Ever since I first heard “Insane in the Brain”, I’ve been a fan of Cypress Hill – particularly those first three albums.  

I have been fortunate enough to have seen them live on several occasions too, and one of those times, things might have gotten a little, shall we say, hazy for me.  Like very hazy… 

Here they are, back with their tenth studio record, and honestly, the best they have released since 2000’s “Skin & Bones”.  

It might be the best they have put out in two decades, but it’s certainly not as great as those first three albums.  It’s just that they have really pigeonholed themselves as “that weed group” now, and it all seems a little old. 

There are songs about smoking weed…

Songs about selling weed…

Songs about growing weed…

You get the picture.  I guess it’s what they do well, and always have – I just feel like they could be doing more.  

In saying that, it’s not all juvenile, in fact it’s not really juvenile at all.  They do intelligently delve into the politics of legalising weed, and question exactly what that means, proving that they do still have a point to get across.  

I get that titles can be re-used by different bands to, but some are sacred, and surely “Back in Black” would have to be considered sacred.  I might be being silly, but that sort of rubbed me the wrong way right from the start. 

The music is good though, and B-Real still sounds as iconic as ever.  Backed up by Sen Dog, and given a big boost by the production of Black Milk, this is a return to a more classic Cypress sound. 

6.5/10

Shayne McGowan.