Customer Rating:  
Summary: Misunderstood near-masterpiece
Comment: Don't let the questionable mastering, the metaphorical/satirical scatology, and a couple of clunkers (one with Busta 'rapping') put you off -- if you are ready for this auditory enema, you'll be left with your jaw on the floor. An 'earful of jaw' and then some...
FB said goodbye to two founding members and comes up cooking the skapunkfunk bouillabaise (seasoned with some ragtime and Nawlins, believe it or not) with even more attitude than before. Not to be missed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not worth the $$ I paid...and I bought a used copy!!
Comment: I LOVE Fishbone but......Sorry folks...how can ANY true Fishbone fan give this 4 or 5 stars?!?! I would never say it sucks but after the absolute brilliance of the 3 albums that came before it...I'm tempted!!!
It always did seem like Fishbone was actually 2 bands that got together to jam and, after Kendall Jones and Chris Dowd left, I guess this is what we were left with!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A boring album that doesn't even have the novelty of being Punk or badly-produced
Comment: This isn't a bad album per se, but when compared by previous Fishbone albums, Chim Chim falls flat on its face. My favorite song on the album is "Alcoholic," which I later found out the band had been playing live since 1985. No wonder that was the best song. My main beef with this record is the lack of solos and instrumental breaks in the songs. Plus, there are way too many lyrics in the songs, which drag on forever. Aside from "Alcoholic," the rest of the songs are unmemorable, except for "Riot," which is a hardcore-esque throwaway song (nice way to alienate white listeners, guys). Some people here have said this album has an underproduced Punk feel, which is one of the falsest things I've ever seen written about a Fishbone album. Aside from the gimmick song "Riot," this album is a meandering pot-infused Rock and R&B album. It doesn't even have the novelty of being badly-produced.
Get any Fishbone album before this one. I suggest their self-titled debut, which is their most consistent record (all the songs are great). The rest of Fishbone's albums from In Your Face up 'til Give a Money a Brain are a mixed bag; there are a few amazing songs alongside many lackluster ones. Aside from one good song, the only badass thing Chim Chim boasts is some awesome album artwork, so when you sell this CD to a friend for a nickel, be sure to keep the inlay.
Customer Rating:
Summary: ONE MONKEY DON'T STOP NO SHOW
Comment: Comically angry, abrasive, and a bit cluttered "Fishbone" album is not without the cool whimsey, genuine social comment, and tight ska-rock-soul musical excellence that is Fishbone, a band that gets more respect than it does recognition for their powerhouse rocking assault on the ears and for staying true to their original concept; great music and something philosophical about a fishbone. I love the hard rock edge, the ska horns, and Angelo Moore's political, wild and crazy guy poet's rants and raves. Here we have Chim Chim the monkey, a metaphorical Fishbone, joyfully lashing out at social disorder, white rock and roll guys (with tvs in their ears and eyes), the pressure to hip-hop, and happy-go-lucky substance abuse; the song "Alcoholic" really sounds like a walk from the bar to the alley and back to the bar. Fishbone create a real homey, family insider feeling for the listener, one feels a part of this not hip-hop but not without bop alternative musical ensemble. Chim Chim, however, like a pet monkey gone violently beserk, needs a few sessions in anger management as some of these songs go on just a bit too long, like Angelo Moore is really, really mad about something.
Customer Rating:
Summary: CHIM CHIM'S BAD@SS REVENGE (1996)
Comment: The problem with this album wasn't Fishbone's. It was mine, and mine alone. And when I finally understood and got past that problem, this album became one of the best Fishbone albums they released, despite sound quality or diminished band members.
My disappointment came first with opening up the Cd on day of release, and finding two members of the band missing, Kendall Jones and Chris Dowd. It truly made my heart sink, because Fishbone up until that point had retained all its original members for more than 10 years. And often, as is the case, when people start jumping ship, it means the boat is sinking. Well, at least that's the purported case with rats, I've never been on a ship to know if it's true. This original disappointment persuaded me to not give the album a chance, and it was a mistake that has been corrected. It took me some years to do, but I get this album now, and everything that's being said on it. It's nearest equivalent in overall message is 1991's The Reality of My Surroundings.
