Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 23, 1993 | |||
Recorded | One on One (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 64:44 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Terry Date, Fishbone | |||
Fishbone chronology | ||||
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Singles from Give a Monkey a Brain... | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [3] |
Rolling Stone | [4] |
Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe is the fourth studio album by American rock band Fishbone. It was the last album to feature all six original members, as guitarist Kendall Jones left the band a few months after the album's release, and keyboardist/trombonist Chris Dowd would leave the next year.
It is Fishbone's heaviest album, with the band focusing on heavy metal without any trace of their trademark horn section until the fourth song, the ska-infused "Unyielding Conditioning". Saxophonist Branford Marsalis makes an appearance on the manic "Drunk Skitzo", and the ending of "Swim" includes excerpts of a Damon Wayans stand-up routine about his experience at a Fishbone concert.
Shortly after the release of the album, the band toured as part of the third annual Lollapalooza festival, but was dropped by Sony Records the following year.
The title is a quotation from the discordian religious text Principia Discordia .[ citation needed ]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Swim" | John Bigham | 4:42 |
2. | "Servitude" | Kendall Jones | 5:20 |
3. | "Black Flowers" | Chris Dowd | 5:46 |
4. | "Unyielding Conditioning" | Kendall Jones | 4:45 |
5. | "Properties of Propaganda (Fuk This Shit On Up)" | John Norwood Fisher | 5:22 |
6. | "The Warmth of Your Breath" | John Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore | 4:55 |
7. | "Lemon Meringue" | John Norwood Fisher | 6:10 |
8. | "They All Have Abandoned Their Hopes" | John Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore, Chris Dowd | 4:58 |
9. | "End the Reign" | Kendall Jones | 5:23 |
10. | "Drunk Skitzo" | Angelo Moore, John Norwood Fisher | 5:17 |
11. | "No Fear" | John Bigham | 6:01 |
12. | "Nutt Megalomaniac" | John Norwood Fisher | 5:43 |
Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank | |
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1996 | Visions | Germany | "The Best Albums 1991–96" | * | [5] |
"*" denotes an unordered list. |
Album - Billboard (North America)
Year | Chart | Position |
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1993 | Billboard 200 | 99 |
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