To the 5 Boroughs is the sixth studio album by the Beastie Boys. The album was released on June 14, 2004 internationally, and a day later in the United States. The album debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 with 360,000 copies sold in its first week. To the 5 Boroughs was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 47th Grammy Awards,[1] losing to Kanye West's The College Dropout.[2]
[edit] Significance
- Their single "Ch-Check It Out" debuted on The O.C. in "The Strip" from Season 1, airing on April 28, 2004.[3]
- This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.
- The album was the cause of some controversy with allegations that it installed spyware when inserted into the CD-ROM of a computer.[4] The band has denied this allegation saying there is no copy protection software on the albums sold in the U.S. and in the U.K. While there is Macrovision's CDS-200 copy protection software installed on European copies of the album this is standard practice for all European releases on EMI/Capitol Records released in Europe and it does not install spyware or any form of permanent software.[5]
- The album is the first time the Beastie Boys did not work with a co-producer and the second album to feature Mix Master Mike.
- As the Beastie Boys were included in the game NBA Street V3, the track "An Open Letter to NYC" was included in its soundtrack.
[edit] Critical reaction
- Metacritic.com reviews of the album showed that the album rated 71 out of 100 meaning that the album received a generally positive response from critics. A summary of reviews and suggested tracks for legal downloading from each review is below.
- Playlouder said "To the 5 Boroughs is a triumph." Best tracks "An Open Letter to NYC", "Ch-Check It Out" "3 The Hard Way" 5 stars out of 5 [18]
- Rolling Stone Magazine said "To the 5 Boroughs is an exciting, astonishing balancing act: fast, funny and sobering". Best tracks: "Ch-Check It Out", "Right Right Now Now" "It Takes Time to Build" 5 stars out of 5 [19]
- Popmatters said "In fact, it's their best album since Paul's Boutique. Best tracks: "Right Right Now Now", "Crawl Space", "Hey F*** You" "The Hard Way" [20]
- Entertainment Weekly said: "The beats are (...) simple and effective, with a welcome lack of bells and whistles that made Hello Nasty so distracting." (18 June 2003, p 83) Rating 83
- Allmusic said: "It's rather impressive that they're maturing gracefully turning into expert craftsmen who can deliver a satisfying listen like this". Best Tracks: "Ch-Check It Out", "Time to Build", "Triple Trouble" "An Open Letter to NYC", "The Brouhaha" Rating 4 stars out of 5 [21]
- The NME said: "Like Missy Elliott, the Beasties are re-examining hip hop — what it was, what it is, what it can be". (12 June 2004, page 47).
- The Onion AV Club said: "With To the 5 Boroughs Beastie boys discover a musical entryway to an earlier, more innocent era, affording listeners the exuberance of youth together with the hard-won wisdom that can only come with experience. Best tracks: "Ch-Check It Out" "Time to Build" "Triple Trouble".[22]
- Urb said the album "signals something of a rebirth of their signature creativity." (July/August 2004 page 123)
- E! Online rated the album as a B- saying it was "fun but hardly fresh.[23]
[edit] Track listing
- "Ch-Check It Out" – 3:12
- "Right Right Now Now" – 2:46
- "3 the Hard Way" – 2:48
- "It Takes Time to Build" – 3:11
- "Rhyme the Rhyme Well" – 2:47
- "Triple Trouble" – 2:43
- "Hey Fuck You" – 2:21
- "Oh Word?" – 2:59
- "That's It That's All" – 2:28
- "All Lifestyles" – 2:33
- "Shazam!" – 2:26
- "An Open Letter to NYC" – 4:18
- "Crawlspace" – 2:53
- "The Brouhaha" – 2:13
- "We Got The" – 2:27
- "Now Get Busy" – 2:25 Japanese bonus track
[edit] Australian 2CD Tour Edition
- "An Open Letter to NYC"
- "Rizzle Rizzle Nizzle Nizzle" (Remix for "Right Right Now Now")
- "MTL Reppin for the 514" (Remix for "Right Right Now Now")
- "Sabotage" (live)
- "Brr Stick Em"
[edit] Singles
[edit] Chart positions
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 2004 |
The Billboard 200 |
#1 |
| 2004 |
European Album Chart |
#1 |
| 2004 |
Top Internet Albums |
#1 |
| 2004 |
Top Canadian Albums |
#1 |
| 2004 |
Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums |
#1 |
| 2004 |
UK Albums Chart |
#2 |
[edit] Singles
[edit] References
- ^ Grammy Award Nominees. Retrieved on 2011.05.10.
- ^ Grammy Award Winners. Retrieved on 2011.05.10.
- ^ http://launch.yahoo.com/read/story/12057394 Yahoo Launch News Story
- ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/23/beastie_boy_cd_virus/1
- ^ http://www.beastieboys.com/news.php/2
- ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/to-the-5-boroughs
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/to-the-5-boroughs-r690369. Retrieved September 24, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=12462. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Gilchrist, Todd. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". IGN. http://music.ign.com/articles/523/523214p1.html. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (June 14, 2004). "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/14/arts/music/14CHOI.html. Retrieved September 27, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ DiCrescenzo, Brent. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15348/Beastie_Boys_To_the_5_Boroughs. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Thompson, Jason. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/b/beastieboys-tothe5boroughs.shtml. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
- ^ Juon, Steve. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". RapReviews. http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2004_07_tothe5.html. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/beastie-boys. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
- ^ Henderson, Eric. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Slant Magazine. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=462. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ http://www.nme.com/reviews/beastie-boys/7448
- ^ Caramanica, Jon. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Village Voice. http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-06-22/music/stupid-white-men/1. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
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- ^ [4][dead link]
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[edit] External links
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