Review of Cypress Hill: Still Smokin`

Introduction

It was with some trepidation that I received this DVD through the post to review. I hadn’t heard any Cypress Hill tunes in a long while which made me think that this was some hard-ass rap group with a bad boasting attitude telling you repeatedly that “my name is” – the classic rap introduction song. So it was quite a surprise when I got to listen and watch the band in action once more. Cypress Hill’s style is hip-hop mixed with rap and this creates a unique sound that I found very engaging. Once more my head was bobbing and I was walking round the room like an idiot throwing my hands out in front of me to the sound of “How I could just kill a man” and “When the ship goes down”. It was really wonderful reliving the days of my student youth once more! The tracks have an originality sadly lacking in a lot of rap groups, not only in the style of music, but the vocals too – this gives them a more classic status and the songs don’t date as easily.

So, what do you get on the DVD? – well, quite a lot actually. The first part is given over to Cypress Hill live from the Fillmore Auditorium, and the last 18 tracks are their videos – their complete video collection in fact which is a bonus for any Cypress Hill completists. It also features Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as PCM stereo tracks and an interesting 30-minute TV special, which I will talk about later.

Basically though, Cypress Hill are still smokin’!

Video

The live section is presented as a non-anamorphic 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and the videos are 4:3. The picture is generally clean with little or no artefacts. Obviously the live section misses out on not being anamorphic, however I don’t believe it would have made a great deal of difference. The club is very dark and dingy and helps convey the raw and gritty feel of the live concert. The videos in 4:3 are also nothing to complain about, but nothing to shout about either. There is graininess to some of the videos, but this is the way it was shot, and the DVD reproduces this faithfully. Not a gob smacking picture, but it is a better presentation than MTV could throw at you.

Audio

A bit of a mixed bag in all actuality. In 5.1 mode (please note I did not review the PCM Stereo track) the Live section sounds excellent. This isn’t because of any excellent sound effects whizzing round the room, just that the 5.1 track really creates the ambience of the live event. Vocals are punched out with real clarity against an energetic hip-hop/rap track. There is so much energy on display here that it makes you tired just watching the performers.

The videos however show little imagination has gone into the 5.1 mix. It is a clear enough presentation; however there seems to be a general melee of sounds coming at you with no real channel separation. This was confirmed to me when I put my ear next to each speaker. Essentially the same information is coming from each one. The vocals are a little stronger in the centre, but not much – i.e. this sounds like a bad Pro-Logic recording with too much centre channel bleed going to the main LR and rear LR channels.

Finally, the bass performance of all tracks is excellent. Cypress Hill rely on a deep and funky bassline, rather than an overloaded double sub-bass throb that many rap artists seem to need to give their tracks energy. This gives your sub an excellent and tuneful workout as it underpins the bass beautifully, and, on many occasions, has chance to sing itself. If you want to flex your sub’s muscle, you could do a lot worse than giving this disk a spin.

Features

Only one extra feature on this disk, and that’s the 30 Minute TV Special, which is an interview with the band members. They come across as very likeable, down to earth people who talk about what sound they tried to come up with to sound different, how they don’t want to follow the crowd with regards to musical fashion. The interview is intercut by fans talking about the fantastic lifestyle they must have, the fans, the girls, the cars etc. And this is the part of the interview I liked the most, as the band then states that their lives aren’t all roses. It’s a lot of hard work “an’ a lot of business man, a lot of business!” as one band member commented with a rather tired smile.

Conclusion

I was pleasantly surprised by this DVD – it bought back my student days with stunning clarity. This is a very complete package of Cypress Hill tunes with a great live section and their video collection. It’s not going to win any awards for outstanding picture or audio, but what it does is give you the tunes with a much better clarity than any MTV presentation could give. As I stated before I was disappointed by the 5.1 mix of the videos, but it is still clear, tuneful, loud, energetic, bassy, and a lot of fun. I enjoyed it and it will get another spin in my DVD player soon.