Cypress Hill returns from a six year hiatus! While they change things up with new slightly-awkward sounding guitar-heavy-metal production they stay true to their herb-smoking roots and dwell on some pretty predictable themes. (It’s no coincidence that this came out on April 20th).This isn’t nearly at the same caliber as the classic Cypress, but hey, I’ll take it anyway. FCC CLEAN (Edited Version) Try: 2,13,7,8

1. Intro dialogue leads into a blaring beat punctuated by a skipping drum machine. Typical Cypress Hill imagery on the lyrics and a guest feature by Kurupt/B-Real Protégé Young De.
2. Pete-Rock production: a five-second soul groove leads into a swirling high-pitched harpsichord melody with funky horns and saxophones. The chorus is a little tired-sounding, but the flow has some excellent moments.
3. One of the official singles; an interesting rock-rap hybrid starring Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) that somehow manages not to suck as bad as you would think. However, Morello’s signature overdrive and some of B-Real’s less-than-impressive lyrics make this sound like a less passionate version of Rage Against the Machine.

4. Slower paced production with banging piano keys and deep fuzzy guitarwork to create a dramatic atmosphere. Lyrics retain an optimistic outlook and praise staying true to yourself “regardless of what the haters say.”
5. Okay, so ALL Cypress Hill songs mention weed, but this song mentions NOTHING BUT WEED. Spoken word samples about weed, trees jokes, smoke hazes, and more bong references than a Haight Ashbury gift shop. Features some cool and confident verses from Evidence and The Alchemist
6. Brief spoken intro about a dude trying to convince his friend how badass Cypress Hill while on a smoke break. Super catchy upbeat synth lines and chipmunk vocal samples with fierce, staccato drum machine. Confident, ruthless flow. The last 1 minute is a loop of the instrumental.
7. Another brief into about weed leads into…another full-length SONG about weed. Very upbeat, some good rhymes, but again the chorus is kind of weak and uncreative.
8. This was the first track from the album ever to be released—it was a single that came out in August of 2009. It is easily one of the most upbeat and well-produced track on the album. Plus some bonus lines in español. ¡vaya!
9. A dramatic, epic, crooks to castles story about fame and making it big time. Some pretty cheesy boy-band background singing. Lyrics make up for it though.
10. Stacatto fast-paced flow with a furious tone. The production consists of slamming drums and heavy metal guitarwork along with some turntablism.
11. Articulate, fresh flow about rising to the top and overcoming suffering. Excellent production. Frantic drums, cymbol crashes, and shimmering keyboard lines.
12. 40-second intro about getting the munchies and ordering massive amounts of Chinese food. This leads into a frantic kraftwerk-style breakbeat with fast-paced rapping. Lots of weed talk. Big surprise.
13. Awesome funky production. Some synth, some strummy basslines, and gentle breezy female vocals. Welcome to paradise. Nice lyrics with a guest appearance from Jake One.
14. A brief spoken-word about the recession leads into yet another intro: 15 seconds of elevator music. Then out of the blue appears another distinctive Tom Morello guitarline. Lots of rapping about revolutions and shutting down the government. Pretty cheesy unoriginal stuff right here. A pretty sick guitar solo if you’re into that stuff though…
15. Cypress Hill gives a shoutout to their Latino roots! Lots of Spanish with a song featuring Putbull and Marc Anthony. An interesting collab. Yeah, I didn’t really understand it either.