I’ve owned this album for a good while. I’m not sure how to approach this, given the potentially offensive content, but here goes.
Jack Black ‘JB’, of Shallow Hal and High Fidelity fame on the silver screen, united with musician Kyle Gass ‘KG’ to produce this; you may recall Blacks’ memorable rendition of Marvin Gayes ‘Let’s get it on’ in the closing stages of High Fidelity, claiming his fledgling band considered naming themselves 'Kathleen Turner Overdrive'. If that gag failed to raise a smile, ‘The D’ will probably leave you cold as well.
Essentially, Tenacious D is a spoof band. Their recent ‘Tribute’ single was the most requested video in MTV’s history (the one featuring the recording booth) and rightly so. Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame also contributed, playing the part of a guitar playing ‘demon’. Grohl also guests for some of this album, utilising his considerable musical repertoire on drums, guitar etc etc.
I won’t bore you with a chronology of all the tracks; I’ll pick my favourites and commit them to writing.
Kielbasa
A Polish-American foodstuff, the Kielbasa sausage provides Black with the inspiration to start proceedings. What follows is a baffling fusion of puerile references to sex, and an attempt at ‘profound’ religious commentary, in a deliberately obnoxious and offensive style that proliferates the entire album:
“Dianetics* junior, much better than Krishna, Dianetics junior, much better indeed….”
*Dianetics being a principle of scientology; deep eh?
The song concludes with a flourish of catchy riffing, sealed by a parting shot from Black:
“Dude, that was T N T”
One Note Song
One of many spoken tracks, I am loath to ruin the comedy by disclosing the punch lines. However, it’s the interaction between ‘JB’ and ‘KG’ that’s central to these passages, with Black being the forthright and absurdly arrogant egotist, and Kyle playing his long suffering partner. Kyle opens with more insightful ponderings, asking Black whether “…some people are actually robots, living among us?”
Black dismisses him, clearly disinterested: “No, no, we don’t have the technology yet” then changes the subject abruptly to focus on his “****ing brilliant song.” What follows exactly mirrors the title; a one-note song. No lyrics, no melody, just a single note, repeated over and over. When finished, Black pauses, before proudly challenging Kyle:
“And just remember who wrote that song. Me baby, ME!”
Wonderboy
A weird effort, which follows the mythical struggle of archenemies ‘Wonderboy and Nastyman’, which eventually emerge as Black and Kyle:
“Wonderboy and young Nastyman joined forces, they formed a band, the likes of which had never been seen, and they called themselves Tenacious D”
Blacks’ spoken passages provide the comic injection, namely his description of Wonderboys’ mystic ‘powers’
“I have the power to kill a yak, from two hundred yards away, With MIND BULLETS!, That’s telekinesis Kyle, I’ve got the power, to move you”
More hilarious still though, is the impression that Black believes one day they’ll become entwined in mythology. Brilliant.
Inward Singing
Another spoken section, Black awakens Kyle to excitedly divulge his new invention, Inward Singing:
“The most powerful tool in singing technology since yodelling, dude.”
Arguing that rock singers disrupt their performance by breathing in, Black claims to have overcome this by singing whilst inhaling. His totally under-whelming demonstration is one of the highlights of the album, and never ceases to make me chuckle.
Kyle fails to reach Blacks’ level of excitement, daring to point out its deficiencies. What follows is a foul, four-letter tirade from Black, chiding Kyle for his “nay saying” and eventually firing him from the band.
Kyle quits before he gets the chance. Happily, all is well by the next track, in which Black and Kyle harmonise gloriously to proclaim their reunion: -
“Couldn’t split up Kato and Nash…..that’s true, Couldn’t split up Tango and Cash……. that’s also true, This is our song of exultant joy, ‘cos, We only came to kick some ass”
Karate
Kyle is again awoken from his slumber, this time to a furious Black, accusing him of stealing his Schnitzel. Dismissing Kyles’ claim that its presence in the fridge made the Schnitzel “fair gain”, Black proceeds to execute a succession of ‘Karate moves’ on Kyle, leading nicely into:
Karate Schnitzel
“With Karate I’ll kick your ass, From here to Tienamen Square”
A throwaway song, dedicated to Kyles ‘betrayal’. Only a minute in length, I’ll avoid giving any more details. Suffice to say it’s wonderfully childish.
Other highlights include a trip to the drive through, where Black harangues the hapless sales assistant for misunderstanding his complex and ludicrous order; a song dedicated entirely to, how do I put this, ‘Gentle copulation’; and a finale involving Black and Kyle taking over the world, in doing so issuing three laughable ‘decrees’, one of which entails banishing cars in favour of travelling via a complex tube network:
“Get the scientists working on the tube technology”
Admittedly, many people will find this offensive trash. I have tentatively shared this with friends and colleagues, and generally there’s a clear and obvious marmite-style divide between them.
In my opinion, look past the profanities and obscenities, and there are a number of positive aspects to unearth. Primarily this is a brilliant parody of the rock band; the narcissistic yet talentless front man, the talented yet overlooked musicians, and people who laughably believe they truly were ‘Born to Rock’.
More important, however, is the inspired musical contribution. Some of the tracks are fantastically well written and performed, enough to convince the listener that Black and Kyle could have produced an excellent conventional album if the mood had taken them. Blacks vocals are superbly versatile, and Kyle Gass wields a wonderful spectrum of guitar styles. Obviously, Dave Grohls’ presence adds considerable credibility.
This is a hilarious case of fine musical ability wasted, wonderfully and unremorsefully thrown into the gutter in the name of comedy.
Jack and Kyle, I salute thee.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Maybe you should have commented on all the tracks, even if you don't like them.
spacemonkey 03.07.2004 05:37
Hell of a band, hell of an album. And you gotta love the image of JB in a jacuzzi sucking some woman's toes!
Champ666 12.05.2004 16:55
Superb, I am going to listen to it again tonight. You still missed my favorite line though "You broke the rules, now I pull out all your pubic hair" genius and not a drowned animal in sight
Biting, sometimes-base satire and humour populate this 21-track comedy-rock debut from ... more
actor-musician Jack Black and his band, Tenacious D. Sort of like a trashier, more casual and less musical Beck, vocalist-guitarist Black and guitarist-vocalist Kyle...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Biting, sometimes-base satire and humour populate this 21-track comedy-rock debut from ... more
actor-musician Jack Black and his band, Tenacious D. Sort of like a trashier, more casual and less musical Beck, vocalist-guitarist Black and guitarist-vocalist Kyle...
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Feb 1st, 2004
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