This album was almost exactly what I expected from the Beasties. As a die-hard fan of Licensed to Ill, I found myself reminiscing back to those days and the old-school sampled beats. The difference here is that the beats are more complex and modern sounding, and the Boys now sound a bit more like men. The lyrics are more mature, but this album is really fun to party to (I've included some of the tracks on mixes i havent touched for years). This is one of the few recent hip-hop records I can honestly recommend, and I imagine (if i can find it on vinyl!!) it will be appearing on my turntable for quite awhile.Summary: Old-school gone modern, the Beasties don't think they're pirates anymore, but they still have attitude.