A Best of Us... for the Rest of Us is a greatest hits compilation from ska-punk band Reel Big Fish. It was released on July 20, 2010 and sold exclusively through Best Buy stores. It was later released digitally through Amazon MP3 and iTunes with four bonus tracks and without the acoustic tracks. The physical album contains a second "skacoustic" disc of fourteen acoustic versions of Reel Big Fish songs.[1]
On June 21, 2011, the album was re-released as A Best of Us... for the Rest of Us: Bigger Better Bonus Deluxe Version, a three-disc deluxe edition of the album. The first disc is the same as the one from the standard version, except the two covers have been moved to the third disc and replaced with new tracks. The second disc features the "skacoustic" recordings from the standard version of the album, with a different version of "She Has A Girlfriend Now" (featuring vocals by Nicole and Simone Olivia of Tip the Van) and eight additional acoustic tracks. The third disc consists of cover songs, including two that were previously released on the standard edition of the album.
On November 28, 2011, a digital edition of the twenty-two track version of the Skacoustic disc was released on its own through iTunes and Amazon. Prior to this release, the Skacoustic disc was exclusive to physical copies.
On May 15, 2012, a digital edition of "Bigger Better Bonus" was released on iTunes with 64 of the 65 then-released tracks and an additional 14 tracks, including the 7 songs from Fame, Fortune and Fornication that had not already appeared in the collection. The iTunes version features all 78 songs as one disc. The only track excluded from this version is the initially released acoustic version of "She Has a Girlfriend Now" featuring Laila K of Sonic Boom Six, making that track exclusive to the original 2010 physical edition.
Due to the band's former label, Jive Records, owning the master recordings of all their old material, almost all of the songs on the album are re-recorded versions. Only the last three tracks included on the first disc ("Another F.U. Song", "Party Down", and "Slow Down") are previous recordings from Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free.[1] Coincidentally, A Best of Us... was released mere months after Skaboy JFK, another ska hits compilation by Reel Big Fish's former Jive Records labelmates and then-current Rock Ridge Music labelmates the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, which also featured several re-recordings of earlier songs due to the same conflict over master recordings.
The album title is a reference to the Seinfeld episode "The Strike" in which Frank Costanza shouts "A Festivus for the rest of us!"
Track listing
Disc 1: A Best of Us... for the Rest of Us
All songs written and composed by Reel Big Fish (except where noted otherwise).
|
1. |
"Sell Out" |
3:53 |
2. |
"Take On Me" (Originally by a-ha) |
3:19 |
3. |
"Beer" |
3:51 |
4. |
"She Has a Girlfriend Now" (featuring Katrina Kinzler) |
3:07 |
5. |
"Everything Sucks" |
2:53 |
6. |
"Trendy" |
2:38 |
7. |
"I Want Your Girlfriend to be My Girlfriend Too" |
2:48 |
8. |
"In the Pit" |
2:43 |
9. |
"The Set Up (You Need This)" |
4:19 |
10. |
"Somebody Hates Me" |
3:24 |
11. |
"You Don't Know" |
3:15 |
12. |
"Suckers" |
3:39 |
13. |
"Where Have You Been?" |
4:00 |
14. |
"Good Thing" |
3:24 |
15. |
"Ban the Tube Top" |
3:08 |
16. |
"Don't Start a Band" |
3:18 |
17. |
"Your Guts (I Hate 'Em)" |
2:01 |
18. |
"Another F.U. Song" |
1:03 |
19. |
"New Version of You" (New Version) |
3:20 |
20. |
"Party Down" |
4:07 |
21. |
"Slow Down" (Single Version) |
4:20 |
22. |
