Fight For Your Mind

Fight for Your Mind is a 1995 (see 1995 in music) album by Ben Harper. 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”), Black Sabbath-style riffing heavy metal (“Ground on Down”) and politically-charged reggae (“Excuse Me Mister”).

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, 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 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: