Fight for Your Mind is the second album by Ben Harper. Released on August 1, 1995, it was his last solo album before adding the Innocent Criminals to his line-up. Reviews were generally very positive, praising Harper's fusion of multiple genres, from folk ("Another Lonely Day"), folk rock ("Gold to Me"), and politically charged reggae ("Excuse Me Mr.").
| Fight for Your Mind | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1, 1995 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 68:05 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Ben Harper chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Chicago Tribune |  [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[3] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
| Q | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
After Harper's well-received debut, Welcome to the Cruel World, he expanded on his fanbase by touring relentlessly with jam bands like Dave Matthews Band. On this, his second album, Harper added a more refined sense of his own intense spirituality, such as on the gospel-influenced album closers, "Power of the Gospel", "God Fearing Man" and "One Road to Freedom".
Artwork
editThe album cover features Harper's face on fire, as the artwork features the use of military roundels from African nations (plus Jamaica) to represent each track on the album. The track corresponding to each roundel is:
- Angola – "Oppression"
African Military roundels (plus Jamaica's) in the artwork - Cameroon – "Ground on Down"
- Central African Republic – "Another Lonely Day"
- Chad – "Please Me Like You Want To"
- Uganda – "Gold to Me"
- Jamaica – "Burn One Down"
- Egypt – "Excuse Me Mr"
- Niger – "People Lead"
- Ghana/Guinea – "Fight for Your Mind"
- Kenya – "Give a Man a Home"
- Nigeria – "By My Side"
- Somalia – "Power of the Gospel"
- Ivory Coast – "God Fearing Man"
- Ethiopia – "One Road to Freedom"
Harper has continued to use roundel-inspired artwork on his other albums.
Track listing
editAll songs written by Ben Harper except as noted.
- "Oppression" – 2:58
- "Ground on Down" – 4:53
- "Another Lonely Day" – 3:43
- "Please Me Like You Want To" – 4:55
- "Gold to Me" – 5:00
- "Burn One Down" – 3:31
- "Excuse Me Mr." (Harper, Jean-Pierre Plunier) – 5:24
- "People Lead" – 4:13
- "Fight for Your Mind" – 4:06
- "Give a Man a Home" – 3:35
- "By My Side" – 3:34
- "Power of the Gospel" – 6:02
- "God Fearing Man" – 11:49
- "One Road to Freedom" – 4:14
Personnel
editMusicians
edit- Ben Harper – acoustic guitar, vocals, weissenborn
- Brett Banduci – viola
- Danielle Charles – violin
- Oliver Charles – drums
- Bob "Stiv" Coke - tabla, tambourine, tamboura, sarod
- Timothy Loo – cello
- Leon Mobley – percussion
- Juan Nelson – bass guitar
- Ervin Pope – organ, Hammond organ
Production
edit- Producers: Ben Harper, Bob "Stiv" Coke, J.P. Plunier
- Associate producer: Jeff Gottlieb
- Assistant producer: Jeff Gottlieb
- Engineer: Bradley Cook
- Assistant engineers: Ryan Boesh, Todd Burke, Paul Naguna
- Mixing: The Dub Brothers, Femi Jiya, Eric Sarafin
- Mastering: Eddy Schreyer
- String arrangements: Ben Harper, J.P. Plunier
- Design: Tom Dolan
- Art direction: Tom Dolan, J.P. Plunier
- Photography: Bob "Stiv" Coke, Jeff Gottlieb
- Research: Ben Elder
Charts
edit| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] | 34 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8] | 44 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[9] | 39 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] | 7 |
Certifications and sales
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[11] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[12] | 2× Gold | 200,000* |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[13] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[15] | Gold | 544,000[14] |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Goble, Ryan Randall. "Fight for Your Mind – Ben Harper". AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ Kot, Greg (August 17, 1995). "Still earnest". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Ehrlich, Dimitri (August 11, 1995). "Fight for Your Mind". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ Wazir, Burhan (July 21, 1995). "Ben Harper: Fight for Your Mind (Virgin)". The Guardian.
- ^ "Ben Harper: Fight for Your Mind". Q. No. 107. August 1995. p. 123.
- ^ Randall, Mac (2004). "Ben Harper". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 363–64. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Canadian album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind". Music Canada. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ "French album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 30 May 2019.[dead link]
- ^ Orshoski, Wes (5 April 2003). "Harper, Johnson Co-Headlinging Trek Makes Perfect Sense". Billboard. p. 14. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "American album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for Your Mind". Recording Industry Association of America.