Leg
06-13-2004, 07:42 PM
Fan-made by me.
TO THE 5 BOROUGHS
The B-Boys are back after 6 years. Let me start off by giving you my quick opinion on the previous albums to see if we're on the same wavelength:
Licensed to Ill: Fun, youthful, exciting, punk, silly, crazy party record.
Paul's Boutique: Revolutionary at the time, well-crafted, hasn't aged all that well, (too) rich and dense musically, hard to sit through, still good though. (**Dodges objects thrown by hardcore B-Boys fans who disagree**).
Check Your Head: Generally excellent, has a few weaker moments, a definite step towards their true sound in terms of musical genres and the way they put them together on an album.
Ill Communication: Similar to the above, also excellent, with even less weak moments, a great journey from the very fun to the very deep. The B-Boys re-affirm their skills as great instrumentists.
Hello Nasty: First off, I don't understand the detractors. This album is awesome in terms of new sounds and diversity. Sort-of experimental, with wicked sounds all around. Every song is rich with spacey-funky samples, though the rapping tends to get more and more similar. May be too long and weird for some, drags near the end.
And now... the new album.
I've had this disc (an actual promo copy, not some mp3s) for 2 days now, I've listened to it carefully about 5-6 times, so I'm familiar with it and I think this opinion is my definite one. I'm a huge Beastie fan by the way.
Well, here they are, pushing 40 and back with some new tracks. For this album, forget the 90 second hardcore punk anthems, or the thick funky grooves from "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication"'s second halves. "To the 5 Boroughs" is 15 tracks of straight hip-hop.
So you probably heard the single "Ch-check it out" and, maybe, you thought it was an okay Beastie track, not too rich musically, but, hey, that brass hit is so cool, who needs more than a drum break with that? They've got the same lyrical flow, except for MCA who does his new weird offbeat part there, and you thought, is he having trouble keeping up or is he doing the next shit? I sincerely don't know the answer, but I doubt that "To the 5 Boroughs" (TT5B) will be THE next shit. It's not even "current shit", according to Beastie standards.
First, if you liked that warm vintage/vinyl/analogue tape sound their tracks used to have, forget it, it's gone. This album screams "ProTools!". Cold, clean, technologically precise ProTools. The good old funky samples are few and far between, and when there are some, you've already heard em on some DJ QBert mixtape (the "Rapper's Delight" intro break, real original guys, even if you're paying tribute or whatever) or in an early Prodigy track ("We gonna rock this motherfucker"). So, sample-wise, weak.
So if there are so few samples, what do they make the beats and melodies with? You guessed it: mostly synths and drum machines. And not good ones. First, the drum beats: generic, run-of-the-mill drum sounds, ordinary break structures, very few original rhythmic variations. In terms of riffs, synth lines and melodies, there are some good ones (good examples: "Right Right Now Now"'s organ/female vocal loop, "An open letter to NYC"'s arpeggio'd synth line), but these elements often run for the whole song without much variety. After you've heard the first 15 seconds of a track, don't expect new elements to come in; 'cause they're gonna milk the elements they already have to the bone until you don't want to hear'em anymore. This is the Beasties at their most minimal, "Paul's Boutique" musical nemesis. Musically, TT5B is the laziest Beastie album yet.
As for the scratches, MixMasterMike seems to be asleep at the switches. He's light years behind the "3 MC's and One DJ". His scratchwork is precise but unidimensional, lifeless.
Lyrically, this is typical Beastie stuff, but with a stronger politico-social message this time. Sometimes, however, it's underlined so boldly it makes you wonder if they could perhaps be the same band you were forced to watch perform years ago in your elementary school gym during Anti-Drug Week. Hilarious stuff like "We gotta work together, it's been too long", "We got the power to make a difference", "It takes time to build", etc. The intention's there, but the message is delivered so badly, you have no choice but to feel embarassed. They try so hard to be damn uplifting and positive and all. I'll also add that they choruses themselves aren't too catchy. There are very few "sing-along moments" on this album.
One question you might ask yourself is, have their voices changed a lot in the last few years? Well, not really, except for MCA's throat-cancer-like, sandpaperish voice, which is worse (or better?) than ever.
So I bitch and bitch, but is there good to be said about this album? Well, in a way, yeah. Bad Beastie is still better than most hip-hop today, and that's quite a compliment. If you're not too picky and aren't as musically obsessed as I am, you'll probably be happy with the new album. I listened to it in my car, cruising along the crowded St-Denis street in Montreal on a sunny day, and yeah, it felt cool.
Try and listen to this one first before you buy it. Unlike all their previous albums, this is not necessarily a must-own record, and I doubt it will become a classic. Maybe the B-Boys are a little rusty and just getting warmed up. I hope so.
