Cheer Up - Reel Big Fish > Reviews > Cheer Up Goth

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	bouncy, full of life, easily listenable, their best
Disadvantages:	the cover of boss dj isnt as good as sublimes

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Well its been a while since I wrote my last opinion here and I have to say I’ve missed it but I've been unable to do anything about it. Well enough about me and my troubles I don't get paid for writing about myself unfortunately.

Reel Big Fish:
Well I started listening to them a few years back in the days of their other albums "Turn The Radio Off" and "Why Do They Rock So Hard" and I thought they were great. There are plenty of ska/punk bands out there but there is something about Reel Big Fish that makes the stand out from the crowd.

The first thing that hits you with this album is that it is slightly different from the rest; but in a good way. The first song "Good Thing" is one of the best on the album and it involves a more mature method of playing, it still has the edge of Reel Big Fish to it but you can tell they have put a lot more effort and time into making their songs.

So after hearing the first song one is put in a nice quirky mood and it don’t stop there. After listening to a great deal of ska albums I have noticed that they seem to die out after the first few tracks and I was worried that this might happen with this album but I was horribly mistaken.

The next six songs are of pure genius with clever lyrics which most of the youth of the today can easily connect to. After the title track there is "Where Have You Been" which is undoubtedly the best song on the album and has recently been shown on several occasions on The Kerrang Music Channel, which must show that this is of better quality than there other albums. Although having said that they do play far too much "Korn" on that channel, but nevermind that’s not the point, RBF are on and that’s what matters.

On top of this I keep hearing other songs off the album being played on adverts on the t.v. You cannot mistake the sound of RBF. This album like the others I thinks stands out for a couple of reasons. Firstly they use more than just your bog standard ska chords which makes the music a little more diverse and truly makes every song sound different and again makes this album listenable to over and over again which can sometimes be hard for ska bands. But also they combine this with extremely technical guitar solos and a catchy horn section.

All in all this is one of the greats for ska/punk albums and mustn’t be missed. One of the best features is that it doesn't matter what time of the day it is you can listen to this album and always sing along. So if you need cheering up or just generally love ska then take a listen and you will not be disappointed.

Track Listing:
1. Good Thing
2. Somebody Loved Me
3. Ban the Tube Top
4. Cheer Up
5. Where Have You Been?
6. Suckers
7. What Are Friends For
8. A Little Doubt Goes a Long Way
9. Dateless Losers
10. Valerie
11. Rock 'N' Roll Is Bitchin'
12. New York, New York
13. Sayonara Senorita
14. Boss DJ
15. Brand New Hero
16. Drunk Again

As Always I love the feedback and I look forward to giving you more to read in the near future.
Thanks Cortex101