“Stuff like McCartney praising them as musical geniuses undoes the verisimilitude that made the first film so special. It’s just being silly with celebrity guest stars. What made Spinal Tap achingly hilarious was the gap between the band’s grandiose posturing and their increasingly low-rent circumstances. You can’t pull off that joke when Sir Elton is fawning over you.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 09/12/2025