The Reality of My Surroundings is the third studio album by the American rock band Fishbone, released on April 23, 1991, by Columbia Records.
Background and recording
The Reality of My Surroundings was recorded after the band had achieved breakthrough success in 1988 following a stint opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers, which had contributed to their album Truth and Soul (1988) charting in the Billboard 200. They had also appeared in the film Tapeheads that year at the suggestion of star John Cusack. All four "If I Were A...I'd" tracks were recorded live.
The Reality of My Surroundings was Fishbone's first album to feature former Miles Davis music director John Bigham (guitar, keyboards), who joined the band in 1989 during the Truth and Soul tour. Following this album's release, guitarist Kendall Jones left the band.
|rev2 = Robert Christgau
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|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev4Score = A−
The album was a critical and commercial success, peaking at No. 49 on the Billboard 200 on May 18, 1991. Due to the sudden implementation of Nielsen SoundScan tracking figures on the Billboard charts, The Reality of My Surroundings sharply dropped to No. 182 in two weeks. The album ultimately spent ten weeks on the Billboard 200, and by 1997 the album had sold nearly 200,000 copies in the United States. The album was promoted with three single releases: "Fight the Youth", whose music video was given exposure on MTV, followed by "Everyday Sunshine" and "Sunless Saturday". Trouser Press wrote that "the sprawling [album] reprises much of Truth and Soul‘s spirit and sound, but is far more ambitious in scope and philosophy." Several critics likened the album to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
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Charts
Album – Billboard (United States)
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!Year
!Chart
!Position
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|1991
|Billboard 200
|align="center"|49