Spinal Tap roars "Back From the Dead"

Detroit, May 08: The inspiration for the new Spinal Tap album --the heavy metal mockumentary band`s first in 17 years -- varies, depending on who you ask.

Harry Shearer -- who created Tap with partners Christopher Guest and Michael McKean and director Rob Reiner -- tells Billboard.com that the 25th anniversary of the hit documentary parody "This Is Spinal Tap" led the trio to conclude that "we should probably do it again. There were still a lot of Spinal Tap songs that had never been recorded." But Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls contends that "Back From the Dead," which is due out June 16 -- and whose title track is streaming at Billboard.com -- has more to do with technological advancements than the commemoration of a film that "made us out to be a laughing stock." "Basically," says Smalls (Shearer`s Tap alter ego), "it was possible to put out a record that was louder than any we`ve ever had before, and that was a selling point right there. We could have the loudest Spinal Tap record there`s ever been, and we thought, `Well, yeah, why not?`" Loud or proud, "Back From the Dead" is the first Tap album since 1992`s "Break Like the Wind." The 19-song set includes studio recordings of songs such as "Hell Hole" and "Big Bottom" (which were played live in "This Is Spinal Tap"), a three-part version of "Jazz Odyssey," a "reggae-style" rendition of "(Listen to the) Flower People" and more recent songs such as "Warmer Than Hell," "Celtic Blues" and "Rock `n` Roll Nightmare." Guests include Def Leppard`s Phil Collen, John Mayer, Steve Vai on the guitar opus "Short and Sweet" (which, in true Tap fashion, is not), and keyboardist Keith Emerson. A deluxe version of the package includes a one-hour DVD and a pop-up diorama with three 12-inch action figures of Smalls, David St. Hubbins (McKean) and Nigel Tufnel (Guest). "When people hear this, they`ll think, `This sounds like a band that probably found its way to the stage most of the time,` unlike the illusion that`s created by that film," Smalls says. "You`ll say, `Hold on, this doesn`t sound like a band that lost its way every night.` So it`s worth it, just for that." Another new song -- "Saucy Jack," from the unfinished St. Hubbins musical about Jack the Ripper -- is available at SpinalTap.com, and Shearer says there are also "about four or five (other) new songs that weren`t completed in time to make this record, so we`ll do something digital with them on the download side or something like that." Spinal Tap will play a "one-night world tour" on June 30 at Wembley Arena in London. There are no plans for more dates amidst the trio`s other projects. Shearer, Guest and McKean are currently on the road -- as themselves -- with their Unwigged & Unplugged Tour, playing songs by Spinal Tap and the Folksmen, who they portrayed in the film "A Mighty Wind." The tour wraps May 31 in Milwaukee. Bureau Report