It’s the Spinal Tap It remains as crucial as ever, and not only because the group is currently embarking on a reunion tour in the rooms of the world. Rob Reiner’s emblematic Sprieur traces the tops, stockings and absolute disasters of the Heavy Metal band from the Fictive 80s, but his real genius resides in the call to those who would not know Vince Neil de Neil Peart.
However, by making fun of life on the road, Reiner does not only follow sex, drugs and the era of rock ‘n’ roll from the 80s, he holds a mirror to all the musicians who have ever started or played in a rock group at any level.
The jokes below are timeless – known, loved and rich by several generations. For musicians, however, they strike a little too close to their home, and total meaning can only be understood when it looks like It’s the Spinal Tap Laugh at you and your friends with long hair directly.
The need for the guitarist to “cut”
Nigel Tufnel proudly declaring that its guitar amplifiers go to 11 instead of the usual 10 is perhaps the most emblematic quotation of It’s the Spinal Tap. The scene perfectly sums up the “bigger it is better“The attitude that made the rock of the 80s always as slightly ridiculous, and the blind challenge of Nigel to logic makes the scene hilarious even to viewers who have never struck a eyes on a Marshall pile.
The guitarists, however, would be forgiven to feel like the gag is a personal attack.
In a strip dynamic, whether in practice or at a concert, volume is a constant battle. The natural volume of the drummer means that they rarely find it difficult to be heard, while the bass player accepted his place at the back of the mixture when they chose their instrument in the first place. The main singers have no trouble making themselves known, which leaves only the guitarist pushing to more hearing real estate.
Building only on their amplifier to be heard, almost all the soil guitarists would have, at one point, worry about whether their flash solos and their masterful riffs “cut” the rest of the group. Many of these guitarists could also sneak on their amplifier and have pushed the volume at the top of one or two levels, hoping that other members would not notice it.
It’s the Spinal TapThe “Amps to 11” scene is played on the volume insecurity of each guitarist, and this always casual feeling that the dial could always go a little higher.
The role of “water warm” of the bassist
Unless you are at the fleas or Steve Harris, it is very rare for the bassist to lead the sound management of a group. With fewer ropes, fewer opportunities to show up and slogans like “You notice when it’s not there“The bassists have endured decades of jokes at their expense.
It’s the Spinal Tap Continue this tradition with the most famous quote from Derek Smalls. During an interview scene, the bass player recognizes his two group comrades like “visionaries“Before describing his own role as”Lukewarm water.“”
It is a feeling that many bassists will be too familiar with it. While the guitarist illuminates his round with another free solo, and the singer enthusiastically turns the microphone towards the crowd as if he did not pay to hear someone else sing, the person who holds the bass is often unfairly neglected. “”Lukewarm water“is a fairly precise way to summarize this common inter-band tension.
It’s the Spinal Tap Try to make amends by giving Derek his own song – the “Big Bottom” of Basse. Alas, the pure stupidity of this issue inspired by the Queen is only emphasizing why the bass has traditionally have a more subtle place in any rock group configuration.
It’s always the drummer …
A common joke throughout It’s the Spinal Tap sees the group fight to maintain a permanent drummer thanks to a series of increasingly strange misadventures. While few real groups would have lost their drummer because of a bizarre gardening accident or spontaneous combustion, the problem of having a rotating door of a bathtub torque will be one of the many groups will be able to relate.
The drummers have the most equipment to carry around the concert at a concert, their equipment occupies the most space in the van, they need more time to install on stage and the group cannot work without them. The replacement of a drummer is therefore really annoying, and the spells have conspired to make sure that the drum drum tends to be the most difficult position to stay locked for many bands.
This strange phenomenon is visible throughout the history of music. Black Sabbath, Guns N ‘Roses, Kiss, My Chemical Romance – The list of groups that have known fluctuating drummers are growing again and again.
The member of the group who loves classical music
Spend time with a rock group for a while, and the conversation inevitably turns to the respective influences of each member. At least one of the members will probably cite the greats of classical music as key influences on their style of play.
Over the years, many musicians have managed to mix classical music with a heavy metal. Randy Rhoads did it for Ozzy Osbourne, Matt Bellamy does it in Muse, and the whole kind of symphonic metal is incredibly popular across Europe. For most rock musicians, however, which claims to be inspired by classical compositions feels completely in contradiction with the songs they play every night on stage.
Enter It’s the Spinal Tap‘S Nigel Tufnel. The scene “Lick My Love Pump” finds the guitarist discussing his classic influences, then delicately performing a beautiful composition of his own. In a brutal gap of the gears, he then calls the play “Lick My Love Pump” and returns the concentration in the field of Heavy Metal.
Like the “Amps to 11” scene speaks to guitarists eager for volume, the joke “Lick My Love Pump” is for each rock musician who has already claimed to be influenced by Bach or Mozart – truly or simply to ring cultivated – then walked on stage and scratched a power agreement extinct after another.
Try something ambitious on stage and fail spectacularly
Each level of rock band, clumsy beginners from high school to icons selling stadiums, wants to look cool on stage. Inevitably, this leads to conversations behind the scenes on things such as synchronized heads, accessories and public participation. Nine times out of ten, these ideas end up being much better in concept than in execution, the end result proving more laughable than laudable.
Whether it’s tightening hair stuck in the doll of the bass player while trying a windmill, or demanding that the crowd interpret a death wall and meeting total indifference, each musician found himself stupid in the name of bringing spice to his stage show.
Always, It’s the Spinal Tap proves how worse things could be. The painful gag “Stonehenge” sees the group joined by an 18 -inch model (rather than the planned 18 -foot model) of Stonehenge during their song of the same name. The mixture is hilarious, but only musicians will be able to relate to the mixture of embarrassment, confusion and “What are the devil are we doing now?“Written everywhere on the group’s faces.
