Still Smokin

Still Smokin' is a comprehensive collection of promos from hip- hop's "vatos locos," Cypress Hill, spanning their 10-year, seven-album career. Following a brace of songs recorded live at San Francisco's Fillmore auditorium, this selection settles into a tried and tested formula for half of its running time, using ghetto-real grainy footage of the moody trio stalking inner city streets. "When the Ship Goes Down" branches out into conceptual territory with a three-minute epic concerning internecine gang warfare that breaks up the band's performance. Set in a derelict warehouse, the hardcore romp of "Can't Get the Best of Me" is reminiscent of Fight Club's basement brawls. The set ends with Cypress Hill's most imaginative video to date, the hallucinogenic horror of "Puppet Master." In an American gothic set, guest star Dr. Dre is done up like a Papal Grim Reaper while the gold-painted and prosthetically enhanced B-Real makes like the Devil. --Chris Campion, Amazon.co.uk