Beastie Boys – To the 5 Boroughs cd
You gotta hand it to the Beasties for longevity and consistantly dropping scientistics. One could set a sundial by it almost, because every 3 to 4 years they’d put down the snowboards, tofu and bongs to toss out a record. Sadly, ever since Ill Communication they’ve being slipping like a jellyfish on the bottom of my Adidas and even Hello Nasty had me actually rebelling against individual Beasties. For example Mike D. started to sound more like a bisexual bitch who whines instead of raps and MCA has gotta get a grip about Tibet. Dude, it’s here that needs to be free. Free of your preachy rich kid guilt built on the American Dream, so be grateful you ain’t working in a White Castle. Anybody that supports Mumia loses my respect instantly so both he and Rage Against the Machine are free to move to Russia anytime. Ok, let me chill... Ad-Rock’s still sorta stomachable and I sympathize about Ione Skye turning dyke on him.... poor bastard. Collectively, however, their ever growing politically correct activism is really starting to get on my nerves. I can’t understand how anybody from the N.Y. tri-state area or the whole friggin’ country could not still be pissed about the WTC coming down. So fuck this love and peace crapola. Peace and love don’t lead to understanding, it only leads your enemy into thinking you’re a weaker target than they originally thought.
So, also fuck Hollywoodstock and the rock star protests because these money-makin’ celebrities live in a whole other world removed from ours. They ain’t in touch with daily reality grind of most hard-working Americans living their anonymous ordinary lives. The Beasties can indulge any childish whim and take care of every unsuspected need and never have to worry about making the rent and keeping up on bills. They can sit around all day shooting hoops and dreaming up rhymes while the rest of us endure some hellish job or just get by doing a bearable one. Yeah, it’s cool if you can do that shit, but shut the fuck up and go do it. A cynic like me is always gonna suspect that deep down you only care about your own selfish reality because if the world cracks open the gravy train turns to a shitstream and there goes your fame right down the toilet. The subconcscious reason the famous want peace so bad is because it keeps their dreamboat lives afloat.
Basically, the above bitchfest is mainly about the fact that I’m looking to escape our current political landcsape because it’s gettin’ uglier than Aunt Esther these days. When I put on a record I don’t want to hear the Beasties tryin’ to influence votes of the ignoramus youth. I just wanna do some boogaloo headspins and get off of this madhouse Earth w/ some Brooklyn Dust music. Despite that kind of preachy crap the beats are hella phat w/ an old school new style beyond d&b flow when it’s really kicking the KFC. The great first single “Ch-Ch Check It” and especially the track “Crawlspace” show the cutting edge creativity the Beasties have always displayed. Just like every record since Paul’s Boutique can be listened to as one big jam this release is a another quality journey into the daffy def minds of today’s Beasties. Yeah, I said def. They still got the skills to make you do the smurf, but somebody tell ‘em to step off the podium son.

I thought they were from Chi-town.

I don't know Smut, After Licensed to Ill their subsequent albums have only had 1-3 songs that i liked. I don't buy many albums(cds) anymore from most groups for that very reason.

I hate them because they have more money, and probably get more pussy than I. That means I love Smartt.

That's why I put the Licensed era pic up there because they seem to be always trying to distance themselves from that classic record. Smoke some dust and Paul's Boutique will reveal itself to you, I guarantee it. . Thankfully, I got a dupe of To the 5, so I didn't add a dime to their coffers. You live in NY, right, Cleet? Can you dig what I'm saying about 9/11 ?

I remember worrying about that about a year ago. Everyone was pissing and moaning about this or that that Bush was doing, and I was thinking, have they forgotten that not long ago two fucking skyscrapers FULL of fucking people were bashed to the ground? Nice run-on sentence, huh?

Jesus. I think sometimes people who have never lived in a large city have a hard time understanding the enormity of it. I lived in downtown Chicago for a couple of years, and to imagine something like that happening to the Sears Tower is beyond surreal.

It's amazing to me that some seem to accept it and don't become acutely angry when they think of it. Oh well, blah blah, lol.

Nice topic for the BB thread!

I love that disc, been playing it a lot.

It does have some phat production & a freaky flow, but songs like "Shazam" & "An Open Letter to NYC" are misguided lyrically. I might just start listening to their voices & not the words because even the non-politico stuff is slipping. Mixmaster Mike, however, is unmatched, so please insert this blurb into above review...

Yeah that is all I do for all these lefty bands Smut, just listen to the song and not what they are saying- otherwise I would never lister to Rage against the machine.