title: Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe
text: # Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe
  
  Professional ratings :
  
  | Review scores ||
  | - | - |
  | Source | Rating |
  | AllMusic | |
  | Robert Christgau | |
  | Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
  | Rolling Stone | |
  
  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.
  
  ## Personnel
  
  ### Fishbone
  
  * Angelo Moore – saxophone, vocals
  * Walter A. Kibby II – trumpet, vocals
  * Kendall Jones – lead guitar, vocals
  * Chris Dowd – keyboards, trombone, vocals
  * John Bigham – guitar, keyboards
  * John Norwood Fisher – bass, vocals
  * Philip "Fish" Fisher – drums
  
  ### Additional personnel
  
  * Kristen Vigard – background vocals
  * Branford Marsalis – saxophone on "Drunk Skitzo"
  
  ## Accolades
  
  | Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1996 | Visions | Germany | "The Best Albums 1991–96" | * |
  | "*" denotes an unordered list. ||||||
  
  ## Charts
  
  Album - Billboard (North America)
  
  | Year | Chart | Position |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1993 | Billboard 200 | 99 |
  