The Beastie Boys – To The 5 Boroughs Deluxe Edition

What does it sound like?:

To The 5 Boroughs is The Beastie Boys sixth studio album, released in 2004. Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D were all pushing forty years old. Two of them were responsible fathers, the other a peace-loving Buddhist. They were positively ancient in the world of Hip Hop, so, naturally, they go Old Skool in an attempt to get back to the party vibe of their debut. They go so far back, Triple Trouble doffs its cap to The Sugarhill Gang. However, financial constraints resulted in the closure of their record label, 9/11 had destroyed the Twin Towers and decimated their beloved New York City, and George Bush had begun the War On Terror. A gloom hangs over the album like the dust from the towers’ collapse. Nevertheless, it followed the previous two albums by debuting at number one in the Billboard chart and selling over a million copies in the States.

To The 5 Boroughs is self produced and the only credited additional musician is Mix Master Mike on turntables. The backing tracks are simplified, building strong, muscular beats, and eschewing frivolous samples. It is their most coherent album. With no real skits and no experimental forays into the realm of jazz, the spotlight glares on the raps. MCA’s growl is deeper. There is a sense of jeopardy that he might break down in a coughing fit. His taunts sound like a cantankerous old man consumed with exasperation. Mike D’s yelps are as shrill as ever, whereas Ad-Rock brings the bizarre left turns. When they are on their safe ground of New York eateries (Blimpies and Murray’s cheese shop) or fond memories, such as riding the D to Edward R. Murrow High School, or the cheesy TV of their youth (the phrase “like Miss Piggy” elicits a collective “Who, moi?”), they almost recapture the fizzing energy and humour of their peak. However, their ventures into anti-Bush politics are clunky, their dissing of gangsta is coarse and Right Right Now Now’s call for gun control post Columbine falls on deaf ears. The love song, An Open Letter To NYC, feels flat and deflated, grief stricken. The pencil drawing on the cover by Matteo Pericoli shows more defiance, proudly displaying the towers as still standing. Lyrically, To The 5 Boroughs cannot decide between warm nostalgia and seething rage. Musically, the quality across its fifteen tracks is consistently high, each scoring a steady seven. There are no skip tracks but no punch-the-air anthems either. Without the hedonistic sloganeering of Licensed To Ill and the filthy rock guitars The Boys were so fond of, it’s a party without a spark, where the DJ can’t fill the dancefloor and carriages arrive early.

Since Hello Nasty in 1998, they had been well and truly surpassed by Enimem. The Boys could not compete with his blistering pace, clever-dick quintuplet internal rhymes and excoriating subject matter. For the first time, The Beastie Boys were offering nothing new. On release, it felt like the beginning of the end of an era, for The Beastie Boys, for Rap Music, for New York City, for the USA and for the world. Prince’s 1999 is an exhortation to dance like there’s no tomorrow in the face of an imagined armageddon. To The 5 Boroughs is an unconvincing response to a grim reality by a trio whose skills and relevance were diminished. For the ultimate party animals, their well of life and soul had run dry.

Back in 2004, To The 5 Boroughs was released on CD. There were rumours copy protection software capable of spying had been included. It was reissued digitally with twelve bonus tracks and remixes in 2019. Now is your chance to own the expanded version on triple vinyl or double unprotected CDs.

What does it all *mean*?

The lessons of the War On Terror are being ignored.

Goes well with…

A combination of seething rage and warm nostalgia.

Release Date:

17/04/2026

Might suit people who like…

The Beastie Boys. You have to be more than a casual fan.

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