Record Label: Rock Ridge Music
Genre: Ska Punk
Band Link: link
Buy on Amazon.com link

Reel Big Fish are still around playing that quirky ska music (or at least a form of it) and they are back with another album. This time it’s a 2-disc live Cd that has 35 tracks on it, along with a full set on DVD, which has 20 tracks! They really went all out with this album and gave their fans a lot of music to listen to. There really is no need to go see them perform these songs live now since you got 2-live discs and a DVD of their set. I’m kidding, ska sounds the best live and Reel Big Fish always put on a fun show.

“Trendy” opens the first live disc, and the band just goes through almost every song they ever recorded (it seems that way anyway). The band still sounds awesome live! When I saw RBF live, the horns were the most noticeable thing to me. Hearing nothing but brass live sounds really cool. After hearing this album, it seems like Aaron is trying to talk like comedian Dane Cook now. It’s kinda of irritating if you ask me but maybe he’s always talked like and I’m just noticing now. Reel Big Fish mix old songs & new ones together and the set is fairly balanced. The last song on the first disc is “S.R” and RBF performed endless amounts of different styles of the song. Can we say overkill?

“She has a Girlfriend Now” is on the second disc and features Rachel Minton of Zolof the Rock N Roll Destroyer. The band also does a few covers on both disc like The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry,” A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” Op Ivy’s “Unity (with Ali of Zebrahead)” and Lita Ford’s “Kiss Me Deadly.” The second disc features a lot of their newer material and I didn’t like this disc as much. I think “The Fire” is the best song they have recorded recently that sounds like vintage Reel Big Fish. It’s a fun tune to listen to.

The Live DVD takes on a different style and approach than their Kung Fu release. The footage is more up close, and it almost makes you feel like you’re in the crowd. I actually liked the RBF DVD, but the audio wasn’t that great. This time, the band corrects those things and plus, there are 2 audio commentary tracks you can listen if you don’t want to listen to the music. The bands plays a lot of the songs you heard on the live CDs, but there are a few you only hear on this set. You hear songs like “Cheer Up,” “You Don’t Know,” and “Snoop Dog, Baby.”

Any Reel Big Fish fan will want this Cd/DVD set because there are over 35 songs, plus there’s a full set on a DVD as well. The 2-disc live album is worth buying on its own, so including the DVD is a nice added bonus!

Bottom Line: A great live album and even better, there’s a live DVD included!
Notable Tracks: Everything Sucks, I Want Your Girlfriend, Drinkin, Beer, She Has a Girlfriend Now, Fire, Good Thing, Sellout
Overall Rating: