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

Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe
Studio album by Fishbone
Released May 23, 1993 (1993-05-23)
Recorded One on One Studios
Genre Funk metal
Ska punk
Alternative metal
Length 64:22
Label Columbia
Producer Terry Date, Fishbone
Fishbone chronology
The Reality of My Surroundings
(1991)		 Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe
(1993)		 Chim Chim's Badass Revenge
(1996)
Singles from Give a Monkey a Brain...
  1. "Swim"
    Released: 1993
  2. "Unyielding Conditioning"
    Released: 1993
  3. "Servitude"
    Released: 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]
Entertainment Weekly B+[3]
Robert Christgau [4]
Piero Scaruffi [5]

Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe is the fourth full-length album from alternative rock band Fishbone. It is the last album to feature all six original members, as guitarist Kendall Jones left the band a few months after the album's release.

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. In 1999, the album was featured in The A.V. Club's list of the "Least Essential Albums of the '90s".[6]

A poster of the album can briefly be seen on the wall in a garage after 5.44 minute during the sixth episode of the first season of the TV series Six Feet Under.

The title is a quotation from the discordian religious text Principia Discordia.

Contents

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
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

Accolades

Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
1996 Visions Germany "The Best Albums 1991-96" * [7]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Personnel

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1993 The Billboard 200 99

References

  1. ^ Prato, Greg. "Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe Review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r170216. Retrieved 28 April 2011. 
  2. ^ Brackett, Nathan. "Fishbone". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 298, cited March 31, 2010
  3. ^ Bernard, James (May 1993). "Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe". Entertainment Weekly. p. 66. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,306705,00.html. Retrieved 28 April 2011. 
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Fishbone Review". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1929. Retrieved 28 April 2011. 
  5. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Fishbone Review" (in Italian). pieroscaruffi.com. http://www.scaruffi.com/vol5/fishbone.html#give. Retrieved 28 April 2011. 
  6. ^ Phipps, Keith; Rabin, Nathan; Thompson, Stephen (December 22, 1999). "Least Essential Albums of the '90s". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/content/node/24539. Retrieved 2008-03-28. 
  7. ^ "Visions - The Best Albums 1991-96". Visions. http://www.poplist.de/poplist.php?l=472. Retrieved 2010-01-18. 
Fishbone
Angelo Moore • "Dirty" Walter Kibby • Rocky George • Dre Gipson • Jay Armant •John Norwood Fisher • John Steward
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Fishbone 101 • The Essential Fishbone
Extended plays
Singles
"Fishbone|? (Modern Industry)" • "Party at Ground Zero" • "When Problems Arise" • "Freddie's Dead" • "He's a Flyguy" • "Ma and Pa" • "Fight the Youth" • "Everyday Sunshine" • "Sunless Saturday" • "Swim" • "Unyielding Conditioning" • "Servitude" • "Alcoholic" • "The Suffering"
Video releases