Leg
TO THE 5 BOROUGHS
The B-Boys are back after 6 years. Let me start off by giving you my quick opinion on the previous albums to see if we're on the same wavelength:
Licensed to Ill: Fun, youthful, exciting, punk, silly, crazy party record.
Paul's Boutique: Revolutionary at the time, well-crafted, hasn't aged all that well, (too) rich and dense musically, hard to sit through, still good though. (**Dodges objects thrown by hardcore B-Boys fans who disagree**).
Check Your Head: Generally excellent, has a few weaker moments, a definite step towards their true sound in terms of musical genres and the way they put them together on an album.
Ill Communication: Similar to the above, also excellent, with even less weak moments, a great journey from the very fun to the very deep. The B-Boys re-affirm their skills as great instrumentists.
Hello Nasty: First off, I don't understand the detractors. This album is awesome in terms of new sounds and diversity. Sort-of experimental, with wicked sounds all around. Every song is rich with spacey-funky samples, though the rapping tends to get more and more similar. May be too long and weird for some, drags near the end.
And now... the new album.
I've had this disc (an actual promo copy, not some mp3s) for 2 days now, I've listened to it carefully about 5-6 times, so I'm familiar with it and I think this opinion is my definite one. I'm a huge Beastie fan by the way.
Well, here they are, pushing 40 and back with some new tracks. For this album, forget the 90 second hardcore punk anthems, or the thick funky grooves from "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication"'s second halves. "To the 5 Boroughs" is 15 tracks of straight hip-hop.
So you probably heard the single "Ch-check it out" and, maybe, you thought it was an okay Beastie track, not too rich musically, but, hey, that brass hit is so cool, who needs more than a drum break with that? They've got the same lyrical flow, except for MCA who does his new weird offbeat part there, and you thought, is he having trouble keeping up or is he doing the next shit? I sincerely don't know the answer, but I doubt that "To the 5 Boroughs" (TT5B) will be THE next shit. It's not even "current shit", according to Beastie standards.
First, if you liked that warm vintage/vinyl/analogue tape sound their tracks used to have, forget it, it's gone. This album screams "ProTools!". Cold, clean, technologically precise ProTools. The good old funky samples are few and far between, and when there are some, you've already heard em on some DJ QBert mixtape (the "Rapper's Delight" intro break, real original guys, even if you're paying tribute or whatever) or in an early Prodigy track ("We gonna rock this motherfucker"). So, sample-wise, weak.
So if there are so few samples, what do they make the beats and melodies with? You guessed it: mostly synths and drum machines. And not good ones. First, the drum beats: generic, run-of-the-mill drum sounds, ordinary break structures, very few original rhythmic variations. In terms of riffs, synth lines and melodies, there are some good ones (good examples: "Right Right Now Now"'s organ/female vocal loop, "An open letter to NYC"'s arpeggio'd synth line), but these elements often run for the whole song without much variety. After you've heard the first 15 seconds of a track, don't expect new elements to come in; 'cause they're gonna milk the elements they already have to the bone until you don't want to hear'em anymore. This is the Beasties at their most minimal, "Paul's Boutique" musical nemesis. Musically, TT5B is the laziest Beastie album yet.
As for the scratches, MixMasterMike seems to be asleep at the switches. He's light years behind the "3 MC's and One DJ". His scratchwork is precise but unidimensional, lifeless.
Lyrically, this is typical Beastie stuff, but with a stronger politico-social message this time. Sometimes, however, it's underlined so boldly it makes you wonder if they could perhaps be the same band you were forced to watch perform years ago in your elementary school gym during Anti-Drug Week. Hilarious stuff like "We gotta work together, it's been too long", "We got the power to make a difference", "It takes time to build", etc. The intention's there, but the message is delivered so badly, you have no choice but to feel embarassed. They try so hard to be damn uplifting and positive and all. I'll also add that they choruses themselves aren't too catchy. There are very few "sing-along moments" on this album.
One question you might ask yourself is, have their voices changed a lot in the last few years? Well, not really, except for MCA's throat-cancer-like, sandpaperish voice, which is worse (or better?) than ever.
So I bitch and bitch, but is there good to be said about this album? Well, in a way, yeah. Bad Beastie is still better than most hip-hop today, and that's quite a compliment. If you're not too picky and aren't as musically obsessed as I am, you'll probably be happy with the new album. I listened to it in my car, cruising along the crowded St-Denis street in Montreal on a sunny day, and yeah, it felt cool.
Try and listen to this one first before you buy it. Unlike all their previous albums, this is not necessarily a must-own record, and I doubt it will become a classic. Maybe the B-Boys are a little rusty and just getting warmed up. I hope so.
Leg