To The 5 Boroughs - Beastie Boys
To The 5 Boroughs Image
Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 69 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Summary: 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.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. Playlouder
    100
    Picking highlights from a release so well executed and downright ass-shaking is difficult.... 'To The 5 Boroughs' is a triumph.
  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    Like Missy Elliott, the Beasties are reimagining hip-hop--what it was, what it is, what it can be. [12 Jun 2004, p.47]
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  3. Dot Music
    60
    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.
  4. Neumu.net
    35
    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.

See all 25 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 50
  3. Negative: 7 out of 50
  1. TheDude
    10
    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.
  2. j30
    8
    Average record comparatively to earlier B-Boys' records, but still awesome. I do miss the instrumental work, but this is just pure Hip-hop record. A love letter of some sort to the city they love, New York City.… Expand
  3. andyb
    7
    the albium has 3 good songs. 1, 6, 14 overall the lyrics in these songs are very good, the rest of the albium is the tried and true hip hop, definatly more work could of been done for the druming and the sampling seemed very lazy like a weekends effort, save your money buy some house music … Expand
  4. briand
    4
    Worst Beastie album ever! They over do it with there anti-Bush lyrics, and the beats sound like they were made by Michael Moore. The Beasties should go back to being rappers and get out of politics.… Expand

See all 50 User Reviews

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