I give it an "11"

Rating: Null/10 (9 November 1999)

THIS IS SPINAL TAP is an almost perfect satire, in that it mocks everything about the music business, but is still lovingly realistic in the details. Heavy metal is a perfect target for satire, because there are few things where the line between stupid and clever is any thinner. Example: the line (from "Big Bottom")--"my baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo; I'd like to sink her with my pink torpedo" is stupid enough to be funny, but could easily fit into the lyrics of any of the hair bands of the 80's. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer turn in maybe the best comic performances of the 1980's.