Reel Big Fish announces band-selected Greatest Hits album

Contributed by thegimper. Posted by aubin on Monday, June 21, 2010 at 2:00 PM (EDT)

Reel Big Fish have announced plans to release a new, second Best Of album featuring 22 songs. While a greatest hits album was released in 2006. it was done by Jive Records, the ska/punk outfits' previous label and led to the band publicly admonishing the label saying:

So Jive records (our former label) [put] out an RBF greatest hits CD because they see how well our live album is doing and they pretty much just want to screw us any way they can! they see that there's still money to be made from the Reel Big Fish so they are trying to get a last little piece! There's really nothing we can do to stop them since they own ALL our previous recordings!

The new collection will feature those 22 songs presumably culled from the band's many albums including Turn The Radio Off, Why Do They Rock So Hard?, Cheer Up, We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy and Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free. The set will also feature a bonus disc featuring 14 acoustic tracks.

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Reel Big Fish

Rock Ridge Music (59 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Tudor (June 21, 2010)

Bands that do NOT need a greatest hits album:

Reel Big Fish

That is all.

bastard_squad (June 21, 2010)

Greatest hits packages are the worst. The only time they are ok is when its singles collections.

LinoleumMagazine (June 21, 2010)

Bands that should jump off a cliff:

Reel Big Fish

and many, many more.

Half_Idiot (June 21, 2010)

Do we have the real identity of NYBlowhard?

LinoleumMagazine (June 21, 2010)

hell no. That guy is weird.

Cos (June 21, 2010)

ATXBlowhards?

regreteverything (June 21, 2010)

I don't know, I love their version of Come On Eileen and that Monique chick is sexy as hell depending on her weight.

Half_Idiot (June 21, 2010)

We should use the stockpiles of unsold Reel Big Fish CDs to plug the Deepwater Horizon leak.

nedsammy (June 21, 2010)

finally, some constructive thinking

literamaniac (June 21, 2010)

This is completely unnecessary. "Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album" is more than suiting.

PaulPendley (Paul Pendley from Red City Radio) (June 21, 2010)

The Gimper is doing high kicks of joy at this very moment and he doesn't know why.

shrapnel (June 21, 2010)

this leaked already

tonyregret (June 21, 2010)

where's the link

ZachLeg (June 21, 2010)

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5050092/REEL_BIG_FISH_-_DISCOGRA PHY_%5BCHANNEL_NEO%5D

sumwon (June 21, 2010)

This is stupid. Chances are, the Greatest Hits Jive put out has the majority of their best songs on it anyways. So now, they are going to go out of their way to make theirs different than Jive's version (so as to not seem hypocritcal), which will result in a weaker album. And for the record, Reel Big Fish sucks.

tonyregret (June 21, 2010)

the songs have been re-recorded by the current RBF lineup for this collection.

loveshackbaby (June 21, 2010)

Like that "live" album they put out a couple of years ago?

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

Album of the year!!!

SloaneDaley (June 21, 2010)

this quote says Jive "is" putting out a greatest hits does this mean that Jive is putting out another one in addition to the 2006 one AND the band is putting out one to compete? so there will be three? I['m not sure I follow.

hey_sailor (June 21, 2010)

Did you just call me a jive turkey?

jimmynorville (June 21, 2010)

no, I called you a cocksucker, I swear.

tonyregret (June 21, 2010)

The quote about Jive is from 2006 when the original greatest hits was released. There will now be two "greatest hits" as well as a live album that is basically the same shit.

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

Did the live album have 14 rockin' acoustic tracks? I think not.

tonyregret (June 21, 2010)

Biggest problems with Reel Big Fish today

1. Every recording since the split with Zolof has had the same weak production value
2. They keep recycling their old songs (livealbum, live dvd, monkeys for nothing, new greatest hits)
3. Aaron is not a good producer

If the band signed to a label, found a good studio and worked with a decent producer...I am willing to bet they would stop releasing sub-par albums.

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

My rebuttal:
1) Their production value is fine.
2) The live album may be the greatest album of all time. It had two discs, 1 DVD and sounded amazing. You can't criticize the output on that. Their newest live DVD, I really can't defend. That was pretty much a cash grab at their fans. Monkeys For Nothing had 9 original songs, rerecording songs of a lot of fans that hadn't heard (and frankly sound better than on Everything Sucks), a few B-Sides that needed to be re-released, 1 cover and a making of the album all on that CD. That's pretty solid if you ask me. And since they've never had a "Best Of" album... why not? I mean Mustard Plug had one. However, never one to skimp they're also releasing 14 acoustic tracks. That's pretty solid.
3) Aaron is not a horrible producer. HOWEVER, I would kill for them to work with John Availa again.

tonyregret (June 21, 2010)

There is no Mustard Plug greatest hits.

The production has no balls and every thing sounds the same. I've been listening to RBF since Sell-out was a new radio single and the production over the past three years drives me crazy.

if you think the live album is the greatest thing ever you need to get out of the ska bubble my friend.

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

Here is a link to the Mustard Plug's greatest hit's album:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpieces:_1991-2002

I give your ska knowledge a B- on that note.

You need at least an A to compete with me.

Also, I was saying the live album is the greatest live album ever. Not greatest things. Although, it certainly is.

Haters gonna hate.

Skibz777 (June 21, 2010)

The fact that you defend Reel Big Fish's quality in a century that doesn't start with 19xx automatically brings your ska cred down a few grades.

Skibz777 (June 21, 2010)

Studio quality, at least.

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

Naturally, I disagree.

For an INDEPENDENT band their studio quality is pretty top-notch.

Skibz777 (June 21, 2010)

Production-wise, they're fine. I just meant songwriting-wise, aesthetics-wise and all-around *generally*, their descent from self-deprecation into self-parody is just sad, in that "Black Sabbath's '80s/'90s albums" kind of way. It must be hard on RBF to watch fellow tourmates like The Aquabats or the Cherry Poppin' Daddies pass them on the integrity scale. I'll admit, though, the Fish will have the last laugh when they're making shitloads of cash in a few years running the '90s nostalgia circuit at every major state and county fair west of the Mississippi....and that's not sarcasm, thems iz some fat checks, yo.

d_boons_ghost (June 21, 2010)

Cheer Up is actually pretty good. Am I the only person who thinks that? Probably!

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

Cheer Up may be my favorite RBF album.

KungPowza (June 21, 2010)

Mine too, actually.

Skibz777 (June 21, 2010)

'Cheer Up!' is my *favorite* RBF album.

loveshackbaby (June 21, 2010)

Peak of their carreer

BarleyPat (June 22, 2010)

I thought it was terrible and I loved RBF back then. I liked Why Do They Rock So Hard the best.

tonyregret (June 21, 2010)

completely forgot about Masterpieces, whoops.

Less Than Jake are independent, they released GNV FLA on their own. There's no way you can tell me that album, as an indedenpent release, doesn't trump every independent RBF album in terms of production value and song writing. It doesn't hurt that they worked with Matt Allison, but RBF aren't in the same league anymore.

Also, I am not a RBF hater. I quite enjoy the band and have been following them since I was 16 ( I am 27 now). It's just that they are too inconsistent for me anymore. Monkeys only had a handful of memorable songs (Party Down, Cannibal), and the covers album was completely unnecessary when you consider the amount of covers they've already made. It's not impossible for this band to get back to being really good, like I said before I do not think Aaron belongs in a producers role. Sometimes an outside perspective can make all the difference and nobody will disagree that the bands albums have gone slightly downhill since they split from Jive. Even "we're not happy" was overall pretty damn good aside from the recording quality...I find myself listening to that album more frequently because you could tell the band still had fresh ideas. Now it seems they're just a tongue in cheek ghost of what they used to be...and that sucks.

