After
six long years, the Beastie Boys have finally unleashed
a new album upon the world. Or maybe they just unleashed
it upon New York. At first listen, it's hard to tell.
Starting with the cover art and album title--To The
5 Boroughs--and continuing through songs like "Oh
Word?" and "An Open Letter To NYC," references
to the Big Apple are at the forefront of the recording.
In fact, the only thing more omnipresent than references
to New York City are references to food, which is exactly
what one would expect from this trio.
Rapping
about New York City and food are nothing new for the
Beastie Boys. Based on what they're eating, though,
it appears our fun-loving fellows are starting to grow
up. No longer is White Castle the preferred cuisine;
now, they get their breakfast from Bagel Bob's and pick
up some gorgonzola at Murray's Cheese Shop. Based
on this maturation curve, I fully expect to hear raps
about Gramercy Tavern, Craft and Union Square Cafe within
their next couple of albums. Or at least Patsy's.
(On a side note, if you don't have a good cheese shop
in your neighborhood, you could do worse than to shop
at www.murrayscheese.com.)
But
it's not just the Beasties' collective palate that we
see maturing on TT5B; their political and social
awareness seems to be developing as well. While
the Beastie Boys (especially MCA) have been politically
active since the mid-90's, they've never really turned
their focus to domestic affairs. Perhaps this
is the natural outgrowth of living in NYC during and
after 9/11. Perhaps it's a reflection of the public's
rising dissatisfaction with President Bush. Or
perhaps it's simply the nature of aging. Whatever
the reason, this is the first Beastie Boys album to
have a strong political message, and the message comes
through loud and clear.
"Maybe
it's time that we impeach Tex/and the military muscle
that he wants to flex." "We've got a
president we didn't elect/The Kyoto Treaty he decided
to neglect." "'Cause George W's got
nothing on we/We got to take the power from he."
And on and on. "We can work, walk, march
and protest/Think about how we approach this/Ask questions
but they keep frontin'/Due time we change a little something."
And on and on some more. "We need a little
shift on over towards the left/I don't really know but
I suspect/I think it's due time that we inspect/How
they get their information and their facts are checked."
Like I said, the message is loud and clear--maybe even
louder and clearer than it needs to be. Or maybe
not. Maybe that's what it takes to reach the youth
of America and to heighten their awareness of political
affairs. If so, I'm all for it.
Musically,
I think TT5B ranks right up there as one of the Beastie
Boys' best albums. It probably won't displace
Paul's Boutique as the favorite of the critics,
and I doubt it will be a bigger commercial success than
Licensed To Ill, but overall it's a solid collection
of songs. The Beasties do less experimentation
on this album, instead choosing to focus on what they
do best--creating catchy beats, mixing in old-school
punk and hip-hop samples, and tying it all together
with their unique brand of vocals. None of the
songs may be smash hits, but as many as six or seven
are good enough to get radio play. Beyond that,
though, the album works well as a unit. There
are vocal clips between many of the songs that serve
to carry the listener from one track to the next, giving
TT5B a nice flow to it. It's not just
easy to listen to the entire recording in one sitting;
it almost seems wrong to stop in the middle.
In
the end, listening to the new Beastie Boys album is
like eavesdropping on a conversation among close friends.
The political views lack any sort of balanced view or
political correctness, and the songs are peppered with
unabashed silliness and inside jokes that go unexplained.
Hard-core Beastie Boys fans will "get it"
more than the masses will, and I imagine that right-wing
listeners probably will dislike the album and left-wingers
will probably enjoy it. No surprises there.
But from an apolitical-yet-socially-conscious perspective,
I'm not particularly concerned with what axe they have
to grind; I'm just happy to see that the Beastie Boys
finally have a cause they are musically willing to fight
for. That is, aside from their right to party.
Martell
can be reached at martell@babblog.com.
|
