Once upon a time, there were two men and together they formed Tenacious D, an incredibly hilarious acoustic band that got famous on HBO before The Sopranos kicked them off the air. This is their first album, and so far the only one they have made. This doesn't say much about the band, but the main question here is "What are they doing now?". The answer is that Tenacious D are now making their own album/movie called The Pick of Destiny. You can preview the movie at www.tenaciousdmovie.com. I made this review to kill some time while I wait for The Pick of Destiny to hit theatres and blow us all away with its power.
Tenacious D are:
Jack Black (JB): Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar
Kyle Gass (KG): Background Vocals/Acoustic Guitar
Tracklisting:
01. Kielbasa/Tenacious D Time
An awesome opening track. It starts with the band warming up and then we get to the guitars, which shows that even though they are acoustic, they still know how to kick ass. Jack Black says some funny Bloodhound Gang style sexual innuendo lyrics throughout like "Check the dipstick, you need lubrication, honey. My kielbasa sausage has just got to perform, now get it on". But that's not all you experience in this opener. The guitars come to a softer tone, which builds up and gets harder and harder, and we get to a song they did on their HBO days called "Tenacious D Time", in which JB shows that his band is Tenacious D and they know how to rock. Finally, Jack finishes the track off by saying "That was TNT, man!" and after listening to that track, you definitely would agree with him there.
02. One Note Song
Not actually a song, but a skit. Kyle asks Jack if we are really robots, but then JB wants him to play a note and bend it every once in a while. I won't give the rest of the skit away, but once Kyle Gass realizes Jack Black's gimmick on the making of the song, you'll be laughing.
03. Tribute
"This is the greatest and best song in the world". That's what Jack says at the beginning and the song's about JB and KG meeting a shiny demon in the middle of a road who wants them to play the best song in the world. Kyle and Jack use their humourous tactics to eliminate the demon by not making the greatest song in the world, but a tribute. The video for this song was very popular and the shiny demon in it is played by Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Queens of the Stone Age/Foo Fighters fame. This track shows how Tenacious D can write a good song by making fun of what makes a good song.
04. Wonderboy
The only song on the album that got radio play and it talks about how Tenacious D got formed, by a hero named Wonderboy and a villain named Young Nasty Man. The guitars do brilliant work through the whole track while Jack Black sings and talks through the music about the castle made of clouds above the mucky-muck, really strange powers (like the power to kill a yak from 200 yards away... with mind bullets), and every other detail about the fictional characters that were the founders of this crazy band. If you haven't heard this song, check it out. The song's kinda cheesy, but Jack designed it to be that way for a good reason... to make you laugh of course.
05. Hard F**king
This is a skit that's an introduction to the next track. Jack and Kyle debate over how to f**k girls and they can make some good points sometimes.
06. F**k Her Gently
A crazy song about how to f**k. The guitars are slow and that's one factor that brings up the humour on this one. My favourite lyrics in this song are "What's your favourite posish? You know, it's cool with me. It's not my favourite, but I'll do it for you. What's your favourite dish? I'm not gonna cook it, but I'll order it from Zanzibar!". You can find a video for this song on the official Tenacious D web site made by Spumco, the creators of Ren and Stimpy and The Ripping Friends.
07. Explosivo
Just like the song title suggests, the song explodes. This track is the band at their craziest. The acoustic guitars are played like a metal guitarist on the electric and the words are the strangest you'd come across ("What's the name of the song? Explosivo. Don't know what it's about, but it's good to go. What's the name of my girlfriend? I don't know. Well she smells like the sh*t, but she's good to go."). The lyrical content also points out that Tenacious D are a satanic band ("We are fueled by Satan, yes we're fueled by Satan (Fueled by Satan). Writing down tasty riffs just as fast as we can (Schooled by Satan)."). This song got covered by Anthrax and it shows that there is such thing as acoustic metal.
08. Dio
The most serious track on the album. This is a song to Dio, the rock star that wrote songs about wildebeasts and angels and soared on the wings of a demon and it basically tells Dio that it's time to retire from the world of music. The guitars are relaxing and this is a decent track.
09. Inward Singing
Now for the next skit. Jack Black shows Kyle Gass how to do inward singing, the technique that makes non-stop rocking possible. Kyle doesn't like this and Jack swears excessively at him. Suddenly, Kyle decides to quit the band, which leads right into...
10. Kyle Quit the Band
Also known as "The Song of Exultant Joy", this is a short song about bands breaking up. JB starts the song off by singing "Last week, Kyle quit the band. Now we're back together. Misunderstanding, didn't understand. It doesn't matter, now we're back together again, a la la la la la". Near the end, Jack states that "we'll have a big old bash" and the guitars really bash after that point.
