ALBUM OF THE WEEK

As any rock aficionado should know, Derek Smalls is the diminutive bass player in fictional metal band Spinal Tap. A rock’n’roll eccentric, he is the alter ego of actor Harry Shearer. It’s taken almost 40 years, but Smalls has finally made a solo album. Parody albums can be notoriously tricky propositions. Smalls Change fares better than most, with the significant caveat that it becomes slightly less fun each time you play it. Guests of the calibre of David Crosby and Rick Wakeman ensure the music more than cuts the mustard.