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
ReleasedMay 23, 1993 (1993-05-23)
RecordedOne on One (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length64:44
LabelColumbia
ProducerTerry 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"
  2. "Unyielding Conditioning"
    Released: 1993
  3. "Servitude"
    Released: 1993
  4. "Black Flowers"
    Released: 1993
  5. "No Fear"
    Released: 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau(dud)[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
Rolling Stone[2]

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, before being dropped by Sony Records the following year.

The title is a quotation from the discordian religious text Principia Discordia.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b c d e Prato, Greg. "Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 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. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Fishbone Review". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved April 28, 2011.