Music

Back from the Dead by Spinal Tap

It's 25 years since This is Spinal Tap hit cinemas and a pop culture legend was born, and now they're back with this new double-disc release -- in the most ludicrous packaging you've ever seen.

The CD part of the set firstly contains 11 re-recorded classic Tap songs (a cover sticker says 13, but they've done their maths wrong). This might sound a little pointless, but it turns out not so. Some songs have been re-interpreted -- (Funky) Sex Fam and (Listen to the) Flower People (Reggae Stylee), for example -- while those that are essentially the same have been beefed up, sounding much meatier than the versions on the original soundtrack CD -- Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight, Heavy Duty and Big Bottom all particularly benefit from this. All of these songs are taken from the original film soundtrack, completely ignoring 1992's Break Like the Wind. I guess someone thought (not necessarily incorrectly) that these wouldn't be familiar to casual fans and so weren't worth bothering with. Personally, I quite like that CD, and certainly miss Christmas With the Devil.

Additionally, the CD also holds 6 brand-new tracks. While the three-part Jazz Oddyssey (sic) and Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare may not immediately stick in your mind, the rest of the new stuff more than makes up for it. Title track Back from the Dead is a brilliant spoof of aging rock bands' "we're back!" songs, while Celtic Blues sets its sights on folksy music with Tap's typical accuracy. Short and Sweet primarily relies on the joke that it's the longest track on the album, while Warmer Than Hell is about the Devil visiting Earth in the midst of global warming. It begins with the instant-classic line "The Devil went to Devon" and doesn't let up.

The DVD portion is a 59-minute track-by-track interview with the band (in character, as always) that I haven't watched yet. Nor have I assembled the packaging, which is kind of neat but actually more awkward -- it doesn't look like you can easily take it down once put up, but it is clearly designed to be assembled as it's tricky to use in its default state.

The reason for Tap's enduring success may be that they do everything so well: not only are the lyrics highly amusing, but they have the musical ability to back them up in a way that is almost unnervingly convincing -- some of these tracks could be slipped on to certain genuine bands' albums and no one would notice the difference. If they weren't funny they'd just be a band; if they weren't good musicians they'd just be a comedy film. But they're both, and this set is easily the best available version of their music.

(Additionally, re-recordings in the original style for (Listen to the) Flower People and Sex Farm are available from Amazon MP3 and iTunes respectively. Apparently there was a third extra track available on their official site, though I'll be damned if I can find it.)