Review of This Is Spinal Tap (1984) by Jonathan P — 16 Jul 2014

As a rockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap well documents heavy metal band Spinal Tap throughout their tour of the United States, tells us the history of the band back when they were a sunshine pop group from the 1960s, mourns for the deaths of the many drummers who played in the band, and takes the time to explain the particularly chosen equipment used on stage and by the band members. Spinal Tap is why you can now crank your amplifiers up to 11. Did I specify that the band is fictional? Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer all play the three consistent band members, while Rob Reiner (both fictional and real director) interviews and films them during the tour. As a music lover, I adore some of the best stabs made at arena rock culture, such as on-stage technical difficulties (i.e., Disproportional set pieces), when lead guitarist Nigel (Guest) plays the guitar with the violin like an avant-garde, or mentally deranged, Jimmy Page, or the band's "satirical" art for their latest album, a woman on all fours held by a man's leash. The latter is, in fact, satire on satire.

Sometimes, the jokes can be too clever for their own good. In today's world, an entirely black album cover isn't so farfetched, or maybe Metallica are secretive Spinal Tap metalheads. That's forgivable though, because when some jokes fall short of their mark, the music is actually awesome. My favourite song is "Big Bottom. It opens with pounding drums, followed by a lone, sexy bassline. The first line is, "The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'." What more could you order from dumb, loud rock? This Is Spinal Tap is at its funniest when you have a feel for how big rock stars act on and off stage, but even if you're not much of a music buff, some moments will live on in your memory. Spinal Tap is all.