Reel Big Fish: Greatest Hit and More

Album Review

It's become something of an inside joke with Reel Big Fish that their only career success was the mainstream invasion of 1996's "Sell Out," as the band was always joking it was the only song people ever wanted them to play. Hell, they even wrote a song about the supposedly exasperating situation ("One Hit Wonderful") for their 2005 album. The guys are partially right — that song has indeed been (and most likely will stay) the biggest hit of their career. But stopping there would ignore the sort of impact Reel Big Fish has had on countless fans in the decade-plus they've been around, tearing up the underground for years, selling out shows and inspiring (for better or worse) a whole new wave of ska-punkers in the process. Most one-hit wonders last about two albums, but as of 2006, Reel Big Fish have six full-lengths under their belt. They may not be mainstream or critical darlings, but their fan base is far from nonexistent and it's easy to name plenty of their songs on par with "Sellout" (look no farther than "Beer"). Even so, it's admittedly still pretty funny that their greatest-hits album is titled Greatest Hit...and More; you can practically see the group's collective tongue pressed firmly inside their cheek. Jive has put together a nice little starter kit for those just getting their Fish feet wet (the songs are a decent mix from throughout their career), but it's actually pretty unnecessary for long-time fans, since "greatest hits" for a band like RBF varies so much from person to person. New and old fans on the market for a RBF best-of collection would be a million times better served seeking out their self-released live album, Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album, since it practically sounds studio-recorded anyways, and comes with two albums' worth of music and a bonus DVD of an entire live show. As it is, Greatest Hit, Rovi