Cypress Hill - IV

**claaa7** · 10-13-2010, 06:00 AM

i must give a shout to my man Angry! who insisted on me giving this joint another chance after saying that Cypress Hill fell off after their first 3 albums. i had all the Cypress album from first to "Skull & Bones" in 2000 but i traded or sold all of them back then but about a year ago i bought this re-issue package that has their first four albums + "Stoned Raiders" for a cheap price. incredibly price-worthy package for all that incredible music altho it's not the same as having the original CD pressings with full packaging (this is a box with slipcases for each of the albums with original cover and back - still have my original "Temples of Boom" 2xCD tho).

i'm really glad i gave this joint another chance cuz Cypress Hill's "IV" is straight up evil! the blunted boom-bap off DJ Muggs dusty sampler is still intact but the smoke clouds have lightened a little from "Temples of Boom" and there are more live instruments incorporated and a heavier nod to metal than on previous work. there's a great balance in the sound tho, there's no doubt that this is 100% hip-hop altho the rock references are pretty obvious at places and there's often a mystery what the hell it is exactly that Muggs samples cuz his sound is so unique and most of the times you never heard the sounds he uses.

B-Real comes off as a master rhymer here, this might actually be his strongest performance of all the Cypress LP's. he's playing around with and suceeding in using a wide array of different flows and deliveries and altho the lyrical themes might not go too far away from the usual big buds, freak bitches and gang banging he is most def in his element here, that unique nasal voice intact. the extreme differences between B-Real's and Sen Dog's distinctive voices is what makes them such a deadly combination, Sen Dog ain't the best rapper but he perfectly compliments B-Real. there's also a guy on here called Barron Ricks that features on 4-5 songs that also sounds great in the context of Cypress Hill.

i don't know why the hell i was saying Cypress fell off after their first 3 joints but considering i hadn't given "IV" another chance for almost 10 years made me eat my words up. peace Angry!

some favorites are: "Looking Thru The Eyes of a Pig" (iLL and creative story-telling)
"Prelude to a Come Up" (MC Eith and B-Real proves to be a deadly combination boi)
"Audio X"
"Interlude II" (damn listen to that Muggs beat!)
"Tequila Sunrise" (great single, this one always stood out to me)
"High Times"

etc, etc.

8/10

**TAURO** · 10-13-2010, 06:19 AM

Cypress Hill as a group did fall off, but it wasn't after their first three albums, it was after Skull & Bones. After that album the quality dropped.

**Frank Sobotka** · 10-13-2010, 08:16 AM

Amazing album. It can definitely compete with the first 3.

This sounds even more amazing when it's cold as fuck outside and your hands are frozen.

**Pattch82** · 10-14-2010, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by claaa7

i must give a shout to my man Angry! who insisted on me giving this joint another chance after saying that Cypress Hill fell off after their first 3 albums. i had all the Cypress album from first to "Skull & Bones" in 2000 but i traded or sold all of them back then but about a year ago i bought this re-issue package that has their first four albums + "Stoned Raiders" for a cheap price. incredibly price-worthy package for all that incredible music altho it's not the same as having the original CD pressings with full packaging (this is a box with slipcases for each of the albums with original cover and back - still have my original "Temples of Boom" 2xCD tho).

i'm really glad i gave this joint another chance cuz Cypress Hill's "IV" is straight up evil! the blunted boom-bap off DJ Muggs dusty sampler is still intact but the smoke clouds have lightened a little from "Temples of Boom" and there are more live instruments incorporated and a heavier nod to metal than on previous work. there's a great balance in the sound tho, there's no doubt that this is 100% hip-hop altho the rock references are pretty obvious at places and there's often a mystery what the hell it is exactly that Muggs samples cuz his sound is so unique and most of the times you never heard the sounds he uses.

