Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 Review




The new Beastie Boys album, Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2, is not what I expected...gritty, kinda grungy and dirty. Like it was done in a garage. It comes as no real surprise. The Beastie Boys have always tried to keep fans guessing on what each album was going to sound like.

A lot of the tracks have a background reverb that is distracting at first; especially on the track “Non Stop Disco Powerpack”, but it’s easy to get used to after some listening.

The whole album has a nice pace to it. Most of the songs are up-tempo and I could imagine a group of robots dancing to this in some kind of space club. It’s that kind of funky.

The album has a nice blend of new and old school Beastie Boys’ styles. There’s a little rock, but most of the album is reminiscent of their recent hip-hop style. There’s also a great cameo from Nas on the track “Too Many Rappers”; collaborations aren’t something common on most Beastie Boys’ albums, but Nas’ flow blends in seamlessly with the rest of the Beastie crew to make a fantastic track.

While there are some great individual tracks the majority of the CD sounds very similar from one song to the next. Through multiple playthroughs each track does eventually have it’s own voice, but just don’t expect to be blown away by any one song on your first listen.

This has been an album a long time in the making. Overall was it worth the wait? Well, that may not be the question. The album isn’t great, but doesn’t really need to be. We don’t get much from the Beastie Boys very often, so even an average album is better then nothing. It doesn’t stack up to some of their best; even their last album To the 5 Boroughs was a better overall album. But I can imagine Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 growing on me over time.

The Beastie Boy fans will still eat Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 up. It’s got that unique Beastie Boys sound. These guys just don’t seem to age!

My favorite tracks for your ears to feast on:
"Ok" - odd sounding and the Beastie Boys are completely on point lyrically on this track
“Too Many Rappers” ft. Nas
“Funky Donkey”just a great funky tempo
“Lee Majors Come Again”Could have been a song from Scott Pilgrim
“Pop Your Balloon” – Kind of a weird Egyptian style sound

Note: I listened to the Deluxe Edition and the Japanese versions of Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2. The Deluxe Edition has two extra tracks (“Pop Your Balloon” and B-Boys in the Cut”) and the Japanese version with one additional track ("Make Some Noise" Cornelius Remix).

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