Spinal Tap – Back From The Dead (2009)
Spinal Tap – Back From The Dead (2009, The Spuzzle Group)
- Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight
- Back From The Dead
- (Funky) Sex Farm
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Creation
- Jazz Oddyssey I
- Gimme Some Money
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare
- Heavy Duty
- America
- Jazz Oddyssey II
- (Listen To The) Flower People (Reggae Stylee)
- Hell Hole
- Big Bottom
- Celtic Blues
- Jazz Oddyssey III
- Warmer Than Hell
- Stonehenge
- Short And Sweet
- Cups And Cakes
Band Lineup:
Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) – Lead Guitar, Mandolin, Sitar & Vocals
David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) – Lead Vocals, Guitars & Piano
Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) – Bass & Vocals
“Caucasian” Jeffrey Vanston (C.J. Vanston) – Keyboards
Gregg Bissonette – Drums
Producers: C.J. Vanston
Country: United Kingdom
Total Time = 66:11
Spinal Tap
Spinal Tap MySpace page
Spinal Tap is back celebrating the 25th anniversary of the This Is Spinal Tap documentary with a new album, BACK FROM THE DEAD and tour. BACK FROM THE DEAD follows the current trend of bands re-recording new versions of their old hits and adding a few new songs but to make this album really special Spinal Tap put out an elaborate package that included a bonus DVD and a digipak that folds out into a diorama of the band performing on stage with the famed Stonehenge. It’s actually a pretty cool concept but I haven’t pulled the diorama together!
If you have the This Is Spinal Tap movie soundtrack then you know what the original songs sound like. The re-recorded versions are almost identical to the originals with a couple of exceptions: ‘Sex Farm’ has tuned into ‘(Funky) Sex Farm’ with the obvious Funk beat and ‘(Listen To The) Flower People’ has received a Reggae treatment. Spinal Tap has never been a band without fun so these new versions are very cool, especially ‘(Funky) Sex Farm’ with it’s horns and deep voiced background vocals. A surprise appearance of ‘Jazz Oddyssey’ is included on this record also…..but in three parts. ‘Jazz Oddyssey’ was performed briefly during the film but now all Tap fans can rejoice by having the entire work (written by bassist Derek Smalls) on one album…..in three parts. The five new songs fit in well with the band’s classics: ‘Back From The Dead’ was a digital single from 2000, ‘Warmer Than Hell’ was released online also but in 2007, and both are big sounding Rock songs as is ‘Rock ‘n’Roll Nightmare’. ‘Celtic Blues’ is an A capella song that has a quick bit of band discussion at the end and is the shortest song on the album clocking in at 1:25 while ‘Short And Sweet’ turns out to be the record’s epic at 6:35 and has a late ’60s/early ’70s Blues/Rock ‘n’ Roll sound and some long solos! It’s all a lot of fun and pure Tap!
Bottom Line:
If you’ve seen the movie then you get the joke…..but the band is quite serious. I still watch This Is Spinal Tap on DVD regularly and I bust out my cassette copy of the movie soundtrack for some plays in the car (it’s one of my last cassettes!) so the classics are always good to hear and these new versions are almost identical save for a couple fun changes. The five new songs fit in perfectly and have the same Spinal Tap sound and direction. If you haven’t seen the movie…..watch it. If you’re familiar with the movie and haven’t picked up the soundtrack then pick this up and get a solid overview of Spinal Tap’s music plus some new material.
Favorite Songs:
Re-recorded Classics – ‘Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight’, ‘(Funky) Sex Farm’, ‘Big Bottom’, ‘Hell Hole’
New Songs – ‘Back From The Dead’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare’, Warmer Than Hell’
Jazz Oddyssey – I, II, & III
