Spinal Tap [Soundtrack]

Spinal Tap | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 29, 1990)
• Original Release Date: March 2, 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001F5D
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,795 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hell Hole

2. Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight

3. Heavy Duty

4. Rock and Roll Creation

5. America

6. Cups And Cakes

7. Big Bottom

8. Sex Farm

9. Stonehenge

10. Gimme Some Money

11. (Listen To The) Flower People

12. Christmas with the Devil [*]

13. Christmas with the Devil [*][Mix]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of the greatest ironies surrounding This Is Spinal Tap is that it's actually better than many of the recordings it parodies. Songs like "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight," "Hell Hole," "Heavy Duty," and even "Stonehenge" are fun, '80s-style rockers that any closet hair-band fan will enjoy, and "Sex Farm" and "Big Bottom" are hilarious, especially to those same closet fans. There's also the hippie-drippy "Listen to the Flower People" (even funnier if you've seen Rob Reiner's film of the same title), although Michael McKean and Christopher Guest singing "Cry, Cry, Cry All the Way Home" is sadly absent. The CD does lose some of its entertainment value if you haven't seen the film, but its mix of comedy and unabashed pop metal makes it the perfect party album. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars England's Loudest Band, October 17, 2000

By 

Jon Harlson (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Is Spinal Tap (Audio CD)

Finally, here is a collection of sone of the greatest hits of one of Englands Loudest Bands, Spinal Tap. This is overall a great collection. It has 2 pre-tap songs, when David and Nigel were in the Thamesmen, and Spinal Tap's first, and only, international number one hit, Listen to (the flower people). It also has some of the fan favorites like "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You" from the classic Intrevenous De Milo album, and "Rock N Roll Creation" from my personal favorite tap album A Rock and Roll Creation (known to others as The Gospel According to Spinal Tap). Although many may disagree with me, they may be right, because I am a sucker for concept albums. Some of the other fan favoites are on here, like "Big Bottom" from their phenominal Brainhammer album, and "Sex Farm" from their rather disappointing Shark Sandwich album. ALthough the music is good, it seems that Tap was trying to recreated the magic they had during the Intrevenous De Milo period, and they didn't succeed. Despite some great songs on this album, there are some disappointments. There are no songs from their famous Blood to Let album. It may be because a young taphead was found dead while listening to this albums, and initial accusations were that they album made him commit suicide. However, authorities did and autopsy and found out the cause of death was boredom. It would also be nice to see the 19 minute live version of "Short N Easy" from their Silent but Deadly live album. There are also some old classics missing like "We Are All Flower People" "To Fly" "I Am Flight" "Get Me Away From the Ground" "The Incredible Flight of Icarus P. Anybody" and "All the Way Home". As well as the recent composition by Nigel entitled "Lick My Lovepump". Although this collection is missing some great songs which will never see the light of day since Megaphone has refused to release any of their albums due to "Lack of Talent", there are some great gems here, and this is a great introduction to Spinal Tap to any new Taphead.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The University of Tap, June 5, 2005

By 

Alasdair Brooks (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Is Spinal Tap (Audio CD)

It saddens me to see that so many reviewers at Amazon.com have so badly misunderstood what is perhaps England's most literate and intelligent band. Few popular musicians of the 20th century have had the intellectual firepower to so consistently subvert commonly received opinions on such a wide variation of academic topics.

Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence:

1) 'Sex Farm' is often misunderstood as some sort of sexist song drawing puerile analogies between barn animals and women. Tosh! As anyone familiar with the settlement of the North American continent can attest, the Tap are offering an insightful perspective on the objectification of women during the settlement of the American Prairie.

2) 'Big Bottom' is often misunderstood as an even more sexist song based on juvenile delight at sexualised female buttocks. Never. What people fail to understand is that the Tap are issuing a satirical howl of rage at the reification of pseudo-anorexic 'Cosmo Woman', and are instead urging us to consider the beauty of the fuller-figured woman in line with their understanding of the role of the Goddess Image in proto-historical Europe

3) 'Stonehenge' shows the Tap's awareness of broader archaeological issues by serving as an academic historiography of outdated interpretations of the function of British prehistoric sites - play it backwards, and you can hear the academic citations.

4) And 'Rock and Roll Creation' - here the subtlely of Tufnell, Smalls and St. Hubbins is truely revealed through their attempt to offer a syncretisation of Christian sources pre-dating St. Polycarp's letter to the Phillipians with non-Mediterranean creation myths. Ultimately, the Tap's magnificent ambition perhaps exceeds their grasp, and it cannot be claimed that they succeed - but surely they should be applauded for trying?

Perhaps it is because the Tap's genius is so wide-ranging that so many people have misunderstood the true meaning of the songs. But their legacy will live on, hewn into the living plastic of my CD collection.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They're gonna rock you tonight, September 12, 2003

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Is Spinal Tap (Audio CD)

They transcended their hippie-ish song origins to become the loudest, strangest metal band in Britain: Spinal Tap, the slightly insane band of Rob Reiner's mockumentary/rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap." And not mentioning their songs is like neglecting to say that the beach has water. Included are the goopy hippie anthem "(Listen To the) Flower People," the hilarious buttock anthem "Big Bottom" (so much for "Bootylicious"), the abortive semi-mystical "Stonehenge," the delicious "Gimme Some Money," and a bunch of others from the movie.

Technically, you don't have to have seen "This is Spinal Tap" to be amused by the songs, but knowing their context makes them about five times funnier. (Try to listen to "Stonehenge" without seeing that tiny replica being lowered to the stage, or hear "Rock 'N' Roll Creation" without seeing Derek trapped in his pod) If I didn't know better, I would actually think that Spinal Tap was a real band. (For your information, that is not a black cover -- it's a close-up of the black glove. Okay?)

This album brims over with the good-natured "retarded sexuality and bad poetry" that people love. The lyrics range from almost normal to insanely bad. They rhyme "Monday" with "Bun-day" (from "Big Bottom"), to give one example. The good songs are pretty good, and the bad songs are so terrible they're brilliant. They includes such Shakespearean gems as "Getting out my pitch fork/And poking your hay" ("Sex Farm"), "Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow" ("Stonehenge"), and "You know what I want/You know what I need/Or maybe you don't" ("Gimme Some Money"). What's really amazing: They rate above the bands they parody, both in singing and musical quality.

Highly recommended, and not just for fans of the modern classic mockumentary. So crank your amps up to eleven and listen to Britain's loudest band. And ignore those dwarfs dancing around the tiny Stonehenge, okay?