> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

60 31Knots
74 Absentee
71 AC/DC
70 The Academy Is...
72 Ryan Adams
79 Alias
67 The Aliens
66 All That Remains
80 Amon Amarth
46 Brett Anderson
75 Theresa Andersson
66 Annuals
79 Antony And The Johnsons
76 Apollo Sunshine
78 Apse
58 David Archuleta
76 Aterciopelados
72 Attic Lights
47 The Automatic
75 Joan Baez
79 Belle & Sebastian
65 Beyonce
80 Blitzen Trapper
69 Bloc Party
83 Bound Stems
73 Brightblack Morning Light
64 The Broken West
65 The Bronx
74 Ane Brun
50 Buckcherry
77 Lindsey Buckingham
92 Buena Vista Social Club
56 Caesars
78 Calexico
70 Glen Campbell
73 Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
64 Castanets
63 Cats In Paris
66 Chairlift
63 Tracy Chapman
73 The Chemical Brothers
60 Kenny Chesney
82 The Clash
66 Cold War Kids
67 David Cook
70 Nikka Costa
51 Cradle Of Filth
60 Crooked Fingers
78 Rodney Crowell
75 Crystal Stilts
70 The Cure
46 Dandy Warhols
59 Kimya Dawson
72 Dead Confederate
72 The Dears
74 Death Vessel
81 Deerhoof
81 Deerhunter
78 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
70 Brett Dennen
78 Department Of Eagles
73 Angela Desveaux
68 Devin The Dude
73 Dido
79 Ani DiFranco
58 DJ Khaled
82 DJ/rupture
66 The Donkeys
54 Dr. Dooom
66 Dragonette
77 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
79 Dungen
86 Bob Dylan
82 Eagles Of Death Metal
81 Mathias Eick
78 El Guincho
57 Electric Six
73 Brian Eno + David Byrne
64 Everlast
67 The Fiery Furnaces
62 Ben Folds
69 Free Blood
74 Friendly Fires
84 Fucked Up
71 Fujiya & Miyagi
65 The Game
77 Gang Gang Dance
78 Morgan Geist
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
69 Girls Aloud
82 Glasvegas
75 Gojira
61 Golden Animals
83 Grails
61 Growing
60 Guns N' Roses
67 Gym Class Heroes
75 GZA
72 Juliana Hatfield
76 Hauschka
65 Her Space Holiday
75 High Places
49 Hinder
71 Jolie Holland
79 David Holmes
81 Horse Feathers
64 Howling Hex
58 Jennifer Hudson
71 Human Highway
78 Hush Arbors
67 Ice Cube
70 I'm From Barcelona
68 Jack's Mannequin
69 Jaguar Love
73 James
59 Japanese Motors
64 Jem
80 The Jesus And Mary Chain
81 Johann Johannsson
67 Grace Jones
74 Damien Jurado
69 Kaiser Chiefs
64 Keane
76 Toby Keith
83 B.B. King
63 Kings Of Leon
79 The Knux
78 Koushik
74 Lady GaGa
72 Ladyhawke
75 Lambchop
72 Ray LaMontagne
74 Land Of Talk
68 John Legend
75 Jenny Lewis
76 Lykke Li
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Joy
60 The Little Ones
57 LL Cool J
76 Love Is All
81 Patty Loveless
79 Luomo
73 Madlib
65 Margot & The Nuclear So And So's
68 Mercury Rev
78 Metallica
70 Metronomy
57 Ingrid Michaelson
76 Mogwai
77 Juana Molina
67 Monkey
75 Moondoggies
63 Motorhead
79 Mount Eerie
46 Mudvayne
66 Mugison
73 Murs
84 The Music Tapes
61 Nelly
51 New Kids On The Block
77 The New Year
79 Ne-Yo
48 Nickelback
57 Nightmares On Wax
60 The Nightwatchman
62 Noah And The Whale
66 Oasis
76 Jennifer O'Connor
68 O'Death
70 Of Montreal
79 Okkervil River
77 Old Crow Medicine Show
54 The Organ
65 Joan Osborne
77 Brad Paisley
84 Pale Young Gentlemen
78 Amanda Palmer
65 Parenthetical Girls
89 Aaron Parks
76 Parts & Labor
74 Passion Pit
73 Lee "Scratch" Perry
67 Peter Bjorn And John
64 The Peth
51 Kellie Pickler
69 Pink
73 Benoît Pioulard
70 Pivot
54 Plain White T's
89 Plush
40 Daniel Powter
77 The Pretenders
51 Pussycat Dolls
84 Q-Tip
42 Queen + Paul Rodgers
75 Ra Ra Riot
71 Rafter
74 Raglani
57 Razorlight
69 Lou Reed
74 Religious Knives
62 Rex The Dog
65 Rise Against
76 Roots Manuva
74 The Rosebuds
66 Darius Rucker
83 Arthur Russell
80 Raphael Saadiq
60 Sam Champion
67 School of Seven Bells
75 The Sea And Cake
60 Seal
69 Seasick Steve
65 Secret Machines
81 Pete Seeger
71 Serena-Maneesh
68 The Shaky Hands
72 Blake Shelton
39 Shwayze
58 Jessica Simpson
68 Slipknot
89 The Smiths
72 Todd Snider
68 Snow Patrol
72 Solange
62 Spinto Band
68 Squarepusher
53 Staind
65 Starfucker
72 Stereolab
82 Marnie Stern
64 The Stills
62 The Streets
73 The Subways
70 Matthew Sweet
81 Taylor Swift
75 T.I.
66 Talkdemonic
64 James Taylor
66 Ten Kens
72 Robin Thicke
67 Thievery Corporation
79 Tindersticks
88 Shugo Tokumaru
75 Emiliana Torrini
72 T-Pain
65 Travis
70 Tricky
68 Trivium
88 TV On The Radio
77 The Uglysuit
92 Underoath
56 UNKLE
74 Chad VanGaalen
71 The Verve
76 Vivian Girls
78 Volcano!
67 Loudon Wainwright III
84 Butch Walker
79 The Walkmen
82 The Week That Was
73 White Denim
77 Wild Beasts
78 Wilderness
71 Hank Williams III
72 Lucinda Williams
67 Michelle Williams
70 Brian Wilson
73 Lee Ann Womack
75 Women
63 XX Teens
72 Rachael Yamagata
60 Yo Majesty
72 Young Jeezy

