Spinal Tap is a particular phenomenon in the musical industry. They were created in the beginning as an idea by director Bob Reiner for a certain American television show that never came. Finally, the characters behind this idea took shape in the forms of Michael McKean (singer/guitarist David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (guitarist Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (bass player Derek Smalls). The drum stool was never officially filled and this fed the band’s mythology that their drummer always died on them (based in part on the deaths of Keith Moon and John Bonham). With the idea ready and a vast selection of humorous incidents or rumors from the genre to tap into, the whole thing turned into the 1984 film “This Is Spinal Tap”. It was far from a big success on release, mainly because the audience didn’t realize that it was a mockcumentary (the first of its kind) and that the band were not real. And for many this is actually a common question, are Spinal Tap a real band?

The answer is simultaneously, yes and no. McKean, Guest and Shearer are indeed musicians, apart from actors. But the band does not exist in the way other rock bands do. It has only released 3 studio albums in 25 years, one of which is the soundtrack to the film and their concerts can be measured on the fingers of one their drummer’s hands (very probably the one that exploded). The world tour for the album being reviewed here is, in fact named “One Night Only World Tour” and, as the name implies, is made up of one show in London’s Wembley Arena!

And so we reach our main subject. That is, the return of Spinal Tap with the aptly named “Back From The Dead” CD. Of course for a band whose aim from the start was to ridicule all the other rock-metal bands, the fact that album contains just one or two new tracks, while the majority of its content of are reworkings or re-recording of songs featured in the film, fits in nicely with the whole satire. Of course, considering that the original film soundtrack is very hard to find nowadays then the move doesn’t seem that bad. In between the re-recordings we run into staple Tap-songs such as “Sex Farm” re-worked to a funk backing, “Listen To The Flower People” turned into reggae song and of course the infamous “Jazz Odyssey” in three parts. Of course, if you haven’t seen the film then all this means very little to you.

And this is, probably the only disadvantage of the album. If you haven’t seen the film it can’t touch you the way the film has. For the Tap-ists, however, especially if you can’t find the original soundtrack, this release is a more than worthy substitute. And if you do buy it make sure you get the special edition, because you also get a cardboard cutout of band and a DVD in which the Tap comment on the material in the album, the ultimate satire of any rock star trying to explain his songs.