Favourite Spinal Tap Album? [poll]

1971-1974 (closely followed by 1976-1977) is my favourite Tap-era, so out of these four it's easily Intravenous de Milo, but I've always found it strange that an original Megaphone-press of is so hard to find, as it went bronze (two levels below platinum) after 1 million copies were returned to stores back in '74.

The Gospel According to... is a difficult one. It consists of rejected tracks after the band's much publicized lawsuit against Megaphone, and they tend to dismiss is as "underbought and underrecorded". I really like some of it, though, and a combination between this and Bent for the Rent would have been awesome. The so-called rock psalms are full of good riffs, such as "Rock 'n' Roll Creation". "Young, Smug and Famous" kicks ass, and I wish they would have done more punk-stuff like that. That being said, the mix is very thin and sparse, and would be a great contender for a Steven Wilson-remix, had it not been for the sad fact that 4 out of the 16 tracks were sold to another band by one of the engineers.

Shark Sandwich is my least favourite of the four, and I wouldn't mind ever hearing "Throb Detector" and "Sex Farm" again. I wish they would have gone more "all out metal" here, instead of doing that Kiss-style disco/pop-rock/metal-hybrid. I wasn't around when it was released, but it must have confused the fanbase no end - not to mention being impossible for Polymer to promote around this time. It's also crazy to think that they then went to Jamaica with the aim of doing a reggae album, which would have been atrocious, but more than likely a cult-classic today.

Smell the Glove isn't that bad. I know that there are blatant attempts to be commercial here too, but it has some serious bangers in my book, such as "Hell Hole". The bottom line when it comes to 1982 is that the documentary (more than Japan buying a two year old single) saved them. Yes, they broke up, but there is no way they would have reached the levels of popularity they did afterwards had it not been for the film. They probably wouldn't have reunited either. Just my two cents.

 

Not too fond of the lyrics on that one. Musically it's important, of course (and somewhat of a transitional album), but Nerve Damage and Blood to Let are both better imho.

 

The Sun Never Sweats is such a boring record. Maybe it was cool at the time, but they tried to make The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and it shows ("Stonehenge" is a great song, though).

 

Now that I would like to hear - we were only treated to a short extract in the - if you will - "rockumentary" so I would like to experience this famed "free form jazz exploration" in full. How long is it? 20 minutes? Half an hour? Or did they have to bring it to a close when the puppets were due to come on?

 

Why the classic live album "Jap Habit"

 

Openfaced Mako.

 

‘SMELL THE GLOVE’ was probably the most lyrically profound set to that point. Exploring, as it does , feminist yearning,
veganism, animal welfare, civil rights and, well, ......smells.
It’s their Abbey Road.
But for this Tap-Head, ‘BREAK LIKE THE WIND’ is their ‘coming
of age’ masterpiece, their ‘LET IT BE /naked’.
Playing like their lives depended on it, never stopping to count drummers strewn in their wake. This is the one.

 

A well thought-out response. I'm guessing that you took more time to type that than the producers took to write the script. And I say this as a fan of the movie.

 

I had an early promo copy of 'Smell The Glove' with a scratch n sniff sleeve. Lets just say that when they changed the cover, they forgot to change the smell

 

Can't get enough Tap! Especially in these troubled times. And they know it.

David: "I think there's a hunger for spirituality in even the most..."
Nigel: "Wretched?"
David: "Well, wretched or materialistic audience. They reach for something, they want something ... And hopefully they buy it at the merch stand."

 

Their career really turned around after the Berlin Wall fell down and their albums started selling on the dismal side of the Iron Curtain. Nobody benefited more from the death of communism than them!

 

FAN OF THE EARLY STUFF


Spinal Tap - Gimme Some Money

 

Just a shame the poll dosn't include the full Tap studio discography:

• Spinal Tap Sings "(Listen to the) Flower People" and Other Favourites (1967)
• We Are All Flower People (1968)
• Brainhammer (1970)
• Nerve Damage (1971)
• Blood to Let (1972)
• Intravenus de Milo (1974)
• The Sun Never Sweats (1975)
• Bent for the Rent (1976)
• Tap Dancing (1976)
• Rock 'n' Roll Creation (referred to as The Gospel According to Spinal Tap in the film) (1977)
• Shark Sandwich (1980)
• Smell the Glove (1982)

 

1982's Smell the Glove was an attempt to cash in on the early 80s heavy metal resurgence, very much like Uriah Heep's Abominog LP of that same year, or Deep Purple's Perfect Strangers album 2 years later. As I recall they were promoting it as sort of a comeback. It seemed contrived at the time but I like it and voted for it because it has aged well and the production is pretty good on it.

 

There are (at least) two vinyl editions. The UK first press contains a bonus disc with no spindle hole (to save money, which was also a central point in the lawsuit), and while the labels read "Rock 'n' Roll Creation", the sleeve and spine says "The Gospel According to Spinal Tap". This was changed for the US edition, which is only one disc, and says "Rock 'n' Roll Creation" everywhere. I consider "The Gospel According to Spinal Tap" to be the correct/original title though, but maybe that was deemed too controversial in the States? I don't know the full story, sorry.

 

What, no Spinal Tap Sings "(Listen to the) Flower People" and Other Favourites?

 

Tap's pop-psych era is too often dismissed or overlooked, probably because they've given us so many heavy metal memories, but Cups and Cakes could easily have been on Sgt. Pepper between Lovely Rita and Good Morning Good Morning.

 

HERNIA
(unreleased boxed set - 2000's)

Album Notes

• Allegedly a twenty-four disc set of every non-CD Tap album and single.
• The latest mention of this project was in 2000, when Derek stated that its release would depend on the success of the soundtrack and BREAK LIKE THE WIND reissues. (Six years later, one can only guess that the reissues did not do as well as hoped.)

Source: The Ultimate Spinal Tap Discography, Mark II

 

Agreed. I'd also love to hear the live version from Rotterdam '64 on the Got Thamesmen on Tap-boot. Steve Worek's discography notes: "The version of "Cups and Cakes" heard here is very different due to the lack of an orchestra, with the music primarily played on acoustic guitars with light percussion." They also cover "My Baby Wants It Tonight" by legendary bluesman and early Tap influence Blind Bubba Cheeks.

Speaking of the Beatles, Spinal Tap actually covered "Lady Madonna" in 1968 (also available on an obscure bootleg called Top Hit for Nows), and Worek also claims that Derek attempted to cover "Rain" during his aborted 1978 solo album sessions. Intriguing.

 

I’ve played shark sandwich 1000 times, I never get tired of it. I was disappointed however when the CD version came out. The mix was all wrong, not to mention brick walling on one song the next song not. Can’t wait for those 180 g represses coming out in December!!

 

Why not buy "Back From The Dead"? Jazz Odyssey is on it as a three-part suite - the first version with Nigel, even!

 

Yes, I should do that. Shame they bottled out of making a Jazz Odyssey double album though!

 

Smell The Glove is a bonafide classic, but I have to agree with the member who prefers their earlier work.

 

Surprised that their full studio discography wasn’t listed:

Studio albums

• Spinal Tap Sings "(Listen to the) Flower People" and Other Favourites (1967)
• We Are All Flower People (1968)
• Brainhammer (1970)
• Nerve Damage (1971)
• Blood to Let (1972)
• Intravenus de Milo (1974)
• The Sun Never Sweats (1975)
• Bent for the Rent (1976)
• Tap Dancing (1976)
• Rock 'n' Roll Creation (referred to as The Gospel According to Spinal Tap in the film) (1977)
• Shark Sandwich (1980)
• Smell the Glove (1982)

 

I liked them better when the were The New Originals.