Fight for Your Mind

Fight for Your Mind is an album by Ben Harper. Released in August 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
Ben Harper
ReleasedAugust 1, 1995
GenreAlternative rock
Length68:05
LabelVirgin
ProducerBen Harper, Jean-Pierre Plunier, Bob "Stiv" Coke
Ben Harper chronology
Welcome to the Cruel World
(1994)		 Fight for Your Mind
(1995)		 The Will to Live
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[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".

Track listing

All songs written by Ben Harper except as noted.

  1. "Oppression" 2:58
  2. "Ground on Down" – 4:53
  3. "Another Lonely Day" – 3:43
  4. "Please Me Like You Want To" – 4:55
  5. "Gold to Me" – 5:00
  6. "Burn One Down" – 3:31
  7. "Excuse Me Mr." (Harper, Jean-Pierre Plunier) – 5:24
  8. "People Lead" – 4:13
  9. "Fight for Your Mind" – 4:06
  10. "Give a Man a Home" – 3:35
  11. "By My Side" – 3:34
  12. "Power of the Gospel" – 6:02
  13. "God Fearing Man" – 11:49
  14. "One Road to Freedom" – 4:14

Artwork

The Fight For Your Mind 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:

Harper has continued to use roundel inspired artwork on his other albums.

Personnel

Production
  • 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

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[7] Platinum 100,000^
France (SNEP)[8] 2× Gold 200,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[9] Platinum 15,000^
United States (RIAA)[10] Gold 544,000[11]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Goble, Ryan Randall. "Fight for Your Mind – Ben Harper". AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  2. Kot, Greg (August 17, 1995). "Still earnest". Chicago Tribune.
  3. Ehrlich, Dimitri (August 11, 1995). "Fight for Your Mind". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  4. Wazir, Burhan (July 21, 1995). "Ben Harper: Fight for Your Mind (Virgin)". The Guardian.
  5. "Ben Harper: Fight for Your Mind". Q. No. 107. August 1995. p. 123.
  6. 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.
  7. "Canadian album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for your mind". Music Canada. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  8. "French album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for your mind" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  9. "New Zealand album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for your mind". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  10. "American album certifications – Ben Harper – Fight for your mind". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  11. Orshoski, Wes (5 April 2003). "Harper, Johnson Co-Headlinging Trek Makes Perfect Sense". Billboard. p. 14. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
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