Skull & Bones

Disc 1
1	Intro 1:52
2	Another Victory 3:11
3	(Rap) Superstar 4:53
4	Cuban Necktie 4:13
5	What U Want from Me 3:50
6	Stank A** H** 5:09
7	Highlife 3:53
8	Certified Bomb 4:03
9	Can I Get a Hit 2:47
10	We Live This S*** 4:20
11	Worldwide 2:45
Disc 2
1	Valley of Chrome 4:04
2	Get Out of My Head 3:31
3	Can't Get the Best of Me 4:15
4	A Man 3:08
5	Dust 3:56
6	(Rock) Superstar 4:37

Barnes & Noble

Cypress Hill's ambitious double album SKULL & BONES heralds the group's return to the rap game and infuses their classic, tag-team vocal delivery with a dose of hard-edged rap metal. On the strictly hip-hop "Skull Disc," DJ Muggs replaces the group's trademark, startling horn and siren samples with original, orchestral sounding beats. Cypress Hill have never been bashful about their affection for blunt smoke, so fans will be surprised to find only one song -- the comical "Can I Get a Hit" -- devoted to the sweet leaf. (Apparently, B-Real's been too pissed off to think about his crops.) Lyrically, he's raging on every verse, whether he's venting about music industry ills on "Superstar" or dissin' gold diggers and sucker MCs on "Stank Ass Hoe." In contrast to B-Real's trademark nasal tone, Sen Dog uses his authoritative voice to great effect -- whether his baritone is jumping out of the background on "Cuban Necktie," or leading a commanding chorus on "Certified Bomb." The "Bones Disc," however, allows Hill to experiment with a rap-metal hybrid complete with live instruments and scratching. Sen Dog steps up to the challenge on the frenzied "A Man," yelling the chorus like he's possessed. With SKULL & BONES, Cypress Hill prove they're willing to change with the times. But they still bring the noise. Ryan Crosby

All Music Guide

Despite the best efforts of DJ Muggs, Cypress Hill ran out of gas fairly quickly, entering a tailspin as soon as their third album. Back at full strength with the return of Sen Dog, Cypress Hill devised a full-scale comeback with their fifth album, Skull & Bones. The idea behind the album was to divide it into two -- a hip-hop disc ("Skull") and a rock disc ("Bones"). This would guarantee some publicity, at the very least, and, hopefully, it would win over the new generation of adolescents who flipped for rap-metal acts like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit. On paper, it's a sound theory, but there was a slight flaw -- the group is kind of lame when they rock. Their band is competent enough, and B Real's voice does sound good with overdriven guitars, but their rock songs utterly fall apart, since they have no hooks, no catchy riffs, and no character. If rap-metal was all there was to Skull & Bones, it would be a bit of an embarrassment. Fortunately, the "Skulls" disc is their finest effort since Black Sunday. Muggs is in prime form, creating funky, ominous, evocative soundscapes, which B Real makes the most of with fluid rhymes. At times, B Real does descend into tastelessness ("Stank Ass Hoe"), and neither he nor Sen Dog really find any new lyrical ground, but sonically, "Skulls" is a blast; B Real's whine and Sen Dog's gruff, blunt style are the perfect match for Muggs' darkly cinematic soundscapes, and, on a purely sonic level, it's quite intoxicating. At their best, Cypress Hill are a hip-hop experience unlike any other, and, ignoring the "Bones" disc, this is the best they've been in a long, long time. Stephen Thomas Erlewine