After the critical and commercial success of their 1991 tour de force The Reality of My Surroundings, you'd think that it would smooth sailing for the many members of Fishbone -- not quite.
Despite the fact that the band was viewed by fans as a close-knit family, problems were brewing behind the scenes.
Depending on who you believed, founding guitarist Kendall Jones was either growing disenchanted with the band's musical direction or he was brainwashed by a cult.
Either way, he quit the band immediately after the release for 1993's lackluster Give a Monkey a Brain.
While the funk/punk/ska sound on earlier albums was still evident here and there, this is considered Fishbone's heavy metal album by longtime fans.
The witty humor and thought-provoking songwriting had been lost and replaced with such predictable fare as the grunge-sounding "Swim," and such woefully off-the-mark compositions as "The Warmth of Your Breath" and "Drunk Skitzo." While a few songs were decent ("Unyielding Conditioning," and "No Fear"), the album was a severe letdown.
What could have been Fishbone's ultimate breakthrough nearly turned out to be a career killer.
After the ensuing tour wrapped up, keyboardist Chris Dowd left as well, and Columbia dropped the band.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SwimJohn Bigham | Fishbone | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | ServitudeKendall Jones | Fishbone | Play | 05:25 | 12 MB | 40 MB |
| 3 | Black FlowersChris Dowd, Christopher Dowd | Fishbone | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 39 MB |
| 4 | Properties of Propaganda (Fuk This Shit on Up)John Norwood Fisher | Fishbone | Play | 05:24 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 5 | The Warmth of Your BreathJohn Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore | Fishbone | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 6 | Lemon MeringueJohn Norwood Fisher, W. Kibby | Fishbone | Play | 06:12 | 14 MB | 44 MB |
| 7 | They All Have Abandoned Their HopesChris Dowd, John Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore | Fishbone | Play | 05:02 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 8 | End the ReignKendall Jones | Fishbone | Play | 05:24 | 12 MB | 39 MB |
| 9 | Drunk SkitzoJohn Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore | Fishbone | Play | 05:15 | 12 MB | 35 MB |
| 10 | No FearJohn Bigham | Fishbone | Play | 06:02 | 13 MB | 45 MB |
| 11 | Nutt MegalomaniacJohn Norwood Fisher | Fishbone | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 39 MB |
| 12 | Unyielding Conditioning | Fishbone | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 64 mins | 148 MB | |||||
| 64 mins | 464 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Bigham | Composer |
| 2 | Vicki Calhoun | Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Aklia Chin | Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Serf Congeicao | Handclapping |
| 5 | Donald Cully | Clapping, Handclapping |
| 6 | Terry Date | Engineer, Producer |
| 7 | N'Dea Davenport | Vocals |
| 8 | Craig Doubet | Mixing Assistant |
| 9 | Chris Dowd | Composer |
| 10 | Christopher Dowd | Composer |
| 11 | Doug Erb | Illustrations |
| 12 | Fishbone | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 13 | John Norwood Fisher | Composer |
| 14 | Kendall Jones | Composer |
| 15 | W. Kibby | Composer |
| 16 | Jared Levine | Production Coordination |
| 17 | Michael Llewellyn | Photography |
| 18 | Branford Marsalis | Guest Artist, Saxophone |
| 19 | Angela Mattioli | Composer's Assistant |
| 20 | Mary Maurer | Art Direction, Special Effects |
| 21 | Angelo Moore | Composer |
| 22 | Bill Nelson | Arranger, Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Billy "Bass" Nelson | Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Aklia Shin | Vocals (Background) |
| 25 | Kristen Vigard | Vocals (Background) |
| 26 | Andy Wallace | Mixing |
| 27 | Damon Wayans | Saxophone |
| 28 | Howie Weinberg | Mastering |
| 29 | Ulrich Wild | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |