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For those not ‘in the know’, Reel Big Fish in their early days released several albums that never made it onto these shores, due to their record label (Mojo) just putting them out in the USA. The first ‘Fish’ album to hit the shops in the UK was their 2001 album, “Cheer Up”, although “Favourite Noise” (and yes, I've spelt it the correct British way) which followed this onto the shelves in 2002 was actually a non-USA release only. It was made up of 14 songs from the albums before “Cheer Up”, namely “Why Do They Rock So Hard” and “Turn The Radio Off”, along with “Take on Me” from the BASEketball soundtrack and one track from “Cheer Up”.
Right, so that’s the history out of the way. Effectively an early ‘Greatest Hits’ CD, this one is a corker from start to finish. From the drum intro of “Everything Sucks” through to the frenetic frenzy that is the cover of A-ha’s “Take On Me”, the album is utterly danceable for at least 14 of the 16 tracks on offer. To quote our very own King of Team Review, Al, “it has none of the filler of the earlier records and none of the blatant crap of the later recordings”.
A harsh but fair comment. The contents of this album shall always be referred to as ‘classic’ Reel Big Fish, and not purely because it’s some of their older stuff. The albums released since, while all having some elements of genius in at least a couple of the tracks, have never given you the sense of satisfaction you get from a truly magnificent record. Make no mistake, you get that here.
While the album has the three most well-known Reel Big Fish tracks (“Sell Out”, “Beer” and “Take On Me”) so well-known that even a more mainstream music fan will often have heard the track played out somewhere and recognise it, ska fans will usually have their favourite from one of the less populist tracks. Examples include “Everything Sucks”, “S.R.”, “Trendy” and “She Has A Girlfriend Now”. I have seen Reel Big Fish live about 15 times, and not once has their set failed to include at the very least two of those four tracks, and usually more. Considering the band now has the product of 7 studio albums to choose from, along with a host of covers they’ve mastered, it goes to show just how popular those songs are.
A little bit on some of the above songs – Sell Out, as the band always refers to in their live hit, was “their big hit of the 90’s”. In fact, it was easily their biggest commercial success to do, and likely as not will not be topped by anything they release in the future. The tale is that classic one all successful bands face at some point in their career – to sign or not to sign?
“Beer” is a song worthy of any alcoholic, and features in the film BASEketball by Matt Stone and Trey Parker (of South Park fame) where it is used to get the crowd going during the game. Also in the film is “Take On Me”, probably the bands most popular cover, though the die-hard fans like me have some different choices for that accolade. Originally by A-ha, the RBF version is infinitely more lovable in so many ways.
What else does the album have? “She Has A Girlfriend Now”, which features Monique from Save Ferris, is a tale of a love lost to lesbianism, and how it might not be all as bad as it seems. This one has often proved a fun song live, especially as the ‘girl’ parts have been variously played by: a random girl dragged up from the crowd, a random boy dragged up from the crowd, Scott Klopfenstein putting a girly squeaky voice on, or a female vocalist from one of the support bands (including Laila from Sonic Boom Six).
If I went to the extent of telling you all just how good every other track on this album is, that’d spoil the surprise. Just look at the rating below and either hunt it out from your CD collection, or get yourself down to your local record shop (or iTunes for you technical whiz kids) and pick up a copy. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
SkaMutiny Review: 5/5
Andy
Last edited by Andy DTA on Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:18 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Edited for accuracy, ta Rich)
lol