I kind of slept on this joint when it first dropped back in 1998, heard a few tracks & seen some music videos, but didn`t hear their entire 4th album. So when my homie RuSTy KNuCKLeS offered to lend it to me I decided to give it a spin. Overall it`s a decent listen, Cheech & Chong even make a lil` cameo appearance in the skits.....LoL, the beats are handled by DJ Muggs & he does a great job supplying the backdrops for B-Real & Sen Dog`s hazy smoke~laced lyrics...
After giving the album a good listen it`s safe to say that the first half of it will really satisfy ya especially if you dug Cypress Hill`s first few albums. They spark things off with "Looking Through The Eye Of A Pig", B-Real does a great job with the lyrics. He really takes the listener on a journey, you feel the self loathing, fear & paranoia of a crooked~ass cop workin` the beat. It kind of reminded me of "Bad Lieutenant", you know the 1992 movie with Harvey Keitel...
There`s a good number of fast~paced, aggressive songs on the album like "Checkmate", "Riotstarter" & "Nothin` To Lose". The beats remind me of Bomb Squad production from the early 1990`s, Muggs did a great job on `em! Of course there`s some good ol` Weed anthems for the smokers out there, "Dr. Greenthumb" (peep the video here) & "High Times"...
Out of the 2 tracks I DiG "Dr. Greenthumb" more, but "High Times" is still a decent track. I just like the beat on "Dr. Greenthumb" more, it`s nice & hazy. It`s also got a comical lil` info~mercial that happens just before the track begins. Cypress Hill affiliates Chace Infinite & Barron Ricks make a few appearance on the album, as well as West Coast veteran MC Eiht...
Barron Ricks has a good cameo on the album though, he`s featured on 5 tracks in total. Aside from his affiliation with Cypress Hill I don`t really know anything about him. He has sort of a Prodigy from Mobb Deep vibe, but less gun~talk & he`s more on the battle rappin` tip. The only downside is that he doesn`t really switch things up too much so it`s kind of boring after a while. Chace Infinite however rips the hell outta "Feature Presentation", in my opinion he outshines everyone else that`s on the track with him...
There`s a few tracks on here that are so~so to me, "Steel Magnolias" & "Dead Men Tell No Tales", but the last track "Lightning Strikes" is the only track that I didn`t like. It`s probably the Limp Bizkit~vibe, I just couldn`t really get into it. However "Tequila Sunrise" (Peep the video here) the album`s first single, is some smooth Latin DoPeNeSS! Overall "IV" is a solid listen, not quite as CLaSSiC as their first 2 albums, but definitely worth a listen so go on & check it out...
Label: Ruffhouse
Released: 1998
1. Looking Through The Eye Of A Pig
2. Checkmate
3. From The Window Of My Room
4. Prelude To A Come Up {ft. MC Eiht}
5. Riot Starter
6. Audio X {ft. Barron Ricks}
7. Steel Magnolia {ft. Barron Ricks}
8. I Remember That Freak Bitch (From The Club) {ft. Barron Ricks}/ Interlude Pt. 2
9. (Goin` All Out) Nothin` To Lose
10. Tequila Sunrise {ft. Barron Ricks}
11. Dead Men Tell No Tales
12. Feature Presentation {ft. Barron Ricks & Chace Infinite}
13. Dr. Greenthumb
14. 16 Men Till There`s No Men Left
15. High Times
16. Clash Of The Titans/ Dust
17. Lightning Strikes
N`JoY...
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