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

To The 5 Boroughs
by Beastie Boys


7.3

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 58 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The Mix-Up

Official Artist Site

The B-Boys, who have moved back to New York from their temporary home of Los Angeles, return with their first album in six years and their second to utilize the beats of Mixmaster Mike. These 15 tracks are all self-produced by the band (a first) and recall the style of their earliest work.

LABEL:	Capitol
RELEASE DATE:	15 June 2004
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rap, Alternative

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Rolling Stone

To the 5 Boroughs is an exciting, astonishing balancing act: fast, funny and sobering.

100

Playlouder

Picking highlights from a release so well executed and downright ass-shaking is difficult.... 'To The 5 Boroughs' is a triumph.

PopMatters

The best album the Beasties have put out since Paul's Boutique.

Filter

Boroughs' greatest strength is its aural cohesiveness, fueled by a litany of Golden Age samples... and the heavy, often dark, bass-driven soundscapes. [#11, p.90]

Entertainment Weekly

The beats... are simple and effective, with a welcome lack of distracting bells and whistles that made Hello Nasty feel overstuffed. [18 Jun 2004, p.83]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Boroughs unabashedly travels backward, but like Missy Elliott's similarly retro-minded Under Construction, it's so joyful that it makes regression feel progressive and growth overrated.

All Music Guide

If there are no classics here, there's no duds, either, and given that the Beasties' pop culture aesthetic once seemed to be the territory of young men, it's rather impressive that they're maturing gracefully, turning into expert craftsmen that can deliver a satisfying listen like this.

