Customer Reviews

Break Like the Wind

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Spinal Tap returns! The most prolific nonexistant band ever is back with "Break Like The Wind," a wonderfully warped metal album that celebrates rock'n'roll, bad lyrics and exploding drummers. This a bad album -- gloriously, magnificently bad, in the way only a spoof can be.

It opens with the roaring male dominance rocker "Bitch School," which would be offensive if it weren't tongue-in-cheek, then lurches on to the wonderfully bloated "Majesty of Rock," a gloriously ghastly duet with Cher, the insanely pretentious "The Sun Never Sweats" ("Bolder than the pirates who used to rule the sea/Braver than the natives, who never heard of tea...")

The peak of this album may be the song "Break Like the Wind," which aspires to be deep and inspirational despite lyrics like "We are the thumb on a stranger's hand." And two of the most priceless songs are at the end: the mope ballad "All the Way Home," and the truly twisted Christmas song, "Christmas With the Devil."

The world was first introduced to Spinal Tap in "This is Spinal Tap," the classic rockumentary about England's loudest band. With the help of Cher (yes, that Cher) and Dweezil Zappa, they take it upon themselves to roundly mock metal, hard rock, rock ballads, and quite a few other things as well -- they're funny because they put so much effort into doing a nudge-wink bad job.

The music itself is pretty standard hard rock riffs -- it's merely okay, and therein lies the irony. What's really startling is that while the music is not amazing in the technical sense, it's actually much better than many real-life bands were. Scary, no? It does have its moments of brilliance, due to Zappa and Jeff Beck mostly, as well as some gloriously ghastly sitar.

It's not the music but the lyrics that are genius. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are true geniuses of the bad song -- what's even better, these are the sort of bad songs that people write, but don't know that they are bad. "And that's the Majesty of Rock!/The Mystery of Roll!/The darning of the sock,/the scoring of the goal!" Does it get worse than that? Yes, if you include lines like "Rise! for you are cream" and "We may be gods or big marionettes/But the sun never sweats."

"Break Like the Wind" is a wonderful album by the loudest band in Britain, and the best band that never technically existed. Tap into this!

This 1992 album was Spinal Tap's first album in 8 years. It featured new songs, as well as rerecordings of older songs from their out of print albums. Here is a track by track analysis:

1. "Bitch School" is a song about a disobedient dog. This one really rocks.
2. "The Majesty of Rock" is about the life affirming power of rock and roll. Yeah, baby!
3. "Diva Fever" is about how "high maintenance" women can make a man miserable. Ain't it the truth!
4. "Just Begin Again" is a duet by David St. Hubbins & Cher. It is a really inspirational ballad.
5. "Cash on Delivery" features a rare lead vocal by Derek Smalls. It uses money as a clever metaphor for sex.
6. "The Sun Never Sweats" is a rerecording of the title song from a classic Spinal Tap album. There is a good reason that they chose to rerecord this one!
7. "Rainy Day Sun" was originally the b-side of their hit "Flower People". It is a fun bit of hippie nonsense.
8. Nigel Tufnel is one of the most influential guitarists in rock. On "Break Like the Wind", some of his disciples (Slash, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani and Jeff Beck) provide guest solos in tribute to him.
9. "Stinking Up the Great Outdoors" is an autobiographical song about the band's appearance at the US Festival.
10. In "Springtime", Nigel sings about his favorite season. I won't spoil it by telling which one.
11. In "Clam Caravan", Nigel sings about traveling through the desert. The Saharah, I think.
12. "Christmas With the Devil" is a remake of their classic Xmas song. Ho ho ho!
13. "The 13th Song" is about a dying man. It's very different for Tap, and very strange.
14. "All The Way Home" was the first song David and Nigel every wrote together. This one is a real treat for longtime Tap fans.

In short (too late), this CD is a must get for all Tapheads.

I got into Spinal Tap when I saw the hilarious "rockumentary" for the first time a couple of years ago. I soon bought the video and memorized almost every line. The comedic genius of Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest could be clearly seen in the movie and the original soundtrack... but their real talents come through every note on this album. They outdid themselves by showing that they can still poke fun at mainstream metal bands while, at the same time, rivaling them in songwriting. These songs, while at times intentionally off-key a bit, are extremely well made.

