Hello Nasty

12 years, three studio albums, and an innumerable number of concerts later, the Beastie Boys have released what is quite likely thier finest album. Although they evolved beyond beer-swilling misogyny long ago, they haven't forgotten their sonic roots: "Hello Nasty" contains echos of the bass-n-beats style they brought to the masses. The odious punk blitzes and trippy musical meanderings of "Ill Communication" are conspicuously absent here, save a track or two. Also absent is the lyrical preaching; at one point MCA says you'll never see him in a commercial, but for the most part ! ! "Hello Nasty" is the Beastie Boys doing what they've always done best: talking about how great they are, waxing about world peace, and inserting nifty samples (courtesy of turntable phenom Mix Master Mike) into the mix. Think "Paul's Boutique" with a little "Check Your Head" thrown in for good measure.

"Hello Nasty" is 22 tracks' worth of great rap peppered by the occasional aural experiment. The Beasties have simply and effectively nullified the hype surrounding this album in one fell swoop; it is simultaneously behind and beyond all critical expectations.


a head-spinning entry   February 14, 2006
Mark Schaefer (Brockport, NY USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful


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.



Grand wok of flavors   September 26, 2003
Kurt Lennon (Calgary)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

22 tracks, 67 minutes of pure eclectic genius. On-the-spot rapping, wacky but wonderful collaborations, excellent music: this album is one of the best of the 90s for me. Every listen is a great trip into another galaxy of fun sounds and thoughtful lyrics. It's a long way from the misogyny of "Licensed to Ill" but this album is well worth the time. Rap, bossa nova, old skool hip-hop, jazz, rock: they all come together for this huge party. Dance along!


In my opinion, one of the best albums ever recorded.   June 22, 2000
Alexandra (Los Angeles, CA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

While I have always liked the Beastie Boys I was never what you would call a rabid fan. I only owned one other album when I bought Hello Nasty and all I was expecting was something kind of fun for the morning drive or weekend road trip. This is one of those albums that I love more and more with each successive listening. It's so mercurial in its mix of styles, from one song to the next only the humor, wit and infectious rhythm and beat seem to be the common threads. The seemless blending of rap, techno and old-school funk makes this album energetic with a playful feel. I can see myself still listening to this regularly 10 years from now and honestly think that it is one of the best albums ever recorded. It's not often that I find a CD where I love every single track, but I have to look no further than Hello Nasty for that now.


Another winner   October 27, 2000
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

You really have to respect the Beastie Boys. Since 1986, they've been releasing music that explores ground from whiny rap-rock to Dr. Seuss cut-and-paste insanity to jam-band-that-raps, and now to the old-school yet very new-school sound of "Hello Nasty". They've also kept the quality remarkably high; "Hello Nasty" is either the Beastie's second-best or third-best album (behind "Paul's Boutique" and possibly "Check Your Head"). The rap tracks are consistently great, with highlights like "Super Disco Breakin'", "The Move", "Three MCs and One DJ", "Unite", and the monster crossover singles "Intergalactic" and "Body Movin'". They even find time to travel into the worlds of techno ("And Me"), dub ("Dr. Lee, PhD"), and acoustic guitar songs ("I Don't Know"). It's always nice to see people continue to experiment, and it's even nicer to see the experiments succeed so well.