Guys, the new Spinal Tap album is quite literally a piece of art, meant to be cherished for ages.* Check out www.spinaltap.com for instructions on how a seemingly normal Digipack-style CD case transforms into an action-packed scene of the legendary band on stage.

The album contains a few new tracks as well as some new interpretations of the classics we know and love (e.g., a funk version of "Sex Farm" and a reggae version of "(Listen To) The Flower People"). As I've mentioned previously, the Jazz Odyssey (in three parts) is included, and it does NOT disappoint.

The highlight for me is probably still "Stonehenge,"** which I feel encapsulates everything about Spinal Tap into a few minutes of sheer hilarity; also, it's a heavy metal parody that manages to laugh at the genre while, well, okay it's basically just laughing at the genre. But srsly, once you learn the words you can't help but sing along, no matter how ridiculous; one could argue this puts the band right up there with the work of Ronnie James Dio. "Holy Diver," anyone? WTF was that all about?!

Highly recommended. \m/

*actually, once I tire of the package and the album I'll likely just fold the thing back up and it'll live on my shelf 'till the end of time...

**the Stonehenge bit in This Is Spinal Tap was somewhat based on actual events. Back in the day, Black Sabbath had a giant Stonehenge prop built, but it proved too cumbersome to transport so it was only used for one or two shows.