"Brown Eyed Girl" (Originally by Van Morrison) |
3:03 |
|
|
23. |
"One Hit Wonderful" (New Demo Version) |
4:16 |
24. |
"Snoop Dog, Baby" (Live in Fullerton, CA) |
3:47 |
25. |
"Are You Sure This Is Cool?" (Instrumental, Previously Unreleased) |
3:30 |
26. |
"Another F.U. Song" (Clean Version) |
1:04 |
|
|
6. |
"All I Want Is More" |
2:40 |
17. |
"The Fire" |
3:04 |
23. |
"She Has a Girlfriend Now" (live) (featuring Rachel Minton) |
5:01 |
Disc 2: Skacoustic
|
1. |
"Sell Out" |
3:56 |
2. |
"Beer" |
3:51 |
3. |
"Take On Me" (Originally by a-ha) |
3:14 |
4. |
"She Has A Girlfriend Now" (featuring Laila K of Sonic Boom Six) |
3:04 |
5. |
"Another F.U. Song" |
1:03 |
6. |
"Your Guts (I Hate 'Em)" |
1:55 |
7. |
"Suckers" |
3:39 |
8. |
"Where Have You Been?" |
4:01 |
9. |
"Don't Start A Band" |
3:17 |
10. |
"S.R." |
1:37 |
11. |
"241" |
2:41 |
12. |
"The Kids Don't Like It" |
3:24 |
13. |
"Scott's A Dork" |
3:04 |
14. |
"Nothin'" |
2:06 |
|
|
4. |
"She Has a Girlfriend Now" (featuring Nicole and Simone Olivia of Tip the Van) |
3:33 |
15. |
"I’m Cool" |
3:30 |
16. |
"Everything Sucks" |
2:58 |
17. |
"You Don’t Know" |
3:15 |
18. |
"My Imaginary Friend" |
3:23 |
19. |
"I'm Her Man" |
4:04 |
20. |
"Good Thing" |
3:22 |
21. |
"New Version of You" |
3:21 |
22. |
"One Hit Wonderful" |
3:41 |
Disc 3: The Best Songs We Never Wrote
|
|
61. |
"Authority Song" | John Mellencamp |
2:54 |
62. |
"Brown Eyed Girl (Skacoustic)" | Van Morrison |
3:03 |
63. |
"Hungry Like the Wolf" | Duran Duran |
2:53 |
64. |
"Keep A Cool Head" | Desmond Dekker |
2:13 |
65. |
"Mama We're All Crazy Now" | Slade |
2:15 |
66. |
"The Long Run" | Eagles |
3:35 |
67. |
"Twist and Crawl" | The English Beat |
2:35 |
68. |
"Won't Back Down" | Tom Petty |
3:07 |
69. |
"Another F.U. Song" (Clean Version) | |
1:04 |
70. |
"Are You Sure This Is Cool?" (Previously Unreleased) | |
3:30 |
71. |
"Cannibal" (Re-recorded) | |
6:19 |
72. |
"Down in Flames" | |
4:48 |
73. |
"Good Thing" (Ska Version) | |
3:26 |
74. |
"The Kids Don't Like It" | |
3:21 |
75. |
"One Hit Wonderful" (New Demo Version) | |
4:16 |
76. |
"Cheer Up" (Live in Fullerton, CA) | |
4:26 |
77. |
"Snoop Dog, Baby" (Live in Fullerton, CA) | |
3:47 |
78. |
"S.R." (Masters Version, Live in Anaheim, CA) | |
8:33 |
Personnel
Reel Big Fish
- Aaron Barrett – lead vocals, lead guitar, synthesizer, organ, slide guitar
- Dan Regan – trombone, group vocals
- Scott Klopfenstein – trumpet, vocal harmonies, guitar
- Ryland Steen – drums, cymbals, shakers, tambourine, guero, background vocals, group vocals
- Derek Gibbs – bass guitar, group vocals
- John Christianson – trumpet, group vocals
Additional Musicians
- Peter Wasilewski (Less Than Jake & Spring Heeled Jack) – saxophone on "Trendy"
- Katrina Kinzler – vocals on "She Has a Girlfriend Now"
- Laila Khan (Sonic Boom Six) – vocals on "She Has a Girlfriend Now (Skacoustic)" (First Version)
- Brian Klemm (Suburban Legends) – additional cursing on "Another F.U. Song"
- Matt Wong – bass guitar on "Another F.U. Song," "Party Down," "Slow Down," "She Has a Girlfriend Now (Live)," "Another Day In Paradise," "Unity (Live)," "Cheer Up (Live)," "Snoop Dogg, Baby (Live)"
- Ali Tabatabaee (Zebrahead) - vocals on "Unity (Live)"
- David Irish (Trash Monsters) - gang vocals
- Nicole and Simone Olivia (Tip the Van) - vocals on "She Has a Girlfriend Now (Skacoustic)" (Second Version)
- Stephanie Allen (Tip the Van) - trombone on "She Has a Girlfriend Now (Skacoustic)" (Second Version)
- Rachel Minton (Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer) - vocals on "She Has a Girlfriend Now (Live)"
- Tatiana DeMaria (TAT) - vocals on "Talk Dirty to Me"
References