The sound of this album is roughly equivalent to the sound of each song in English, mostly. Because of the problems of translating between the two languages, there are often some beats which should (or, in the English versions, do) have lyrics on them or lyrics without beats - however the "homeless syllble syndrome", as a friend christened it - is hardly terminal.

The thing which is particularly interesting for students of cross-cultural linguistics is how rapping in a different language really puts a different tone on a familiar track. "How I Could Just Kill A Man" becomes a lot more menacing when performed in Spanish, while the emphasis on "Insane In The Brain" changes from the infamous sample to the elastic-tongued rapping when the song becomes "Loco En El Coco". In a purely subjective sense, it is very entertaining to listen to Real and Sen rapping "Medio loco en el coco/ido de la mente" over the "Insane" sample - although the song does lose the "Don't you know I'm loco?" intro and the sampled outro.

One rather bored afternoon I had the brainwave of translating these Spanish lyrics into English. I am still unsure whether it was due to Babelfish's inability to understand idiom or whether that is actually what the words were, but it is now almost impossible to take "Loco En El Coco" seriously again. This is due to the comic frequency of a word translated as "frog" in the version given to me by Babelfish. I still can't quite work out what the word replaced in the English version.

One of the problems with Cypress Hill is that their albums generally have a fair number of tracks on which it is clear that B-Real, Sen and co didn't work for enough time. Here it can be seen again, there are some tracks (especially the ones written especially for the album) which do have a distinct sound of not having been really taken notice of.

The only other downside for me on this album is the fact that my copy of the CD doesn't work on my CD player - so I have to borrow my parents' to enjoy the idiosyncratic delights of this album. This is made up by the fun of playing "Loco" at a party and being told to take it off - before the listener's face gets a puzzled expression at the reams of Spanish coming out of the speakers.

On the whole, a great CD for Cypress Hill fans (especially those who speak Spanish) or fans of Spanish music. If you want a good fun album which is certainly something different, this is the way to go.


Cool idea   May 17, 2000
Christopher Ware (Fremont, CA United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Now THAT was an idea: "Let's make a greatest hits album, but let's redo all the songs en espanol!" I have always loved the Hill's canciones en espanol, especially Tres Equis and Latin Lingo from their first album.

If you listen carefully (and know some Spanish), you can tell that some of the lyrics had to be changed around in order to have the same meaning. Unfortunately, the songs that were translated into Spanish from English didn't seem to be as finely crafted as the ones that were originally written in Spanish (check out Siempre Peligroso). Now, I can't understand a lot of what they're rapping, but I can sense that some of the lyrics had to be compressed in order to fit in with the music. Unfortunately, this gives a different lyrical tempo to some of the songs and seems to change them. Not that this is entirely bad...it just takes a little getting used to if you've listened to the original versions enough to have the tempo down in your mind.

All in all, a very impressive album. I'd love to see an entire album of new songs written entirely en espanol.


CYPRESS OPENS MY MIND.   December 8, 1999
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

After listening to this CD I was blown away. I had gained a greater appreciation for spanish music. In fact this new Cypress has inspired me to learn spanish. I feel like my mind is more open to try different music now. Thank you Cypress Hill for opening my eyes and my mind.


ASI SE HACE!   December 10, 1999
cypressplay hereagain (Raleigh, North Carolina)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

Simply said, Cypress fans HAVE to buy this album. Unlike typical Greatest Hits albums, the English->Spanish translation necessitates a different interpretation to convey their sentiment. Translating is harder than it seems and this album could (and should) be held up as a standard to all bilingual artists. It is obvious that Cypress, Mellow Man Ace, Jacken, Duke and Fermin IV put a lot of work into it. Often a lot of attention is paid to a more dance-oriented sound. Hopefully, this album will influence future artists and inspire a bit more diversity. Los Grandes Exitos puts CH ahead of all others as far as rhyming in Spanish is concerned.


LATINO LINGO   December 31, 1999
EMMANUEL (TIBAS, COSTA RICA)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful

Este nuevo disco de cypress es una recopilacion de sus grandes exitos en espanol, cabe destacar que la transferencia lirico-vocal del ingles al castellano esta muy bien conseguida por parte de BREAL y SENDOG. Este disco contiene un tema original junto con FERMIN IV de CONTROL MACHETE "SIEMPRE PELIGROSO" con el cual nos demuestran que este grupo puede producir un album original en esta lengua.