Fishbone's standard careening eclecticism is refined on
Give a Monkey a Brain. Instead of freely flowing between different styles, as they did on
The Reality of My Surroundings, the band's sound is reigned in (presumably in an attempt to make
Fishbone palatable for the mainstream), making the album impressively diverse but frustrating; they never cut loose like they do in almost all of their concerts. Nevertheless, there's enough good material here to make it worthwhile for dedicated fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine