Customer Reviews

Black Sunday (Radio Version)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ahh, yes. The good ol' days when rap was interesting and had some creative skills behind it instead of a bunch of over-hyped rappers bragging about how rich they are or how many cars they have. Cypress Hill's "Black Sunday" is a classic rap album with some great songs, great beats, and most of all, catchy lyrics that had a nice flow to them. They sure don't make anymore gems like these anymore... or it's very hard to come by one in the game of rap these days.

While following the "gangster rap" format, this album isn't as vulgar or as offensive as most rap albums. Don't get the wrong idea and think that these guys are "squeaky-clean" or anything like that. They have their fair share of profanities and violent/drug references. What I mean is that the album's a lot more milder than most rap albums, but while it is milder it has a better structure to it than most. The songs are very gun/drug oriented, but the songs do a great job of flowing and appealing to those who don't find the two topics all that interesting. In other words, you don't have to be a druggie or a gun fanatic to enjoy these tunes.

This is an excellent album with some great songs. My favorites are "I ain't goin' out like that," "insane in the brain," "when the (explicit) goes down," "lick a shot," "what go around come around, kid," "hand on the glock," and "break 'em off some." While I enjoy the entire album, those are my favorite songs. The album has a very high replay value and never feels outdated.

"Black Sunday" is able to achieve what many of the new rap albums of today fail to do. It's a great listen with songs that are simply about more than bragging about "bling-bling" or that type of nonsense. If you're not a big fan of rap, then chances are you may not take a liking to Cypress Hill. If you're like me and have been disappointed with many of the new rap acts, then pick up "Black Sunday" and take a trip down memory lane.

Until this album dropped, hip-hop was still largely a genre of music recorded for blacks by blacks about blacks. Cypress Hill changed the dynamics of rap by firstly being Latinos and secondly appealing to white college boys.

It has been argued that the stoned sound of the group was partly responsible for Dr Dre's G-Funk. Whether you believe this or not, it is quite easy to see the similarities on this album.

"Black Sunday" is of course the album responsible for one of the most well-known tracks of early 90s hip-hop "Insane In The Brain" with the now well known "Insane in the membrane/Insane in the brain" chorus and that whining beat with Public Enemy influence - later to appear on House Of Pain's work produced by DJ Muggs.

What is often forgotten in the memory of "Insane In The Brain" is the fact that both B-Real and Sen Dog have skills of a very high order. B-Real's flow on "Insane" has some very clever changes of pace and inventive rhymes - the start of the third verse "Like Louis Armstrong/played the trumpet/I'll hit that bong and break ya off somethin'" is worth attention. In the same track, Sen Dog is able to send up his own size while in the thick of a very creative battle rhyme.

The are certainly some very good moments on this album, however the ideas remain slightly under-developed. It would appear that whenever B-Real and Sen Dog are running low on ideas they just put in something about smoking marijuana, the track "Legalize It" is entirely that - just a collection of pro-weed samples. Also the "Interlude" only serves to interrupt the flow of the album.

In short, the 4 stars are for originality - which the album still has almost a decade after it was released - and lyricism. The lack of a fifth star is simply due to the underdevelopment of some of the ideas on the album and the frequent degeneration into marijuana chanting more likely to be found in a Bob Marley concert.

This is one of those reviews where I think, "Am I listening to the same album as everyone else?" Even 4 stars is a bit too generous. Don't get me wrong, Black Sunday can be a blast to listen to, but it has many flaws that make it far inferior to their classic self-titled debut.

B-Real's high-pitched whine sounded fresh on their debut and it still has certain uniqueness on Black Sunday. However, lyrically he shows no growth at all. B-Real often strays back to the same subjects of weed and guns, and the lyrics aren't as clever as they were on the debut.

Sen-Dog, on the other hand, isn't much of a rapper; he's more of a Latin version of Flava Flav. He kicks a few verses here and there, providing a ying to B-Real's yang in terms of voices and vocal dimension, but his main purpose seems to end up being to repeat what B-Real says in each hook in formulaic fashion.

The best part about Black Sunday is most definitely the beats. DJ Muggs provides a great backdrop to B-Real's paranoid rhymes with horns, sirens and haunting basslines everywhere. The beats never get redundant, and it's hard to imagine Black Sunday sounding any different. Samples are used kind of sparingly compared to other rap from '93, but songs like "Hits From The Bong" contain some extremely clever dug-up samples, as opposed to easily-recognizable ones.