The songs are, in my opinion, funnier and catchier than the ones on the original soundtrack. "B**** School" starts off the album, wallowing in male-dominant lyrics. "The Majesty of Rock" comes in with a sweeping melody and beat, and lyrics such as "And it feels so real, you can feel the feeling!". "Diva Fever" is a faster song with amazing solos by Dweezil Zappa. And what would a good parody album be without a ballad? Nothing, exactly! "Just Begin Again" is a beautiful (chuckles) and uplifting (laughs hysterically) song. The appearance of Cher really adds a lot to this song. Just listen to David and Cher try to harmonize, you'll be rolling on the floor. "Cash On Delivery" is just an awesome song. Its classic hard rock, with great riffs and a great beat. "Rainy Day Sun" is the obligatory hippie song. Its pretty good, not the albums best, but pretty cool. Things build up to what could be the album's highlight, "Break Like the Wind". The title track really shows off what Spinal Tap can do. There are some awesome solos in this song by about 4 different people, including Slash and Jeff Beck. There are so many guitars going at the end, it starts to get really distorted. Amazing song. "Stinking Up the Great Outdoors" is a great Southern rock tune, complete with harmonicas and slide guitar. Along comes the albums strangest song, "Springtime". Nigel Tuffnel comes in with what sounds like a cross between Louis Armstrong and Johnny Rotten... its hilarious. He then commences with a guitar solo made with his voice, I guess through some kind of effects thingie. Thats also hilarious. The ending is very disjointed. "Clam Caravan" could also be the albums highlight, very soothing Eastern-sound, and a horrible sitar solo (this is intentional, of course). "Christmas With the Devil" is another great hard rock tune. Track 13, though not listed, is a great little filler track, and it actually has something to say! And the album ends with the classic "All the Way Home". All Spinal Tap fans should remember this song from the fast food scene in the movie.

Well, this is a long review, but all I want to say is that, if you think this can't possibly be as good as the film or the original soundrack, give it a good listen to. You'll grow to love it.

Look, like everyone else posting here, I saw the movie a billion times, and went right out and picked up this new album just before seeing them live in San Francisco. I even dressed up in fake rocker attire with "Viv Savage Lives!" penned across my thigh. The problem - nobody else seemed to understand it was satire. People took it so seriously. I figured people would be dressed up, but no...just two of us. This album seems to suffer from the same malady. Yes, the lyrics are funny, but it seems a little forced, and its just not as fun as the first farce. It's in the face of farce. Farce-faced, even. Ok, I'm just being silly now. But what made the first album - and the movie - so much fun was the variety and spontenaity that's just missing from this collection of songs.

Astonishingly, perhaps, Break Like The Wind was one of the best heavy rock albums of its year (92), despite being a "spoof". I think the reason is fairly obvious; they actually seem to enjoy being a heavy metal band, and put as much work into this as any real band would. These are well written songs; and where the parody "bad" element comes in, e.g the tuneless Clam Caravan sitar solo, they're deliberately, masterfully bad. It's a fine demonstration that comedy parody only works when the parodists have a regard for that which they parody, and do it seriously.

As I said, this is good music. It's not a comedy album you'll listen to once for a laugh, it's a fine rock album you'll listen to again and again, with excellent songs you'll find stuck in your head. Highlights for me: The Majesty Of Rock is a glorious rock anthem, and the title track is simply awesome, while Bitch School is a wonderfully mindless headbanger you won't be ashamed to listen to (because you can pretend you're just being ironic).

Don't get me wrong; you'll laugh too, but with, not at, Spinal Tap. The humourous lyrics are beautifully, intelligently crafted; 3 intelligent guys playing idiots trying to be deep "..we are the thumbs on a stranger's hands" croons St Hubbins on BLTW, while on Majesty wondering "When we die do we haunt the sky, do we lurk in the murk of the seas? What then, are we born again, just to sit asking questions like these?". And The Sun Never Sweats (another fabulously strong track) muses, "We may be Gods, or just big marionettes"... and so on... and so on...

Simply brilliant, and an essential part of every rock fan's collection.

One more thing; the production is superb too. A must buy.

