Watched it twice this weekend. Pretty thorough now and then timeline. Some cool old footage that I'd never seen before, especially how they met, started, and got signed at like 17/18 years old. How they were accepted into the punk scene early on,etc. To me, the time period after the release of "Reality of My Surroundings" leading up to " Give a Monkey a Brain" ...was Fishbone at their musical peak (Early 90s) and they show that ascension well. They also explain the Kendall Jones mind collapse and attempted cult extraction in more depth than I knew. Dude was wacked for a while. I will admit, the level of quality that Sam Dunn & Co. have done with Metal Evolution, Beyond the Lighted Stage, Flight 666....has made every one else appear a bit more amateur, and you'll get that feeling watching this Fishbone doc, but it's still well done, and certainly worth a watch if your a fan....which I was in a huge way from the first EP up to Chim Chim. Probably saw them 12-13 times between Philly & NYC from around '91 to '96ish.

Video for the bone at their heaviest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59_FivvLXgA

Cool, I'll have to keep an eye out for this. I was a big fan in the same era as you. I probably only saw them half that many times (five or six?) and they were always smoking. I remember seeing them the day the found Kurt Kobain's body, but they didn't ever bring it up onstage.

I saw them a few years ago (2007-ish) when they played an acoustic set at a record store in my hood and their vibe was really depressing to me. Pretty angry, especially from Angelo, like he's doing this because he doesn't know how to do anything else. They were always angry and really vocal about inequalities, but it seems to ratcheted up several knotches now. I guess as you get older though...

I ended up feeling bad for them and bought the new CD they brought out. It fucking blew goats and I ended up pawning it shortly after. Imo, it went downhill for them musically after Kendall's exit from the band. I'd like to see what happened there. Rocky George from Suicidal Tendancies is playing guitar for them now.

Yeah, and like any decent doc., they reveal the good and the bad. As of a year ago or so, It shows Angelo living at his mom's house cause he has no money. Seems like a combination of faults...he has no other skills, stubborn to keep the dead Fishbone legacy alive, and really doesn't know how to write good songs. Fishbone songwriting died, with not just Kendall Jone's exit, but almost equally, when Chris Dowd rolled. Those 2 guys were the hook writers. And they go into that too, also Kendall's push for a heavier/metal sound leading up to Give a Monkey. There's actually some really good depth on some of their issues. Vernon Reid of Living Colour had an interesting comment..."Their live show was so incredible, that was their problem". They could never deliver that greatness on record. Cool interviews with their main producer David Kahn too.

Going in a more metal direction was probably the kiss of death for that band in a sense long-term, but it got white boys like myself into the band.

I read an interview with Kendall around that time where he cited Alex Lifeson as his biggest influence, so a lot of that direction/sounds makes sense knowing that.

I liked these guys some in high school but never much of a huge fan. I did get to catch them live once in the mid to late '90's and thought it was a good show, definitely a better live act for me than recorded one.

I got into them through Give A Monkey A Brain and always enjoyed the heavier tracks on that album so I think they had the heavy in them, but also not surprised to hear moving more in that direction didn't work for them.

Anyways....didn't know about this doc, sounds interesting.

I got turned on to them in sixth grade probably, one of my friends was big on "Truth and Soul". He learned how to play "Change" on guitar and I was intrigued. At the time I kind of lumped them in with the Chili Peppers and Faith No More and some other kind of "funk metal" stuff that was going on, but they were all over the place compared to those other guys. Hard band to get a handle on but there were some hot moments in there. I've got three albums...can't say they get dragged out too often, but I'd love to see the movie.

Hey ma and pa, what the hell is wrong with ya'll.

I'm eager to see this, too. My friends and I were big fans in the late 80's in So Cal, where the band ruled as you might guess. I saw them back then, and in 2001 and w/ Rocky a couple of years ago and they were as great or better this last time as ever before, just amazing...
Points taken on their records though; some moments of greatness among a lot of not-so-greatness..

Awesome live-band. When I last saw them (five or six years ago) less than a hundred people showed up and Angelo certainly had a huge chip on his shoulder, bitching about the Fishbone-t-shirts (the fashion-brand not related to the band) and how they couldn't afford the lawyers to sort the copyright out.

They're playing in a friend's club in April. will probably go check em out. haven't heard any Fishbone since Give A Monkey A Brain.

I'd like to watch this VHS. Haven't wanted to listen to this band in many years. Saw them a few times and they were always energetic but pretty lousy musically.

They tore it up on whatever jimmy TV show they were on recently --(think it was Kimmel, could've been Fallon). Same crazy energy and tight-ass groove as the olden days. I haven't seen them live since the 90s but I did hear from some folks who'd seen them in the early 00s that they were a shadow of their former selves. Good to see them returning to form, because they've always been one of my favorite live bands.