The last real beefs I have with Black Sunday is that the two interludes in the middle of the album completely destroy what would otherwise be impeccable song pacing. Also, the album seems a bit rushed, like something's missing; perhaps a result of the formulaic hooks - I can't quite put my finger on it.

Other than the flaws (most of them minor), Black Sunday is a blast to listen to. The songs range from classic (Insane In The Brain, Hits From The Bong, Cock The Hammer) to lukewarm (A To The K). Fans of the Hill should have this in their collection. New fans should cop the classic self-titled debut instead, no matter how tempted they are to buy this one because of Insane In The Brain.

Best moments: Hits From The Bong (personal favourite), Insane In The Brain, Cock The Hammer, Lil' Putos, I Ain't Goin' Out Like That.

My favorites are "hits from the bong" and the radio hit "insane in the membrane". This CD is kickin'. I might add that "bong" appears to be sampling the 1968 recording of "Son of a Preacher Man" by British singer Dusty Springfield. This act really knows how to pick 'em!

Now this is a classic done by B-Real, Sen Dawg & DJ Muggs! Growing up in South Gate, CA just east of Watts, CA and north of Lynwood, CA, Cypress Hill were the 1st Latino Gangsta Rap group to hit national sucess with their 1st album reaching out to the Afro-Hispanic crouds mostly, then in 1993 Cypress Hill dropped Black Sunday with the Stoner Hit "Insane In The Brain" which Cypress Hill's newer crouds were White-Suburbanites & fans of Alternative Rock music.

I don't care who you are, this is still Cypress Hill's best Album from 1-14, Man!

I listened to this Cd for countless months with my friends back in 1993. I was completely hooked the grooves were cool as was the rappin' These guys deserve more acknowledgement. Their isn't a bad tune here at all. Im not a rap fan but if u had to get just 2 rap cd's make it this and Ice Cube's The Predator. Favs include I wanna Get High,Insane in the Brain,Lick A Shot,as well as the classic Hits From The Bong.

Although Cypress Hill is as laid back as they portray themselves to be, they can very much bring color, ingenuity and astonishing lyrics. From tracks like 'I Want to Get High' to 'Insane in the Membrane', this is one of the best rap albums in the past two decades.

This team of three originated from latin poetry in the mid-80s to a hardcore rap format. Influenced by the likes of Wu Tang and Public Enemy, Cypress Hill have managed to make many hits, and along the line influence Naughty By Nature, Redman and Dialated People. This album is exceptional in the sense that the lyrics are humorous, factual, powerful and poetic.

This group is legendary for their constant refrence to weed; a source that potentially helped them become one of the most popular artists in rap. This is a five-star album - enjoyable and a timeless classic.

Back when this was released in 1993 there was other dope rappers droppin' tight records, Dr Dre "The Chronic", Wu tang "Enter the Wu tang", Snoop Dogg "Doggystyle" and also this Black Sunday, it is there second album and in my opinion is better than the first which was released in 91'. After this album Cypress started to fall (even though Cypress Hill 3: Temple of Boom was good) until they are where they are now, releasing weak albums for a rock audience and not appealing to hip hop fans. But this is not that and is pure hip hop.

B-real is a talented rapper and his raps are tight, Sen Dog is also goodon this CD and of course DJ Muggs does some dope producing.

The whole album is great but there is some standout tracks "Insane in the Brain" which was a hip hop classic. "I ain't goin' out like that" is a great song with a tight beat by Muggs also check "Hits from the Bong" "3 Lil Putos" "When the sh-t goes down" and "Lick a Shot"

If you don't own this classic buy it now cause you wont regret it.

When I first heard Cypress Hill's music I was amazed that I actually enjoyed it. Not only that, I loved it. As a metal fan, when rap appeals to me, it's something close to a small miracle. Cypress Hill has a catchy beat with incredible lyrics, however like metal they use their fair share of curses and "swear words" so if you're not into that, you're probably not reading my review right now. But anyway even if you're not a rap fan you should try Cypress Hill because at worst it's a small reprieve from today's rap about bling-bling, Escalades, and all that other "good" stuff.

This album is soooooooo good! I got this album back when I was 18 and a total stoner, this was the soundtrack to many, many, and I mean many great nights buy this album even if your not a stoner it will make your life way better on the way to work if anything.