It was bound to happen, really. Thanks in no small part to mirth-merchants The Mighty Boosh and Flight Of The Conchords, musical comedy has never been healthier. So it makes sense for the arch dukes of arse-ing about, Spinal Tap, to make their comeback, doesn’t it? However, the only problem with that is, while the near mythic 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap was a pretty biting satire on the stupidity of a handful of hair-brained metal bands, in 2009 the joke just isn’t funny anymore.
Still, the reunited David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls and Nigel Tufnell are canny enough to realise that their public isn’t interested in new stuff and Back From The Dead is a release full of re-recordings of classics such as ‘Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You,’ ‘Stonehenge’ and ‘Big Bottom’ timed to cash in with their One Night Only World Tour (ho and indeed ho). In an effort to milk that cash cow for one more payday, the Tap have also elected to “treat” us to ‘Jazz Odyssey’ parts I, II and III as well as the patience testing ‘Funky Sex Farm’ and instead of coming across as the comic geniuses that they were in the ‘80s, these days they sound like sad and tired old men. There is frankly no need for the majority of the 19 tracks on offer and the likes of ‘Heavy Duty’ and ‘Warmer Than Hell’ are so excruciatingly bad that we kinda wished the Tap had stayed dead and buried for good. Maybe then Derek and David would’ve finally got to finish writing ‘Saucy Jack’, eh…?

Key Track: ‘Big Bottom’