Some great lyricism and songs, but compared to the giants of the '90s, Ras doesn't have a truly captivating mic presence or natural flow and more to the point is that the beats aren't good enough for me to love this either. It's probably one of those albums that requires lots of listens to really grow on you. Best Tracks: On Earth as It Is..., Anything Goes, Drama

A solid album which had been on my 'to listen to' list for a long time, but nothing blows me away including the beats and the rappers. They don't have the presence, distinction, and real originality of say Outkast's two emcees for example, and a distinctive original voice is a fairly important part of enjoying a rap album for me. Lyrically, it is fairly distinctive particularly for southern rap, but if I'm not loving the beats and rappers they are the last focus and not the reason you listen to an album. Best Tracks: Thought Process, I Didn't Ask to Come, The Day After

Up to the release of this album, I think this is Paris' weakest. Many of the beats are a lil lackluster, lacking the funk or 'bump-ness' of his previous material. The beats are possibly closer to his earlier stuff than the funk-influenced last couple of albums. It's still all solid with meaningful lyrics as Paris always spits but there is less breathtaking stuff here. Best Tracks: Field Nigga Boogie, Freedom, Ain't No Love, What Would You Do?, Freedom [the Last Cell Remix]

This album starts off pretty well with the first few tracks making for a good listen. The production is good and B-Real's unique voice flows well. From there, there is nothing brilliant or too poor but it does drop off in the second half with many of them just being okay songs. I can't say I will play this too often after a listen or two and fans can probably find some better Cypress Hill material if they are in the need for B-Real vocals. Best Tracks: Smoke N Mirrors, Gangsta Music, Don't Ya Dare Laugh, Stack'n Paper

Most of what's on offer here is pretty good. 'The One' is the only one I'd skip straight away due to the beat. The rest of them have qualities to 'em. I don't think the beats are as bad as people are saying overall either. Tracks 12 to 14 are particularly good with a not so hardcore hip hop feel to them as the majority of the album. Overall, the main issue I have with this album is that if you're making a hip hop supergroup you want artists that are quite different vocally. I don't think you get that with these four guys, they sound too similar. It's not like it's Nas and AZ together, or Bun and Pimp C who sound completely different. Nevertheless, track for track, apart from 'Cuckoo' which is annoying, (when they say "Cuckooooo"), 'Salute' which is boring, and as mentioned 'The One' being one to skip, the rest of the tracks are good. Best Tracks: Sound Off, Lyrical Murderers, Not Tonight, Pray, Cut You Loose, Raindrops