Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty

Far weaker than their previous albums

This doesn't hold a candle to Check Your Head or Paul's Boutique. There are some decent tracks, but lyrically this was a huge slide for them. It just sounds forced and there is a lot of mediocre filler...

Buy one of those two albums first (CYH or PB), then get Ill Communication and Licensed to Ill. This album is better than 5 boroughs but thats about it... May 4, 2008

Don't try to compromise, you need the five Beastie albums...

"Hello Nasty, the Beastie Boys' fifth album, is a head-spinning listen loaded with analog synthesizers, old drum machines, call-and-response vocals, freestyle rhyming, futuristic sound effects, and virtuoso turntable scratching. The Beasties have long been notorious for their dense, multi-layered explosions, but Hello Nasty is their first record to build on the multi-ethnic junk culture breakthrough of Check Your Head, instead of merely replicating it.

Moving from electro-funk breakdowns to Latin-soul jams to spacey pop, Hello Nasty covers as much ground as Check Your Head or Ill Communication, but the flow is natural, like Paul's Boutique, even if the finish is retro-stylized. Hiring DJ Mixmaster Mike (one of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz) turned out to be a masterstroke; he and the Beasties created a sound that strongly recalls the spare electronic funk of the early '80s, but spiked with the samples and post-modern absurdist wit that have become their trademarks. On the surface, the sonic collages of Hello Nasty don't appear as dense as Paul's Boutique, nor is there a single as grabbing as "Sabotage," but given time, little details emerge, and each song forms its own identity.

A few stray from the course, and the ending is a little anticlimactic, but that doesn't erase the riches of Hello Nasty - the old-school kick of "Super Disco Breakin'" and "The Move"; Adam Yauch's crooning on "I Don't Know"; Lee "Scratch" Perry's cameo; and the recurring video game samples, to name just a few. The sonic adventures alone make the album noteworthy, but what makes it remarkable is how it looks to the future by looking to the past. There's no question that Hello Nasty is saturated in old-school sounds and styles, but by reviving the future-shock rock of the early '80s, the Beasties have shrewdly set themselves up for the new millennium."

-Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

Well, that's almost correct, every song on here rules, and Anti-climatic ending? Bull_____. Still though, even though Allmusic.com isn't a reliable source (it sucks), I thought this was almost on the mark. Life is weird.

10/10 March 20, 2008

Three mc's and one dj!

Beastie Boys always seem to have fun while making a record. Thats why I love there style; You want hear them duet with a pop star, make a slow love song, or make a radio friendly hit. There raps are probably some of the greatest raps i've ever heard and ive heard alot. While I love the Wu Tang Clan, its hard to argue that the Beastie Boys are the best in the rap buisness. This whole cd flows well and there is not a weak track on it. Check it out. October 16, 2007

My first CD

After I stopped buying cassettes, this was the first album I purchased on CD. Ever since, it's remained one of my favorite albums. September 2, 2007

Solid Beasite Boys FLAAAAVA

'Hello Nasty' by the Beastie Boys is one of their best offerings ever put down. With this album the Beasties felt like they were as solid as they ever were and you could just get the general feel that they really enjoyed making this album. Even the commercially friendly tracks such as 'Intergalactic' and 'Body Movin' could be enjoyed by the alternative masses, and there are plenty of other tracks here ~20 in total with all sorts of different styles that many a fans will appreciate the smooth sounds coming out of their speakers.

If you like Rap and/or alternative hip-hop you owe it to yourself to pick up 'Hello Nasty' and enjoy one of the most unique bands in the genre.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED February 9, 2007

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