loveshackbaby (June 21, 2010)

I thought the production on GNV FLA was pretty weak... If it had the Anthem-style beefy guitars I'd love it

nedsammy (June 22, 2010)

finally someone not hating on Anthem. love that record.

scarysmurf (June 21, 2010)

Needz moar talk about Brian Fallon.

xchemicalx (June 21, 2010)

I had to read it twice too. Way to put a 4 year old quote referring to different greatest hits comp in an article about this one.... It seems the only point of doing that would be to a) confuse the reader or, b) to show how bad of an article you can write.

sorryimlate (June 21, 2010)

"Who you callin' turkey?" - Steve Brule

Cos (June 21, 2010)

Have they really only put out 4 albums since "Turn the Radio Off"? That was 1996. And didn't "Why Do They Rock So Hard?" still have a couple of do-overs from "Everything Sucks"? Aaron is not the most prolific songwriter.

Also, won't RBF still get a cut of the profits from any Jive re-release?

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

Their largest gap for an album release was four years. That's honestly not that bad.

Cos (June 21, 2010)

Only if its the Beastie Boys.

lookingforcorpses (June 21, 2010)

That's actually pretty pathetic.

tonyregret (June 21, 2010)

1998 - why do they rock so hard
2002 - cheer up
2005 - we're not happy til you're not happy
2006 - live album
2007 - monkeys for nothing and the chimps for free
2007 - split with Zolof
2009 - fame, fortune, and fornication
2010 - "best of"

since 2005 the band has released 11 original songs....everything else is either covers, live versions, or re-recordings.

NobleStabbings (June 21, 2010)

I only count 10...?

NobleStabbings (June 21, 2010)

Oh, wait, I forgot that hit iTunes Bonus Track "Bang! The Mouse Explodes." Real insightful song. Changed my life.

Skibz777 (June 21, 2010)

Is Aaron Barrett suffering delusions of grandeur? It's not like Reel Big Fish are globally recognized for their full body of work. Being both a one-hit-wonder and a cult band, the average fan already owns everything they've put out, and a casual listener will most likely bypass a scattershot collection of tracks from later albums and simply opt for their *one* big album. By adding the bonus disc of acoustic tracks they obviously mean to attract the built-in fanbase, which begs the question as to why they just don't release the damn acoustic disc by itself because no casual fan who's unfamiliar with RBF's repertoire is going to pay extra for the acoustic renditions. Grr.

thegimper (June 21, 2010)

Almost all of the people I know who kind like Reel Big Fish, but aren't huge fans of the band, would pick this up instead of Turn the Radio Off...

loveshackbaby (June 21, 2010)

When I listen to RBF, I always think, "Hey, I bet this would sound great if we got rid of all those silly horns, basslines and drums, and just had Aarons weak vocals, lyrics and upstrokes on an acoustic"...

ehx82 (June 21, 2010)

Weak? His voice has only gotten better. And it was never "weak".

loveshackbaby (June 21, 2010)

It's definatly improved, but do you really think its strong enough to carry a whole CD of acoustc tracks?

ehx82 (June 21, 2010)

Maybe we just figured out the reason for this release being a "free" addition to another album.
But yeah, i'd listen. Throw Scotts voice in too, and i'm sold.

thepopeofchili-town (June 22, 2010)

When I listen to any ska at all I think this. Though the basslines can stay.

NobleStabbings (June 21, 2010)

I remember when Reel Big Fish was the shit...in 7th grade. Seriously, quit dicking around with your old songs and write some new ones. There's only so many times you can re-record "Beer" before EVERYONE stops caring.

i-type-poorly (June 21, 2010)

What the hell is with all the compilations, live DVDs, and cover albums? They haven't produced a proper new album in 5 years. I'm probably the only person who likes this band anymore, and even I'm fed up.