Album Review: To The 5 Boroughs by Beastie Boys

In January, anyone with $10,000 to spare could have bid for what was once the world's hippest record label: The Beastie Boys' Grand Royal, bankrupt and up for internet auction. The label's 2001 closure brought the curtain down on the New York trio's decade-long reign as global avatars of cool, and their first album in six years retreats from the cutting-edge into comfortingly familiar territory: the 1980s hip-hop that first brought them mainstream success. The beats bounce along happily enough, particularly on the dubby Crawlspace and Dead Boys-sampling An Open Letter to NYC, but the stripped-down sound focuses attention on the anti-Bush lyrics, and that proves to be the album's undoing.

Full Review >>