The Reality of My Surroundings

The Reality of My Surroundings is the third full-length album by Fishbone, released on April 23, 1991. It was the first Fishbone album to include former Miles Davis music director John Bigham (guitar, keyboards), who joined in 1989 during the Truth and Soul tour.

Album information

Fishbone took the rest of 1989 off before beginning to write songs for the follow-up to Truth and Soul. The project was plagued by production delays until November 1990, when the band entered Ocean Way Recording, booking two months of studio time in which to record the album. Fishbone, David Kahne and Dave Jerden produced the album, which includes the singles, "Fight the Youth", "Everyday Sunshine" and "Sunless Saturday".

The album's title comes from a line in track 3, "So Many Millions", which reads "I cannot get over legitimately, the Reality of My Surroundings do not point to the sky".

Packaging

The CD cover shows only John Norwood Fisher, with a larger picture of the band sitting in a living room being visible when the CD cover is unfolded. The vinyl version shows the full band's living-room portrait, spanning both sides of the outer gatefold cover.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[3]

With this album, Fishbone obtained critical and commercial success with a ranking of No. 49 on the Billboard 200 on May 18, 1991. The album is widely considered by fans and critics as the creative peak of the band. Fishbone experienced a large growth in concert tickets and record sales during this period, making two memorable television appearances: performing "Sunless Saturday" and "Everyday Sunshine" on Saturday Night Live, and "Everyday Sunshine" on The Arsenio Hall Show. (The SNL performance of "Sunless Saturday" has been re-edited in reruns. The original television broadcast showed a brief glimpse of Angelo Moore doing a backflip on stage. The re-edited version simply switches the camera angle, making it possible to see the full flip right after signaling "Special K" (Kendall Jones) to do his guitar solo.)

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Fight the Youth"	John Norwood Fisher, Philip Fisher, Kendall Jones	5:01
2.	"If I Were A...I'd"	Chris Dowd, Angelo Moore	0:54
3.	"So Many Millions"	J. N. Fisher, Moore	5:50
4.	"Asswhippin'"	John Bigham, Dowd, J. N. Fisher, P. Fisher, Jones, Walter A. Kibby II, Moore	0:40
5.	"Housework"	J. N. Fisher, P. Fisher, Jones, Kibby, Moore	4:46
6.	"Death March"	Dowd, Moore	0:34
7.	"Behavior Control Technician"	J. N. Fisher, P. Fisher	3:09
8.	"If I Were A...I'd"	Dowd, Moore	0:29
9.	"Pressure"	Jones, Moore	4:47
10.	"Junkies Prayer"	Dowd, J. N. Fisher, Jones, Moore, Byron West	3:01
11.	"Pray to the Junkiemaker"	Dowd, Moore	4:03
12.	"Everyday Sunshine"	Dowd, Moore	4:57
13.	"If I Were A...I'd"	Dowd, Moore	0:29
14.	"Naz-Tee May'en"	J. N. Fisher, P. Fisher, Jones, Moore	4:56
15.	"Babyhead"	Kibby	5:31
16.	"If I Were A...I'd"	Dowd, Moore	0:53
17.	"Those Days Are Gone"	Dowd, J. N. Fisher	5:23
18.	"Sunless Saturday"	Jones	4:18

Accolades

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
1991	Rock de Lux	Spain	"Albums of the Year"	2	^[4]
1991	OOR	Netherlands	"Albums of the Year"	40	^[4]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

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, keyboard
John Norwood Fisher – bass guitar, vocals
Philip "Fish" Fisher – drums

Additional

Sam Mims – programming
Fenando Pullum – trumpet
T-Bone – percussion
Greg Bell, Vicky Calhoun, Aklia Chin, Katherine Cederquist, Jeff Conners, Larry Fishburne, James Grey, Kyva Holmes, Nadja Holmes, Wendell Holmes, Natalie Jackson, Gaz Mayall, Sultana Muhammad, Susan Rogers, Clip Payne, Suesan Stovall (spelled "Susan Stoval" in the album's liner notes), Kristen Vigard, Byron West – background vocals

Engineers

Lawrence Duhart
Clark Germain
Joel Stoner

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1991	The Billboard 200	49

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1991	"Sunless Saturday"	Modern Rock Tracks	7
1991	"Everyday Sunshine"	Modern Rock Tracks	14

References

↑ Prato, Greg. "The Reality of My Surroundings Review". Allmusic. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
↑ Brackett, Nathan (November 2004). "Fishbone Overview". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. p. 298. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ Bernard, James (April 1991). "The Reality of My Surroundings Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
1 2 "OOR – Albums of the Year". OOR. Retrieved April 29, 2011.

Fishbone

Angelo Moore John Norwood Fisher "Dirty" Walter A. Kibby II John Steward Rocky George Dre Gipson Jay Armant Kendall Jones Chris Dowd Phillip "Fish" Fisher John Bigham Anthony Brewster Dion Murdock John McKnight Tracey Singleton André "PaDre" Holmes Torri Ruffin Curtis Storey

Studio albums	In Your Face Truth and Soul The Reality of My Surroundings Give a Monkey a Brain... Chim Chim's Badass Revenge The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx Still Stuck in Your Throat

Live albums	Live at the Temple Bar and More Live in Amsterdam Fishbone Live Live at The Independent

Compilations	Singles Party at Ground Zero Fishbone 101 The Essential Fishbone

Extended plays	Fishbone It's a Wonderful Life Set the Booty Up Right Nuttsactor 5 The Friendliest Psychosis of All Crazy Glue Intrinsically Intertwined

Singles	"? (Modern Industry)" "Party at Ground Zero" "When Problems Arise" "Freddie's Dead" "Ma and Pa" "One Day" "Change" "He's a Flyguy" "In Your Eyes / Skankin' to the Beat" "Fight the Youth" "Everyday Sunshine/Fight the Youth" "Sunless Saturday" "Monkey Business" "Swim" "The Pool is Now Open" "Black Flowers" "Unyielding Conditioning" "Servitude" "No Fear" "Alcoholic" "Crazy Bald Heads / The Stage" "The Suffering" "Party with Saddam" "Whipper Snapper"

Featured singles	"Fix"

Video and Film	The Reality of My Surroundings – Past to Present Fishbone Familyhood Instructional Visional Guide Ofishal Bootleg Video Critical Times – Fishbone's Hen House Sessions Live in Amsterdam Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone

Related articles	List of Fishbone members

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