Cheer Up!

`***Cheer Up!*** is the fourth studio album from Reel Big Fish. Despite the band's status as a mostly ska, the downfall of the genre after 1998 pushed this album in the direction of pop punk. Ska songs do remain on on the album, however.

Preceding the album's release, the single Where Have You Been? was released to moderate success.

## Tracklist

All songs written by Reel Big Fish unless noted.

### International Bonus Tracks

 Rock It With I
 Average Man

## Personnel

### Musicians

* Aaron Barrett - Lead vocals, guitar, producer, digital editing
* Carlos de la Garza - Drums, percussion
* Scott Klopfenstein - Trumpet, backing vocals, lead vocals, guitar, electric piano, producer
* Dan Regan - Trombone, screams
* Matt Wong - Bass
* Tavis Werts - Trumpet, flugelhorn (All tracks except 7,10, 14)
* Tyler Jones - Trumpet (Tracks 7,10,14)
* Ryland Steen - Percussion (Track 1)
* Shawn Sullivan - Vocal percussion, mixing, digital editing, chief engineer
* Kyle Homme - Percussion, drum samples, digital editing, mixing
* Gordie Johnson - DJ, producer
* Iki Levy - Percussion sampling
* Nic TenBroek - String arrangement

### Production

* George Marino - Mastering
* Richard Harbaugh - Photography
* David Schiffman - Engineer
* Ross Garfield, Alex Feliscian, Tom Ames - Studio technician
* Joseph Zook, Josh Atkins, Adam Samuels - engineer, digital editing
* Pavan Grewall - Assistant engineer
* John Avila - Engineer
* Nathan Burden, Nick Patton - runner, "intern"
* Robert M. Barrett - Cover art
* Mark Mediana - Art direction and design
* Val Garay - Producer and engineer

## Releases

### CD

For its original 2002 release, Cheer Up! was presented in compact disc format. Unlike the last two albums, Cheer Up's album art does not double as a poster, instead just liner notes. The back of the album cover is a photograph of the band, with Tyler Jones as the new trumpet player. The album art was drawn by Aaron Barrett's father.

### Cassette

The album was interestingly released on cassette, being the only Reel Big Fish album to have done so (their demos, while also on cassettes, were not full length releases). This release was only sold in the Philippines, and was an exact copy of the Japanese release.

### Digital

The album is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music for streaming. Being digital copies, they do not include the liner notes or photograph of the band.

## Reception

The album was generally well received. Critics were mostly surprised by the band leaning away from their ska influences, while still enjoying the album. Aubin Paul from PunkNews.org state:

> "I have to admit I'm a confessed Reel Big Fish cynic; after all, three albums, and massive evolutions in sound throughout rarely maintain the same fan base, but I can tell you that this record will not disappoint anyone who stuck by them."
>
>

Aaron Barrett assumed that this album would flop due to its pop-punk leanings. Assuming the worst, Barrett started The Forces of Evil to continue making ska music: "If Reel Big Fish was over, then I'd still want to prove to everyone that I still love ska and love to play it." After Jive Records caught wind of the band, they were angry that the Forces of Evil album hadn't been the new Reel Big Fish record.

## Sources

1. ↑ https://www.punknews.org/review/1021/reel-big-fish-cheer-up
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Forces\_of\_Evil