Skull & Bones (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Skull & Bones
Type = Album
Artist = Cypress Hill


Released = April 25, 2000
Recorded = 1999-2000
Genre = Latin hip hop, Hardcore hip hop, West Coast hip hop, Rapcore
Length = 40:56 (Disc 1)
23:31 (Disc 2)
Label = Columbia Records
Producer = DJ Muggs
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:1fd8vwmia9uk link]
*Audio Video Revolution (7/10) [http://www.avrev.com/music/revs/cypresshill.shtml link]
*Robert Christgau rating-Christgau|hm2 [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Cypress+Hill link]
*Rolling Stone Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/cypresshill/albums/album/256896/review/6210749/skull__bones link]
*Yahoo! Music (favorable) [http://music.yahoo.com/read/review/12035135 link]
Last album = "Los grandes éxitos en español"
(1999)
This album = "Skull & Bones"
(2000)
Next album = "Live at the Fillmore"
(2000) |

"Skull & Bones" is the fifth studio album by the rap group Cypress Hill, released on April 25, 2000.

Album information

While released on two discs, this is purely presentational, as the entire album could fit on one.Fact|date=October 2008 It features Everlast, Eminem, N.O.R.E., Christian Olde Wolbers & Dino Cazares of Fear Factory, Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine and Chino Moreno of the Deftones.

The song "(Rock) Superstar" was once performed live by the band with Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum of the band Velvet Revolver.

The Intro includes a sample from Ralph Bakshi's "Wizards".

Reception

"Professional reviews":

Rolling Stone (5/11/00, p.132) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "A bipolar breakdown....proving hip-hop is more like T2...capable of morphing into anyone they wanna be."

CMJ (5/1/00, p.23) - "Proves rather convincingly that Cypress Hill still packs a mighty punch."

Vibe (6/00, p.223) - "Marks the first major shift in the group's direction....Half of [the album] is a head-banging jam session....Songs like '(Rap) Superstar' prove that the group still has that winning formula."

The Source (6/00, pp.218-20) - 3.5 mics out of 5 - "May be their most drastic turn yet....Cypress' flavor runs thick across the disc....They break down the barriers in order to transcend the industry-imposed terms of alternative and rap....another set for the weeded."

Rap Pages (6/00, p.42) - "...May be the best album you hear for the next 2 years.... [it] is so artistically good that it [will] stay in your personal rotation..."

Mojo (6/00, p.113) - "Finds them sticking a finger in the air and finding the wind blowing in the direction of thrash-metal."

NME (4/29/00, p.33) - 7 out of 10 - "Picks up where the groggy metal/rap melange of '98s Cypress Hill IV left off....It's business as usual....They do hip-hop and they do funk-metal rawk....evolving slowly."

Track listing

"Skull" (Disc 1)

# "Intro" (Muggerud) – 1:52
# "Another Victory" (Freese, Muggerud) – 3:11
# "(Rap) Superstar" (Freese, Muggerud) – 4:53
# "Cuban Necktie" (Freese, Muggerud) – 4:13
# "What U Want from Me" (Freese, Muggerud) – 3:50
# "Stank Ass Hoe" (Freese, Muggerud) – 5:09
# "Highlife" (Freese, Muggerud, Reyes) – 3:53
# "Certified Bomb" (Freese, Muggerud, Reyes) – 4:03
# "Can I Get a Hit" (Freese, Muggerud) – 2:47
# "We Live This Shit" (Freese, Muggerud) – 4:20
# "Worldwide" (Freese, Muggerud, Reyes) – 2:45

"Bones" (Disc 2)

# "Valley of Chrome" (Freese, Muggerud, Reyes) – 4:04
# "Get Out of My Head" (Freese, Muggerud) – 3:31
# "Can't Get the Best of Me" (Correa, Freese, Muggerud, Reyes, Wilk) – 4:15
# "A Man" (Correa, Fleener, Freese, Reyes, Zambrano) – 3:08
# "Dust" (Cypress Hill, Fleming, Freese) – 3:56
# "(Rock) Superstar" (Freese, Muggerud, Reyes) – 4:37
# "Jack You Back" (Bonus Track) (Freese, Muggerud, Reyes) - 3:32

Personnel

*B-Real - Vocals
*Sen Dog Vocals
*DJ Muggs - Producer
*Michael Barbiero - Engineer
*Eric Bobo - Drums
*Dino Cazares - Guitars
*Jeremy Fleener - Bass
*Rogelio Lozano - Guitar
*Reggie Stewart - Bass, Guitar
*Brad Wilk - Drums
*Christian Olde Wolbers - Bass
*Andy Zambrano - Guitar
*Alfunction - Guitar and keyboard (live performer only)

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)