I have to say reading reviews that if people aren't laughing out loud at the music on this album you're missing the point. I agree that the lyrics are what give Spinal Tap their edge but if you're a musician listen to their dead on take of all forms of rock. The Sun Never Sweats is a highlight for me particularly the middle section that switches into three unrelated keys while the riff badly apes Slade or Jethro Tull. Rainy Day Sun does a great job of evoking bad '60's psychedlic rock - a cross between the Doors and the Kinks. The best part of the album though is Nigel's voicebox solo on Springtime. The only bad parts for me were the duet with Cher (too blatantly bad for me) and the remake of Christmas with the Devil which is done better on the remastered soundtrack (Take number one with their Hoiday greeting kicks every other version).

Many have commented on how surprisingly "not bad" the music is. In fact, I'd go so far as to say some of it is GOOD. Mixed with hilariously hackneyed bits are some truly awesome musical passages and innovative use of effects. It's amazing what they do within the parodic constraints. There are all sorts of subtle references to your favorite '80s hair-metal acts. These musicians clearly have a love for the style they're satirizing, which is why they do it so well. Like Tap's first album "Smell the Glove", there are also parodies of other genres such as the pretentious orchestrated "rock ballad" (Just Begin Again). Sometimes it's the stock chord progressions and predictable patterns THEMSELVES which seem to have been crafted together in some sort of nudge-nudge wink-wink irony-soaked genius. It's hard to explain, you'll have to hear the album yourself to see what I'm getting at.

The same goes for the lyrics. The bands that Spinal Tap parodies like Iron Maiden and Queensryche could only dream of employing the lyrical wit Tap displays. I can't say I know what to make of this. The overall effect is a brilliant pastiche on rock cliches - an accomplishment that stands quite apart from the mockumentary the band is primarily associated with.

Spinal Tap returns! The most prolific nonexistant band ever is back with "Break Like The Wind," a wonderfully warped metal album that celebrates rock'n'roll, bad lyrics and exploding drummers. This a bad album -- gloriously, magnificently bad, in the way only a spoof can be.

It opens with the roaring male dominance rocker "Bitch School," which would be offensive if it weren't tongue-in-cheek, then lurches on to the wonderfully bloated "Majesty of Rock," a gloriously ghastly duet with Cher, the insanely pretentious "The Sun Never Sweats" ("Bolder than the pirates who used to rule the sea/Braver than the natives, who never heard of tea...")

The peak of this album may be the song "Break Like the Wind," which aspires to be deep and inspirational despite lyrics like "We are the thumb on a stranger's hand." And two of the most priceless songs are at the end: the mope ballad "All the Way Home," and the truly twisted Christmas song, "Christmas With the Devil."

The world was first introduced to Spinal Tap in "This is Spinal Tap," the classic rockumentary about England's loudest band. With the help of Cher (yes, that Cher) and Dweezil Zappa, they take it upon themselves to roundly mock metal, hard rock, rock ballads, and quite a few other things as well -- they're funny because they put so much effort into doing a nudge-wink bad job.

The music itself is pretty standard hard rock riffs -- it's merely okay, and therein lies the irony. What's really startling is that while the music is not amazing in the technical sense, it's actually much better than many real-life bands were. Scary, no? It does have its moments of brilliance, due to Zappa and Jeff Beck mostly, as well as some gloriously ghastly sitar.

It's not the music but the lyrics that are genius. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are true geniuses of the bad song -- what's even better, these are the sort of bad songs that people write, but don't know that they are bad. "And that's the Majesty of Rock!/The Mystery of Roll!/The darning of the sock,/the scoring of the goal!" Does it get worse than that? Yes, if you include lines like "Rise! for you are cream" and "We may be gods or big marionettes/But the sun never sweats."

This particular edition includes some extra goodies -- the rambly little song "All The Way Home," which was a pre-band song that the guys sort-of-sing in the movie. And then there's the "Bitch School" video -- an all-girls school, where a leather-clad Monroe-lookalike turns up to be the new teacher, and teaches the girls to get in touch with their inner S&M madam.

"Break Like the Wind" is a wonderful album by the loudest band in Britain, and the best band that never technically existed. Tap into this!

The greatest band of all time products the greatest album of all time!
Break like the wind is a transgenic odyssey of musical integrity.

A music have for any true fan of music

With more of a 90s sound, Break Like The Wind is a classic. With songs like Break Like The Wind, Christmas With The Devil, and B School (You have to see the video for it) this album will satisfy any Tap fan. David, Nigel, and Derek (Mike McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer) show they can write songs with the best of them. I highly recommend the album, and the insidre cover is also good.