Their debut album, "Everything Sucks" (1995), was an underground hit and led to a deal with Mojo Records (see also Mojo), an indie label. "Turn the Radio Off" (1996) established the band in the underground music scene, and they began touring throughout the USA. After the single "Sell Out" began breaking into the mainstream, including MTV, the album made an appearance on the charts. The ska revival was short-lived, however, and "Why Do They Rock So Hard?" (1998) did not lead the group to the mainstream.
Reel Big Fish released "Cheer Up" (2002) which began a movement into harder rock and pop sounds, with much less ska than the previous albums. The song "Where Have You Been?" was aimed at a wider audience, trying to drop the less popular ska sound, but was met with little mainstream success, despite the video. Their second most recent studio album was "We're Not Happy Until You're Not Happy" (2005).
They recently released "Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album" (2006) which includes 2 discs worth or their own tunes and a few covers of popular songs along with a DVD. They have worked on the soundtrack to BASEketball, which included a cover of A-Ha's Take On Me.
In 2006, they split from Jive records, who produced a "Best of" album against the will of the band, who could not prevent the release. The band has made a campaign to try and stop people buying the album.
Their 7th album "Monkeys For Nothing and the Chimps For Free" (2007) includes some songs that were previously recorded and released on other albums. It was also the first album with the band's new label, Rock Ridge Records.
In 2009, they released "Fame, Fortune, and Fornication" an album composed of covers of older songs, including "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty, and "Nothin' But a Good Time" by Poison.
In 2012, Reel Big Fish released "Candy Coated Fury", which is their second album on Rock Ridge Records. This album was met with heavy amounts of criticism from fans and reviewers alike. PunkNews.org gave the album a 2/10.
in 2014, they released "Happy Skalidays", a holiday themed EP.
Their current release is 2018's "Life Sucks... Let's Dance!", which gained generally positive reviews from fans and critics.
Current members:
Aaron Barrett - guitar, lead vocals (1992–present)
Dan Regan - trombone, backing vocals (1994–present)
John Christianson - trumpet, backing vocals (2004–present)
Ryland Steen - drums (2005–present)
Derek Gibbs - bass guitar (2007–present)
Past members:
Ben Guzman - vocals (1992–1994)
Zach Gilltrap - keyboards/synthesizers (1992–1994)
Lisa Smith - guitar (1992–1994)
Eric Vismantes - trumpet (1994)
Stephan Reed - saxophone (1994)
Robert Quimby - trombone (1994–1995)
Adam Polakoff - saxophone (1994–1995)
Grant Barry - trombone (1995–1998)
Andrew Gonzales - drums (1992–1998)
Tavis Werts - trumpet (1994–2001)
Carlos de la Garza - drums (1999–2003)
Tyler Jones - trumpet (2001–2004)
Justin Ferreira - drums (2003–2005)
Matt Wong - bass, backing vocals (1992–2007)
Scott Klopfenstein - trumpet, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1995–2011)
We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
Reel Big Fish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We hate it when our friends become successful
Oh, look at those clothes
Ah look at that face, its so cold
It's such a video, well
It's really laughable
Ah, ha, ha
And if they're No Doubt, that makes it even worse and
We can destroy them
You bet your life we will
Destroy them
If we can hurt them
Well, we may as well
Its really laughable
Ah, ha, ha
You see it should've been me
Could've been me
Everybody knows
Everybody says so
They say :
"ah, you have loads of songs
So many songs
More songs than they could stand
Verse
Chorus
Then they break away
Just listen"
La, la-la, la-la
Just Listen!
It's really laughable
Ah, ha, ha
In this song, Reel Big Fish expresses their discontent with their friends' success. They find it troublesome to see their friends achieve the things they could not. The lyrics “we hate it when our friends become successful” are repeated throughout the song. The first verse mentions how the successful friend’s appearance and outfit are laughable, indicating that their success hasn't made them any more appealing in RBF’s eyes. The second verse suggests that if the successful friend happens to be a band, i.e. No Doubt, their success is even more painful and that they would stop at nothing to destroy them.
The lyrics showcase the bitterness that can come from jealousy and how people's achievements can cause others to feel envious. They cannot help but compare themselves to their friends who have made it big and feel that they are worthy of the same success. The line "It should've been me, could've been me, everybody knows, everybody says so" suggests that they feel they were equally deserving of success.
Overall, the song represents the aspect of human nature to compare and to be envious of the people around them, but instead of lending their support, they dwell on the negative aspects of their friends' success.
Line by Line Meaning
We hate it when our friends become successful
The success of our friends makes us resentful
We hate it when our friends become successful
The success of our friends makes us resentful
Oh, look at those clothes
We're envious of the material possessions of our successful friends
Ah look at that face, its so cold
We're annoyed by the haughty demeanor of our successful friends
It's such a video, well
The music video of our friends' success is pretentious
It's really laughable
The whole situation is ridiculous
We hate it when our friends become successful
The success of our friends makes us resentful
And if they're No Doubt, that makes it even worse and
If the successful friends are a rival band No Doubt, it intensifies our hatred
We can destroy them
We're eager to cause harm to our successful friends
You bet your life we will
We're determined to sabotage our successful friends at any cost
Destroy them
We want to completely ruin our successful friends' lives
If we can hurt them
If we can cause pain and suffering to our successful friends
Well, we may as well
We might as well cause harm since we hate their success so much
Its really laughable
The whole situation is ridiculous
Ah, ha, ha
We find the irony of it all amusing
You see it should've been me
We believe that we deserve to be the successful ones
Could've been me
We're disappointed that we're not the successful ones
Everybody knows
Everyone is aware that we're envious and resentful of our friends' success
Everybody says so
Everyone talks about our jealousy and bitterness
They say :
People make comments and judgments about our behavior
"ah, you have loads of songs
People point out that we have many songs
So many songs
We've written a lot of music
More songs than they could stand
Our successful friends' music is not as good as ours, but they have wider appeal
Verse
Our friends' music is formulaic
Chorus
Our friends' music is repetitive
Then they break away
Our friends' music lacks creativity and is derivative
Just listen"
People should pay more attention to our music rather than our friends'
La, la-la, la-la
The chorus is meaningless and insubstantial
Just Listen!
People should give our music a chance
It's really laughable
The whole situation is ridiculous
Ah, ha, ha
We find the irony of it all amusing
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ALAIN WHYTE, STEVEN MORRISSEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Krish Shanmugam
on Everyone Else is an Asshole
dont