To the 5 Boroughs

To the 5 Boroughs
Studio album by Beastie Boys
Released June 15, 2004
Recorded 2002-2004
Genre Hip hop
Length 44:37
Label Capitol
Producer Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys chronology

Hello Nasty
(1998)		 To the 5 Boroughs
(2004)		 The Mix-Up
(2007)
Singles from To the 5 Boroughs
  1. "Ch-Check It Out"
    Released: March 2004
  2. "Triple Trouble"
    Released: September 2004
  3. "Right Right Now Now"
    Released: 2004
  4. "An Open Letter to NYC"
    Released: 2005

To the 5 Boroughs is the sixth studio album by the Beastie Boys. The album was released on June 14, 2004 internationally, and a day later in the United States. The album debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 with 360,000 copies sold in its first week and is certified Platium by the RIAA for sales of over 1,000,000 in the U.S.

Release and Promotion

The album's lead single "Ch-Check It Out" debuted on The O.C. in "The Strip" from Season 1, airing on April 28, 2004.[1] The album was the cause of some controversy with allegations that it installed spyware when inserted into the CD-ROM of a computer.[2] The band has denied this allegation saying there is no copy protection software on the albums sold in the U.S. and in the U.K. While there is Macrovision's CDS-200 copy protection software installed on European copies of the album this is standard practice for all European releases on EMI/Capitol Records released in Europe and it does not install spyware or any form of permanent software.[3]

Singles

The album's first single "Ch-Check It Out" was released on April 28, 2004.[4] The album's second single "Triple Trouble" was released in July 2004.[5] The album's third single "Right Right Now Now" was released in 2004.[6] The album's fourth single "An Open Letter to NYC" was released in 2005.[7]

Critical reaction

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 71/100[8]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [9]
Entertainment Weekly B+[10]
IGN 8.5/10[11]
The New York Times mixed[12]
NME 8/10[13]
Pitchfork Media 7.9/10[14]
Robert Christgau A−[15]
RapReviews 6.5/10[16]
Rolling Stone [17]
Slant Magazine [18]

The album was met with positive reviews, with an aggregated score of 71 on Metacritic.[8] Playlouder said "To the 5 Boroughs is a triumph."[19] Rolling Stone said "To the 5 Boroughs is an exciting, astonishing balancing act: fast, funny and sobering."[17] Jason Thompson of PopMatters called To the 5 Boroughs "their best album since Paul's Boutique".[20] Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The beats are[...] simple and effective, with a welcome lack of bells and whistles that made Hello Nasty so distracting."[10] Allmusic said: "It's rather impressive that they're maturing gracefully turning into expert craftsmen who can deliver a satisfying listen like this".[9] The NME said: "Like Missy Elliott, the Beasties are re-examining hip hop — what it was, what it is, what it can be".[13] The Onion AV Club said: "With To the 5 Boroughs, Beastie Boys' members discover a musical entryway to an earlier, more innocent era, affording listeners the exuberance of youth along with the hard-won wisdom that can only come with experience."[21] E! Online rated the album as a B- saying it was "fun but hardly fresh.[22]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Ch-Check It Out"   3:12
2. "Right Right Now Now"   2:46
3. "3 the Hard Way"   2:48
4. "It Takes Time to Build"   3:11
5. "Rhyme the Rhyme Well"   2:47
6. "Triple Trouble"   2:43
7. "Hey Fuck You"   2:21
8. "Oh Word?"   2:59
9. "That's It That's All"   2:28
10. "All Lifestyles"   2:33
11. "Shazam!"   2:26
12. "An Open Letter to NYC"   4:18
13. "Crawlspace"   2:53
14. "The Brouhaha"   2:13
15. "We Got The"   2:27
Japanese bonus tracks
No. Title Length
16. "Now Get Busy"   2:25
Australian 2CD Tour Edition
No. Title Length
1. "An Open Letter to NYC"    
2. "Rizzle Rizzle Nizzle Nizzle" (Remix for "Right Right Now Now")  
3. "MTL Reppin for the 514" (Remix for "Right Right Now Now")  
4. "Sabotage" (Live)  
5. "Brr Stick Em"    

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
scope="row" Canadian Albums (Billboard)[23] 1
scope="row" US Billboard 200[24] 1
scope="row" US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[25] 1

References

  1. ↑ Yahoo Launch News Story
  2. ↑ Greene, Thomas C. (23 June 2004). "Beastie Boys CD installs virus". The Register. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Official Merchandise Store". Beastie Boys. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  4. ↑ "Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  5. ↑ "Adam Yauch: The Videos of Nathaniel Hornblower Pictures - 'Triple Trouble' 2004". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  6. ↑ "Right Right Now Now: Beastie Boys: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  7. ↑ "An Open Letter To NYC: The Beastie Boys: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "To The 5 Boroughs Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Allmusic. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sinclair, Tom (June 18, 2004). "To The 5 Boroughs Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  11. ↑ Gilchrist, Todd. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". IGN. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  12. ↑ Pareles, Jon (June 14, 2004). "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "NME Album Reviews - Beastie Boys : To The 5 Boroughs". Nme.Com. 2004-07-07. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  14. ↑ DiCrescenzo, Brent. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  15. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Robert Christgau. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  16. ↑ Juon, Steve. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". RapReviews. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Fricke, David (2008-07-09). "To The 5 Boroughs | Album Reviews". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  18. ↑ Henderson, Eric. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". Slant Magazine. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Playlouder MSP Music Service". Playlouder.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  20. ↑ Thompson, Jason. "To the 5 Boroughs review - Beastie Boys". PopMatters. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  21. ↑ "The Onion A.V. Club | Music — To The 5 Boroughs". Web.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ "Beastie Boys Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Beastie Boys. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Beastie Boys Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Beastie Boys. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Beastie Boys Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Beastie Boys. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
Preceded by
Contraband by Velvet Revolver		 Billboard 200 number-one album
June 27, 2004 - July 3, 2004 		Succeeded by
Kiss of Death by Jadakiss
Preceded by
Under My Skin by Avril Lavigne		 European Album Chart number one
July 3–9, 2004 		Succeeded by
Once by Nightwish