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| Track list: 1. I Wanna Get High 2. I Ain't Goin' Out Like That 3. Insane In The Brain 4. When The Sh-- Goes Down 5. Lick A Shot 6. Cock The Hammer 7. Lock Down 8. Lil' Putos 9. Legalize It 10. Hits From The Bong 11. What Go Around Come Around, Kid 12. A To The K 13. Hand On The Glock 14. Break 'Em Off Some Running time: 43 minutes Released: 1993 |
So uh... after one disappointing dip into hip-hop, what to expect from this? Well, for one I don't think I ever took this album seriously, which probably helps, but for another my recollection is that it has some more immediately appealing samples. I am surprised to see how many of the track titles retain familiarity after 20 years.
A klaxon call opens us up, before a loaded loop drops in and then the plaintive call about wanting to lose one's head hits. I am squeezing this listen in after work, before roleplaying because I feel awake and alert enough to, which is a nice change. Working at home helps. The major difference between this track and Black Star is the level of aural interest outside of the vocal. The loop is persistent throughout, but it is hooky enough to latch onto and the scratches, bleeps and horns mean there is more texture to the track than anything covered in yesterday's post.
There is more life in this. Less heart, I suspect, but more life. The whole disc reads like a love-letter to a crappy lifestyle of drugs and guns but it's so... over the top that I can't take it seriously and therefore don't get annoyed by the bad boy advocacy. I know, it's inconsistent and fickle, especially since it seems it really is a love letter to weed. However it never quite sheds a tongue-in-cheek image, cartoonish, at least from the far side of the Atlantic.
The structures are very reliant on high pitched squeaks and scratches to supplement bassy loops and beats. I don't mind this - whilst I would prefer something with a bit more music in the treble the choice of samples and the construction of their hooks provides an engagement that survives the test of time much better than I thought it might. Lick a Shot introduces a pace that had been lacking prior to that. This tune has much less of a "stoner" feel to it as a result, a real urgency in the drum and in the pace of the rapping are a world away from the slower and more deliberate numbers.
There is a whining, strained quality to one of the primary voices that contributes a lot to my image of Cypress Hill as deliberately, and slightly camply, over the top. I can't imagine that is what they were going for but its an image I can't shake as I find myself enjoying the simple constructions allied to vocals that at worst suffice and at best complement the beats well. It is a little bit samey by half-way through but the tracks slide by fast - the whole 14 track album is less than 45 minutes - so this is not a drag.
Ah, there it is. The sample of Son of a Preacher Man in Hits from the Bong really lightens the track. This sample is always my abiding memory of Cypress Hill. Its a pity that they loop the same short sample over and over through the track though. Still it's better than What Go Around Come Around, Kid, which sounds like it samples the Grange Hill (oh the horrors of my childhood) theme tune - but doesn't. I think I have reached my limit - this listen has gone from campy fun to a chore, and my mind from fresh to yawning. A to the m***********g K homeboy. Enough said. Its funny if you squint I suppose. Take it with the over-the-top view and sit there swaying side-to-side, arms crossed and fingers extended in mock pose, serious face on. Actually taking it at face value gives a very different experience.
I would get rid but before I got tired of it I was genuinely enjoying the early parts of this album and I think the same would be true of the latter half if I heard it in isolation. My sense of humour failure mid-way through is not the music's fault. I blame the clocks going back and it being pitch black before 18.00 - its never a good time of year for me. The album ends on a pacier note again, before silence descends and I am spared from pushing my limits any more. I can't quite bring myself to part with any of this because the whole album has a similar feel... one which makes these tunes much more appreciable thrown into a melting pot with others where they can be thrown out as a change-up. Its a flimsy excuse, and maybe one driven by nostalgia; so what.
A klaxon call opens us up, before a loaded loop drops in and then the plaintive call about wanting to lose one's head hits. I am squeezing this listen in after work, before roleplaying because I feel awake and alert enough to, which is a nice change. Working at home helps. The major difference between this track and Black Star is the level of aural interest outside of the vocal. The loop is persistent throughout, but it is hooky enough to latch onto and the scratches, bleeps and horns mean there is more texture to the track than anything covered in yesterday's post.
There is more life in this. Less heart, I suspect, but more life. The whole disc reads like a love-letter to a crappy lifestyle of drugs and guns but it's so... over the top that I can't take it seriously and therefore don't get annoyed by the bad boy advocacy. I know, it's inconsistent and fickle, especially since it seems it really is a love letter to weed. However it never quite sheds a tongue-in-cheek image, cartoonish, at least from the far side of the Atlantic.
The structures are very reliant on high pitched squeaks and scratches to supplement bassy loops and beats. I don't mind this - whilst I would prefer something with a bit more music in the treble the choice of samples and the construction of their hooks provides an engagement that survives the test of time much better than I thought it might. Lick a Shot introduces a pace that had been lacking prior to that. This tune has much less of a "stoner" feel to it as a result, a real urgency in the drum and in the pace of the rapping are a world away from the slower and more deliberate numbers.
There is a whining, strained quality to one of the primary voices that contributes a lot to my image of Cypress Hill as deliberately, and slightly camply, over the top. I can't imagine that is what they were going for but its an image I can't shake as I find myself enjoying the simple constructions allied to vocals that at worst suffice and at best complement the beats well. It is a little bit samey by half-way through but the tracks slide by fast - the whole 14 track album is less than 45 minutes - so this is not a drag.
Ah, there it is. The sample of Son of a Preacher Man in Hits from the Bong really lightens the track. This sample is always my abiding memory of Cypress Hill. Its a pity that they loop the same short sample over and over through the track though. Still it's better than What Go Around Come Around, Kid, which sounds like it samples the Grange Hill (oh the horrors of my childhood) theme tune - but doesn't. I think I have reached my limit - this listen has gone from campy fun to a chore, and my mind from fresh to yawning. A to the m***********g K homeboy. Enough said. Its funny if you squint I suppose. Take it with the over-the-top view and sit there swaying side-to-side, arms crossed and fingers extended in mock pose, serious face on. Actually taking it at face value gives a very different experience.
I would get rid but before I got tired of it I was genuinely enjoying the early parts of this album and I think the same would be true of the latter half if I heard it in isolation. My sense of humour failure mid-way through is not the music's fault. I blame the clocks going back and it being pitch black before 18.00 - its never a good time of year for me. The album ends on a pacier note again, before silence descends and I am spared from pushing my limits any more. I can't quite bring myself to part with any of this because the whole album has a similar feel... one which makes these tunes much more appreciable thrown into a melting pot with others where they can be thrown out as a change-up. Its a flimsy excuse, and maybe one driven by nostalgia; so what.
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