Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe

❤️

Eclectic, weird. Part funk, part metal. Angelo is on fire here, very original. There will never be another group like Fishbone, a true original.

Fishbone hit it big two years earlier with The Reality of My Surroundings, and looked poised to strike again with Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe in 1993. However, guitarist Kendall Jones, reportedly suffering from mental instability, quit the group and joined a religious cult. The bad vibes bassist John Norwood Fisher got for his attempted kidnapping trial after he tracked down Jones prompted Columbia Records to not promote this album at all, leaving it to "Swim" in uncharted territory with fans. It peaked at only #99, and Fishbone lost what had taken so long to gain. They lost another member, keyboardist Chris Dowd, after the tour, again taking a blow. Personally, I love this album; it's my second favorite behind Reality! "Swim" is an all-out jam, "Properties of Propaganda" is funky, "End the Reign" is dark and foreboding, "Drunk Skitzo" is manic and mind-boggling, and all the other tracks ("Servitude", "Unyielding Conditioning", etc.) are great! I originally found this at a library; having just gotten into Fishbone, I rented this album and ripped it onto my computer. After giving it seldom a listen at first, I gave it a few more and got hooked! Sadly, what could've Fishbone's coming of age turned into a near-career killer...

If your not a fan or are unable to open your mind to pure, awesome,creative music genius, then you might not appreciate this album or this band. This band is one of my all time favorites and to see them live is a memory you'll never forget. I liked Fishbone before but after this album I was blown away and fell in love with their music.

From beginning to end this album is compositionally inspiring and tells a story. It's an ALBUM in the true sense of the word...a lost art form these days.

Still my favorite Fishbone CD. Still a great band to see live!

The first time i heard the opening guitar riff of "Servitude" i was blown away. This album just has a different feel from the rest of Fishbone's work and each song is a classic. Dont get me wrong, i love the old stuff, but this album will always be my favorite.

...and very hard to get into. For me, it took having the album for six months for me to realize how truly great the album really is. Swim didnt make sense to me at first; it seemed completely at odds with even the heavier songs on the album. Its taken me awhile, but I can appreciate this song for what it is: a heavy metal party song, and I love every minute of it. I really liked servitude from the first time that I heeard it. It has a great messeage and a great riff. Black Flowers is very dynamic. It starts fairly quiet, bursts into some great riffing, becomes all dramatic and cool, and explodes with some intense singing by C.Dowd. Unyielding Conditioning is a great song that I liked after hearing it once. Probably one of their best songs on the cd. Properties of Propaganda was a hard song for me to get into because of how impenetrable the production is. Its hard to tell whats what, and the bass is completely buried half the time. I really like to attitude in the song, though, and Walts singing is perfect for the song. Warmth of Your Breath is a really strange song, but I find it stuck in my head all the time. Lemon Meringue is special not just because of how great of a song it is, but also because Billy "Bass" Nelson (of Funkadelic) helped with the backing vocals and (I think) the arrangement. Funky as all hell. They All Have Abandoned Their Hopes is a very ominous song. Its a reggae song, but it has this wierd vibe that puts tension into it. Its very effective, and one of my favorites. End the Reign is a heavy song with a great riff (as all of them seem to be). Drunk Skitzo is somewhat of a novelty, but the feelings of confusion and insanity are palpable throughout. Its a fun song. No Fear is amazing. Great intrumentation, great melodies, great lyrics, greatness. Nutt Megalomaniac is as funky as Lemon, but much more raw. My only complaint is that they didnt come up with some sort of dirtyyy horn riff to launch the song into the stratosphere. A great album, that I have really grown to respect and appreciate over time.

Fishbone really breaks their own style with this one, and the result is an amazing album. Black Flowers sounds absolutely nothing like most of their other songs. I didn't even realize it was them till i got this album (i heard it beforehand). just a great album. well worth the money.