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]
Significance [edit]
- 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.
Critical reaction [edit]
The album was met with positive reviews, with an aggregated score of 71 on Metacritic.[6] Playlouder said "To the 5 Boroughs is a triumph."[19] Rolling Stone said "To the 5 Boroughs is an exciting, astonishing balancing act: fast, funny and sobering."[16] Jason Thompson of PopMatters called To the 5 Boroughs "their best album since Paul's Boutique".[14] Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The beats are[...] simple and effective, with a welcome lack of bells and whistles that made Hello Nasty so distracting."[9] Allmusic said: "It's rather impressive that they're maturing gracefully turning into expert craftsmen who can deliver a satisfying listen like this".[7] The NME said: "Like Missy Elliott, the Beasties are re-examining hip hop — what it was, what it is, what it can be".[12] 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.[20] E! Online rated the album as a B- saying it was "fun but hardly fresh.[21]
Track listing [edit]
- "Ch-Check It Out" – 3:12
- "Right Right Now Now" – 2:46
- "3 the Hard Way" – 2:48
- "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
- Enhanced CD bonus
- "Rhyme The Rhyme Well" - Music Video
Australian 2CD Tour Edition [edit]
- "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"
Singles [edit]
Chart positions [edit]
| 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 |
Singles [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Grammy Award Nominees. Retrieved on 2011.05.10.
- ^ Grammy Award Winners. Retrieved on 2011.05.10.
- ^ Yahoo Launch News Story
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Official Merchandise Store". Beastie Boys. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
- ^ a b "To The 5 Boroughs Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Allmusic. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Robert Christgau. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ a b Sinclair, Tom (June 18, 2004). "To The 5 Boroughs Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
- ^ Gilchrist, Todd. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". IGN. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (June 14, 2004). "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
- ^ a b "NME Album Reviews - Beastie Boys : To The 5 Boroughs". Nme.Com. 2004-07-07. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
- ^ DiCrescenzo, Brent. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ a b Thompson, Jason. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". PopMatters. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
- ^ Juon, Steve. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". RapReviews. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ a b Fricke, David (2008-07-09). "To The 5 Boroughs | Album Reviews". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
- ^ Henderson, Eric. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Slant Magazine. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
- ^ Caramanica, Jon. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Village Voice. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
- ^ "Playlouder MSP Music Service". Playlouder.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20040820010450/http://www.theonionavclub.com/review.php?review_id=7569
- ^ [2][dead link]
External links [edit]
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