Urb

Signals something of a rebirth of their signature creativity. [Jul/Aug 2004, p.123]

Uncut

The music is strikingly minimal throughout, the emphasis is firmly on The Word and the Beastie Boys have plenty left to say. [Jul 2004, p.108]

New Musical Express

Like Missy Elliott, the Beasties are reimagining hip-hop--what it was, what it is, what it can be. [12 Jun 2004, p.47]

Pitchfork

Unlike all previous Beastie Boys albums (with the possible exception of Licensed to Ill), To The 5 Boroughs sounds homogenous and singular in purpose-- dark, steel, and dirty like that incomplete Times Square station.

E! Online

Fun, but hardly fresh.

RapReviews.com

In all honesty, it's not the sentiment that bothers this reviewer. Rather, it's the insertion of the sentiment into what should have ostensibly been a light-hearted romp, a fun return to their days of old.

Alternative Press

Most of Boroughs feels like they're sampling themselves. [Aug 2004, p.120]

ShakingThrough.net

To the 5 Boroughs is continuously distracted from its titular dedication by political concerns, severely dampening not only its replay factor but also proving to be the least fun album the normally surefire trio has made.

Q Magazine

The Beastie Boys have always been at their best when gleefully rhyming and stealing from a variety of sources--both musically and lyrically--and the self-imposed adherence to hip hop traditionalism here, and indeed musically on the album as a whole, rather subdues their famously free-form sonic palette. [Jul 2004, p.108]

Dot Music

Imagine "Hello Nasty" if it had entirely consisted of "Three MCs And One DJ" and you're close to understanding exactly how "To The 5 Boroughs" sounds.

The New York Times

The tracks crackle and swing with a wit that the lyrics rarely match.

Blender

This formula wears thin over the 15 cuts here. [#27, p.137]

The Guardian

The beats bounce along happily enough... but the stripped-down sound focuses attention on the anti-Bush lyrics, and that proves to be the album's undoing.

Stylus Magazine

They sound old. They sound past it. They sound, and this is one word that nobody would have ever thought could be used to describe the Beasties, irrelevant.

Tiny Mix Tapes

The lyrics on To The 5 Boroughs are, with a few exceptions, a dismal failure.

Austin Chronicle

Mostly they just sound dated and out of it.

Neumu.net

Part of the fun of the Beastie Boys is knowing that they're fucking with the rhymes and you; another part is knowing that they give a fuck about what's happening in the world. Those two things don't always work well together, though, especially when they say something watered down and deliver it as though they don't buy it either.

Village Voice

The Beasties of 5 Boroughs seem scared--reluctant to innovate; serving up nonsense lyrics and numbing production that are just plain lazy... sensing that there's nowhere to go but down, so better to establish a passable holding pattern than risk an inexcusable backslide toward irrelevance.

The average user rating for this album is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 58 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

R G. gave it a3:
Very disappointing. Cannot understand why the B-boys have decided to separate their hip-hop personae from their instrumental side - that combination is what made them so interesting, fresh and innovative over the past decade and a half (longer, really), and it's absence is exactly what's made the last 2 CD's so boring.

Thorsten D gave it a9:
I like this one very much. Cool, fresh, minimalistic.

Tony D gave it an8:
This album was definitely better than a 69. A 7, at the minimum.

[Anonymous] gave it a5:
For what the old beastie boy albums used to be, this is less than average. Bring Back the old Beastie Boys!

arnab m gave it a3:
compared to hello nasty, this is a really lazily done album. they sound old and tired on this one. sorry boys.

Nathan gave it a3:
Very disappointing. Everything up to and including Ill Communication was great. Hello Nasty was alright, but this is just boring. The B-Boys need to bring back those who helped make their previous albums so funky and innovative.

The Dude gave it a10:
One of the best hip-hop albums I own. This is my favorite Beastie Boys album to date. I think they are growing up, and speaking their mind.

To The 5 Boroughs by Beastie Boys

To The 5 Boroughs
by Beastie Boys