CYPRESS HILL Vinilo y CD

Review: Some critics have called Cypress Hill's Back in Black their best album in 25 years. While this is a bold claim, it has some merit - at least to those who view the cannabis-obsessed Los Angeles crew's early-to-mid-'90s work as the artistic peak of their career. A big part of the allure of Back in Black is Black Milk's production, which in reaching for crunchy snares, classic hip-hop breaks and killer basslines doffs a cap to the group's gangsta-rap era releases. Lyrically, they're at their acerbic and dextrous best, too, matching updated raps on legalized weed with flows that take aim at other issues surrounding personal freedom and politics.