The 1996 Chim Chim Fishbone were: Angelo Moore (Vocals / Sax), Walter Kibby II (Vocals / Trumpet), John Bigham (Guitar - before Fishbone he was with Miles Davis), and brothers Phil Fisher `'Fish'' (Drums), and Norwood Fisher (Bass / Vocals). All songs were credited to Fishbone as a whole for the first time, apart from `Pre Nut' and `Chim Chim's Bad@ass Revenge co-written with executive producer Dallas Austin.
CHIM CHIM is an album that does have to be taken song by song, track by track, because it is worthy of any description of its contents.
Intro -
`'It's the coming of the Digital Freak Swing Vs. Ape Kills Master. If you try you will catch on''. Spoken piece announced by a security alert horn. The aim and purpose of Fishbone's Chim Chim is documented before you even hear one song.
Chim Chim's Bad@ss Revenge -
`'Running the stop sign to get your peace of mind'' - Opens like a cowboy's lament, while Angelo Moore welcomes you to the proceedings like an old, irritable drunk on stage. Which then goes into kickstart jump up thrash metal. Not as stereo as it could be, the rest of the album doesn't sound like this. Maybe that was the plan. The bass, and guitars are the equivalent of Mono, the drums are in Stereo. Why? Who knows. Chim Chim knows.
In The Cube -
`'With no question, and no testin' of no one's wits or individuality'' - The 8 minute 32 second slow Ska / Jazz / Funk workout. Points out the error of all of our ways, even when our intentions are good.
Beergut -
`'But the gut snuck up while he wasn't lookin'' - Dedicated to the beerdrinker and hellraiser. Pure chaos all the way through, but what happens at the end of this song as Fishbone becomes a musical train is quite phenomenal. That train would speed past the station so fast, you'd have no hope of catching it. `'Next stop - Corn Liquor, Wines and Spirits.''
Interlude 1 - Band Introduction and History of Fishbone to date. Jawbone solo!
Psychologically Overcast -
`'Cause the clouds are in your mind'' - Features Busta Rhymes. Should have been the single, if one ever were to be released. Funk Metal.
Alcoholic -
`'With an Eight for a Chaser'' - Dedicated to the Winos, Junkies and Drunks, opens with Reggae, slips into Punk Ska, with a brief second of Funk. Absolutely as funny as Angelo found it halfway through.
Love ... Hate -
`'Love and Hate too close for most but Revenge can make it even'' - Opens with Swing Metal Blues, into Ska. Probably the album's defining piece, certainly one of its high watermarks. 6.44m of pleasure.
Interlude 2 - Update of the Chim Chim story.
Riot -
`'Treat your customer crazy, they gonna act crazy'' - Total thrash punk. Reasons for riot.
Monkey Di©k -
`'Get me soap and water'' - Frenetic, crazy chaos blues at 90mph, until the chorus. This is the song that woke me up to how good this album actually was. I heard everything differently, and I understood what was going on, once I got past my own blockade. Includes the first use of the Theremin on a Fishbone album. Lev Sergeivitch Termen who invented it in 1917, would be proud. I think? It was used on a song called what???
Sourpuss -
`'You got that clench jaw scrunched snawz look'' - The music is actually sour. And that is very hard thing to do, actually making the music reflect the topic matter. Like sucking a lime for 7 minutes and 13 seconds. Minnie The Moocher all frowned out til it gets funked up at the end.
'Rock Star -
`'Wreck your hotel room, catch a Lear Jet, stay in debt. Manic depressed.'' - A brutal indictment on racism and ego in the music industry, and what Fishbone encountered trying to release their music to the mass. Enters like the Fishbone train that left the station in `Beergut', going 100 miles per hour.
Pre Nut -
Precursor to the final track. Da' Blues, with Soul.
Nutmeg -
`'The time is now for you to be the beast'' - Opens like a bizarre Cecil B. DeMille epic he never filmed, if he had also acknowledged there aren't many Caucasian people, if at all, hanging around ancient Mesopotamia. Twisted Snake Charming Metal. Fish, their drummer, has his say about the Nutmeg in the finale.
This album stands as a document and diary of one of America's most important bands, who mixed almost 100 years of African-American musical culture into one form, called Fishbone. Purchase the album just to say `I own a Fishbone album'.
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