40% of this album carries some kind of social or political message.
What's really struck me about "To the 5 Burroughs" on the first few go throughs, is that it seems to me that the Beastie Boys have found a way to work in some of their old wise ass antics with their 40 year old sensibilities. So in some ways, "To the 5 Burroughs" is a mix of "License to Ill" and "Hello Nasty." Whereas their last album and dvd release were devoid of any kind of curse word or b-boy posturing, "To the 5 Burroughs" is filled with them. But their b-boy posturings is more about trying to elevate their game, and bring certain issues to light than it is about any kind of ego driven posturing.
The album isn't quite a grand slam home run in the same way that "Hello Nasty" was. This is more of a home run with 1 or 2 people on base. It's still magnificent, but I don't think it's their best record to date.
Some of the songs really demonstrate that the Beastie Boys are getting older. MUCH older. With artists like Mos Def and Talib Kweli kicking around new flow patterns and "rhymes within rhymes," sometimes the Beastie's old school rhymes fall kinda flat. But that's always been the case with the Beastie Boys so this is nothing new. Although they are excellent at word play, the Beastie Boys have always been blessed with coming up with some of the best beats around.
But some of the hooks from this album are kinda corny. See "Brouhaha" and "Crawlspace" for evidence of this. These particular tracks sound a bit dated, but not in the kitschy way that keeps other tracks from this album sounding new and vibrant.
I'm pretty addicted to this album at this point. I can tell it's going to not be leaving my cd player anytime soon.
I wonder how many more albums the Beastie Boys have left. If this album is any evidence, they have some gas left in the tank yet.
matt out
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