The Beasties could have been overly serious in the wake of 9/11. They could have let the music get dark. Instead, they brought back their fight for the right to party and broke the booty-meter--while wearing their East Coast hearts on their sleeves.

Musically, this is pure '80s hip-hop heaven, from the downbeat brass from the first single "Ch-Check It Out," to the cowbell of "Triple Trouble," to the hard beats of "3 the Hard Way," "It Takes Time To Build" and "That's It That's All."

While the music is heavy on the rump factor, lyrically there is no mistaking the trio's love for "Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten, from the Battery to the top of Manhattan" ("An Open Letter to NYC") and distaste of Dubya Bush, "We've got a president we didn't elect, the Kyoto treaty he decided to neglect ... is the U.S. gonna keep breaking necks? Maybe it's time to impeach Tex" ("It Takes Time To Build").

Everything that's funny, provocative, scathing and supremely funky about the best hip-hop is here, and no wonder--these guys helped make the bed.