| | Full Review | Ratings (531) |
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| 2.0 poor | Brain Dead | September 17th 06 |
It's funny how people think you're good once you start commenting on politics. The Beastie Boys rapped almost solely about politics on this album, drawing huge praise from musical magazines such as Rolling Stone. Now, that's all well and good, but ultimately, I wanted to listen to a rap album, not a political commentary album. Most of the political content is just pointless left wing grandstanding anyway. As for the rhymes: You need to hear them to believe them. They are just so terrible. Often, The Beastie Boys need to almost entirely skew what they mean just to get a halfway decent rhyme. It's hilarious to listen to, and takes away any positives that the political stances could've given this album.
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | conditionals | February 13th 17 |
I've always loved the focus on simpler beats on this album. Honestly, it future-proofed it, these
tracks still sound hot as shit now. The lyrics, on the other hand, have aged terribly (and were a bit
hamfisted at the time). There's something off about the raps that I can't quite put my finger on,
given that the Beasties were never grade A writers anyway. They're a bit too simple or cheesy.
That being said, there are still some great lines, mostly from Mike D (who owns this album IMO),
and it's hard to hate something so catchy. I will note that the first half is absolutely stacked.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | afangman92 | March 29th 15 |
Tinny and dated-on-arrival, but still the proudest love song to New York they've ever done besides Paul's Boutique. Chalk it up to post-9/11 depression.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | BBoysInTheCut | August 29th 14 |
Sadly overlooked, it's strange that people were surprised/annoyed by the political lyrics on TT5B, as if the guys had never made a statement in the past (apart from all the times they did). Granted, their views are more overt here; previously, they'd have a braggadocio song like Sure Shot with one verse containing some kind of socio-political content, but now, they have whole songs about these issues, like It Takes Time to Build, All Lifestyles and, most obviously, An Open Letter to NYC. The production on this album is very love-hate, but I think it's pretty cool; this is their first entirely hip-hop record since 1986's Licensed to Ill, and that is where the problems begin. The 90's trio of albums had great hip-hop interspersed with instrumental songs, hardcore songs and other little oddities to break up the hip-hop, but on TT5B is all hip-hop for 45 minutes, and while it's better than your average hip-hop (and a nice dose of the old-school sensibilities in the over-saturated mainstream hip-hop market, where everyone wanted to sound like 50 Cent), it starts to lag a little by the end. This album also features Crawlspace, which is weird because it's not even recognizably them at first, and then you realise that the B-Boys shout all the time, and when they rap at a speaking level, it sounds weird, especially Ad-Rock!
Bump |
| 2.5 average | TheeLAMadMan | November 7th 10 |
The Beats are good. The Rhymes are catchy. Catchy. Not Good.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Iluvatar | September 17th 06 |
The BEastie Boys had been gone for a while, and the announcement of another project without the Dust Brothers was kind of scary. However, the boys pull it off well; while their production skills have nothing on the Dust Brothers, they still pull it off quite well ("Triple Trouble" has chimes that make me shiver). Their flow, while getting a bit tired, is still as solid as ever, and Adrock continues to shine through as a standout rapper in his own right. The lyrics are a product of the times; political and social commentary that is perhaps a tad bit too preachy. While the album isn't made for repeated listens, it's more than a small bit enjoyable for a few listens here and there.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | Get Low | September 10th 23 |
| 2.0 poor | Jalapeno CONTRIBUTOR | April 14th 23 |
| 2.5 average | Timmy | January 18th 23 |
| 3.0 good | MvdW | November 17th 22 |
| 3.5 great | ZIG | February 19th 22 |
| 2.5 average | sicky | February 16th 22 |
| 3.0 good | Feels | December 11th 21 |
| 3.0 good | degina | February 29th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | DiGio991 | November 23rd 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | xgausez | October 23rd 19 |
| 2.5 average | shazzyy | August 27th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gazo | June 29th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | NateMa | May 7th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Acole9 | September 11th 18 |
| 2.0 poor | igi78 | December 9th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Panucci | October 28th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | gschwen | August 11th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | ben11 | June 26th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Skoj | May 20th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | jsounnd | November 24th 15 |
| 3.0 good | peanut | November 4th 15 |
| 3.0 good | edirp | September 15th 15 |
| 3.3 great | Trey STAFF | January 16th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | windmill | December 23rd 14 |
| 3.5 great | Linx | September 3rd 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jom3 | April 18th 14 |
| 2.5 average | jaama94 | November 25th 13 |
| 3.5 great | qiblas | September 11th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | TheIbar | August 3rd 13 |
| 2.5 average | zakalwe | February 22nd 13 |
| 3.5 great | heck | February 21st 13 |
| 3.0 good | Scyner | December 6th 12 |
| 2.0 poor | GB7 | September 20th 12 |
| 5.0 classic | random | August 25th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Styten | May 21st 12 |
| 3.0 good | iglu | May 15th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Deviant. STAFF | April 16th 12 |
| 3.0 good | virpi | February 27th 12 |
| 3.0 good | iGuter | February 8th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Dan19 | December 31st 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | fgofgo01 | November 28th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Matski | October 10th 11 |
| 3.0 good | aguzman | September 11th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | freakout | September 4th 11 |
| 2.0 poor | 4zet | August 24th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | tribszn | August 16th 11 |
| 3.0 good | NoFro | June 1st 11 |
| 3.5 great | Muzix | May 25th 11 |
| 3.5 great | zoso33 | February 18th 11 |
| 3.5 great | siddx4 | January 19th 11 |
| 3.5 great | jmh886 | October 19th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Texture | September 11th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | IAJP | August 15th 10 |
| 2.5 average | kromml | July 26th 10 |
| 3.5 great | JayVex | April 28th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Fuff24 | April 5th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Curse. | April 5th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | kam0825 | March 31st 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | 32left | March 18th 10 |
| 1.5 very poor | egein81 | March 3rd 10 |
| 3.0 good | Smevin | February 7th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | DonDijk | January 9th 10 |
| 2.0 poor | adamf | December 31st 09 |
| 2.5 average | sbtg88 | December 19th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | Bamboo | December 7th 09 |
| 3.0 good | ctibor | October 19th 09 |
| 3.0 good | JoRos | August 8th 09 |
| 2.0 poor | Rudy K. EMERITUS | February 11th 09 |
| 2.5 average | kygermo | January 2nd 09 |
| 3.0 good | Yotimi | December 24th 08 |
| 3.5 great | blurkom | December 22nd 08 |
| 3.0 good | Monkbo | November 11th 08 |
| 4.0 excellent | Soflex | October 22nd 08 |
| 2.5 average | Pointro | September 20th 08 |
| 3.5 great | Bea | August 16th 08 |
| 4.0 excellent | TYRR | August 7th 08 |
| 4.5 superb | RG560M | July 26th 08 |
| 3.5 great | BITEME | July 17th 08 |
| 3.5 great | kral | February 24th 08 |
| 3.5 great | starla | August 25th 07 |
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