B-Real comes off as a master rhymer here, this might actually be his strongest performance of all the Cypress LP's. he's playing around with and suceeding in using a wide array of different flows and deliveries and altho the lyrical themes might not go too far away from the usual big buds, freak bitches and gang banging he is most def in his element here, that unique nasal voice intact. the extreme differences between B-Real's and Sen Dog's distinctive voices is what makes them such a deadly combination, Sen Dog ain't the best rapper but he perfectly compliments B-Real. there's also a guy on here called Barron Ricks that features on 4-5 songs that also sounds great in the context of Cypress Hill.

i don't know why the hell i was saying Cypress fell off after their first 3 joints but considering i hadn't given "IV" another chance for almost 10 years made me eat my words up. peace Angry!

some favorites are: "Looking Thru The Eyes of a Pig" (iLL and creative story-telling)
"Prelude to a Come Up" (MC Eith and B-Real proves to be a deadly combination boi)
"Audio X"
"Interlude II" (damn listen to that Muggs beat!)
"Tequila Sunrise" (great single, this one always stood out to me)
"High Times"

etc, etc.

8/10

Barron Ricks is one half of the group 'Call O' Da Wild'... check them out on my Muggs compilation that I just dropped! They had some ill shit!! Shame they split up before they dropped an album!

Peace!

**angry!** · 10-15-2010, 07:37 AM

thats wasup claaa.... knew youd come around on it!!!!!!!!!

IV is fuckin dope as always!!!!!!!!!

IV had some of the comedic shit mixed in there, but damn, MUGGS let the lions out the cage if you know what i mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!

one of the hardest cypress projects ever, beats were HARD, initially, some die hard cp hill fans were scared off by the sound of IV, it had all the classic elements of cp hill (heavy heavy heavy drums, funky breaks, impeccable scratch work, heavy guitar samples) but the sound was straight MENACING!!!!! III was dark, III was hard, but it was some gun in the cathedral shit, IV is a gun in your face!!!!!!!!!!!!

lookin through the eyes of a pig - classic intro b-real one of the best storytellers of all time

checkmate - classic b and sen back n forth over ridiculous drum kit

from the window - head nodding MUGGS action with b spazzing with the patterns and timely, timeless, sen dog fill ins!!!!!!!!!!

prelude to a come up - dusted, straight dusted, drunken piano, pulsating drums, niggas ride the beat inside out

riot starter - loot house music

audio x - snake charmer MUGGS, heroin in the vein, dizzying b real flows

steel magnolia - knife to the gut classic MUGGS sample flip steel drum work

i remember that freak bitch - classic sex joint, funk dipped, classic outro...

goin all out - drum step, b shittin on pigs, kicking next level flows...

teq sunrise - classic, classic, classic, hook is outta there, beat is outta there, intro is outta there, latino funk elements, classic beat, every verse is outta there...

dead man tell no tales - coulda been on III, dusted as fuck, gothic gangsta shit, only the hill...

feature presntation - some real gangsta shit, MUGGS using all kinds of abstact noises, making a paranoid banger thatll shit on 90 percent of niggas crowning acheivemnet sonically!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dr green thumb - one of the greatest weed joints ever period

no men left - one of my favorite muggs beats ever b-real styles the fuck outta it

high times - classic weed joint

clash of the titans - one of the illest b-real verses of all time, everyone knows about cp hill, the weed imagery, bangin beats... but b-real is one of the best lyricists ever, in 92, he was the greatest rapper alive, literally... he took everything that was out, mashed it up, and spit it out with his own original twist that built upon everything else that was out there!!!!!!!!!!! b made niggas elevate their mic game...

SMASH hooks, CRACK beats, RAW sound...

IV is everything a classic album is... OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!

now claaa... all you gotta do now is revisit till death do us part, cuz niggas will have you believing that was a wack album... HA... sit had definite skip tracks, but that album was a banger, and a return to the essence of cp hill!!!!!!!! story telling, funk... peep that, MUGGS bodied that album an there was a classic ALC latino flip!!!!!!!!!

**Eventhorizon** · 10-30-2010, 08:18 PM

Pretty much agree with angry!

Album was pretty much in a no-win situation before it even dropped following up three great albums, but if you go back and listen to it now you'll probably realise it was alot better then you remember it.

Been a huge cypress fan since way back, this and Till Death do us part were both really solid to me, only albums they made that I couldnt get into really were Skull & Bones and Stoned Raiders, and even those had their moments. Muggs is a beast even on an off day

**Shogah** · 10-30-2010, 08:38 PM

Best cypress album for me. I always liked IV and Black sunday more than Cypress hill album, cause it was how i was introduced to them.

Listening to this at the age of 12 was unforgettable experience.