Need Cheering Up? (Cheer Up - Reel Big Fish)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Cheer Up - Reel Big Fish
Date:	21/01/08 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some extremely strong tracks present here, an excellent horn section.

Disadvantages: Less Ska based than their older albums.

Reel Big Fish have never been a favourite band of mine, however nonetheless I have always had an appreciation for their music and as such when this album was released back in 2002 I soon bought it and had it in my possession. The thing I have always loved about this band is that no matter what they happen to be singing about, they always sound ridiculously happy and therefore listening to their music is always greatly rewarding, particularly when you're feeling a bit down in the dumps for whatever reason and really need to 'Cheer Up'. The band are best known for their single 'Sell Out' which was featured in the great 1998 film 'BASEketball', a film which starred South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

'Cheer Up' is the bands fourth studio album and begins with 'Good Thing', a track which kicks off the proceedings in the way in which we would expect; a fun song which is highly upbeat and with an excellent horn section giving the track a fantastic party feel about it. As the album progresses, the band continue to impress with their energetic Ska Punk, and at no stage in the albums hour long duration do the band ever show any signs of slowing down. There are many tracks that stand out from this album, with each and every track present in fact impressing to varying degrees.

One noticeable thing about the 'Cheer Up' album is the bands decision to make their music far less Ska based. Whilst a horn section is often present, the music takes more of a straight up Rock approach than their previous albums had done, and the Ska element of their music is played down and at times kept to a bare minimum. This is evidenced in the fact that the stand out single from this album was 'Where Have You Been?', a track where no horn section is even present. The track is far from the Ska Punk sound that riddled their first three albums, however is nonetheless one of the best tracks from the album and is mightily impressive. When I first heard the track I didn't really think a lot of it, however as time passed by I found myself really growing quite fond of it and it is still a track I listen to on a fairly regular basis.

Another of my favourites from this album is the track 'Dateless Losers'. Far more Ska Punk based than the aforementioned 'Where Have You Been?', it is excellently executed and truly is a fantastic track to listen to. The horn section plays a massive part in this one, and having always been a fan of the horn section of Reel Big Fish, this is something that appeals to me greatly. The track is broken up with a metallic guitar solo towards the end which I feel works incredibly well. The heavy guitar solo adds greater depth to the track I feel and rounds it off nicely, perfectly bringing it to a close.

There are actually two covers present on this album, one of Sublime's 'Boss DJ', and one of the Frank Sinatra track 'New York, New York'. I have to say, I am much more a fan of the Sublime cover than the Frank Sinatra one, and this is perhaps in no small part down to the fact that Sublime are a similarly Ska fuelled band so stylistically the track is more or less the sound we have come to expect from Reel Big Fish over the years anyway. Had I not known the Sublime version of the track before listening, I feel I would not have known that the track was a cover as Reel Big Fish make it very much their own and as a result 'Boss DJ' sounds simply superb. 'New York, New York' on the other hand more or less sticks to the script of the Frank Sinatra original and is therefore an extremely uninspired and somewhat irritating copycat cover.

'Cheer Up' is an album that I would recommend to all fans of the Ska Punk genre as it is overall pretty impressive and the band possess a most fantastic horn section. Having said this, it is by no means the best album that the band have ever recorded and therefore if you've been put off delving further into the music of Reel Big Fish by this album then I would strongly suggest that you forget what you have heard here and give either their 'Turn The Radio Off' or 'Why Do They Rock So Hard' albums a listen. One major downside of this album is that if you listen to it too much then it will seriously start to get on your nerves and you will feel like throwing the album right out the window. There's only so much cheerful Ska Punk music you can take before reaching breaking point.

Summary: The fourth studio album from Reel Big Fish is worth checking out, but is by no means their best.