11. The Road
The guitars sound more like a Guns N Roses style blues song and this track is on what happens when Tenacious D go on tour. Jack Black really explains in the song how the road is f**kin' hard and is a b-i-itch. He also mentions about munching on a tasty floosh right after the show, but I don't know what that's suppose to mean. After the second verse, the track is softer and Jack gets more sad. A nice song to put in the middle of the album.
12. Cock Push-Ups
The next skit comes in right away. This time, Jack shows Kyle the kind of excercize that picks up the chicks. Kids, don't try this at home.
13. Lee
A song about Tenacious D's #1 fan, Lee. There was an HBO episode that circulated around that song and it shows that Tenacious D seem more psychotic than their fan. The track's lyrics are just a bunch of lines that rhyme with Lee, like "Skinny dipping in a sea of Lee", but the crazy way the rhyming is done is what can get you laughing here.
14. Friendship Test
This skit is also an introduction to the next track. JB calls KG on the phone, saying that he loves him. Kyle Gass says he likes Jack too and Jack Black laughs and says that it was just a friendship test. The skit also shows that JB is really bad at grading tests.
15. Friendship
The title basically explains the theme of the song. The guitars know how to play here and Jack has good philosophies on how friendship is rare. The best words here are "It's rare to me. Say a prayer for me, 'cause it's rare to be Tenacious D". A track that really shows the friendship between Kyle Gass and Jack Black.
16. Karate Schnitzel
Another introduction skit, in which Jack gets mad at Kyle for eating his f**king schnitzel. What I really like here is that the fighting art of karate managed to get thrown into a skit. And now comes...
17. Karate
The lyrics aren't creative compared to the other songs on the album ("With karate I kick your ass, step into the gentleman's square. Oh yeah motherf**ker, I'm gonna kick your f**king derrière, yeah yeah. You broke the rules, now I pull out all your pubic hair... motherf**ker."), but this track will get stuck in your head. The meaning of the song is the opposite of "Friendship", in which Kyle betrays Jack and he gets revenge by doing karate on him. If you play the gibberish near the end backwards, you get the words "goat crap". The whole song is filler, but it's decent. It sounded better when it was used in another HBO episode of theirs.
18. Rock Your Socks
The track starts with Dave Grohl yelling "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6" and this is another song on what happens when Tenacious D rock. The entire track shows that Kyle and Jack are classically trained to rock your f**king socks off. The guitars are jumping everywhere and JB goes incredibly crazy when singing the words. This song shows that being the next Tenacious D isn't so easy and the funniest part is when Jack Black encourages you to drop trough and squeeze out a Cleveland steamer on his chest (whatever that means).
19. Drive Thru
The last skit on the album. KG and JB go to a drive thru and Jack orders as many fast food items as he can while he tries to watch his figure. Kyle orders some food too, but the results that come afterwards become humourous along with what Jack ordered.
20. Double Team
The Tenacious D sex song. The lyrics are funny all over the place ("Take off your blouse and your underpants and take a look, 'cause here me and KG run naked out from the side hatch, with the oils and perfumes and incense. Now you're grooving, put on a cool 70's groove, a funky groove to f**k to.") and the guitar goes from soft to hard to sounding like something you'd hear when watching a porno movie (that's probably the funky groove to f**k to right here), then really fast. The track ends with Jack "flooshing" and both members of Tenacious D saying "Hail Satan!".
21. City Hall
The album's last song, clocking in at 6:47. First, the song starts of hard and Jack Black and Kyle Gass destroy city hall. Then, it gets soft once the bastards of city hall have been defeated and Kyle and Jack become the new leaders of the city, even though they don't think they have the power to lead. Suddenly, Jack Black tries to come up with a plan to kill Kyle so he can be the true leader. Definitely a great way to close the album off, but the track's not over yet...
Secret Song: Malibu
A short song in which the acoustic guitar is soft, but jumpy while Jack Black sings cheesy lyrics about Malibu. That's really what makes up the whole song, but it's good for a secret song.
Track By Track Rating:
01. A. Kielbasa [4]
B. Tenacious D Time [4.5]
02. One Note Song [N/A]
03. Tribute [5]
04. Wonderboy [5]
05. Hard F**king [N/A]
06. F**k Her Gently [5]
07. Explosivo [4]
08. Dio [3]
09. Inward Singing [N/A]
10. Kyle Quit the Band [3.5]
11. The Road [3.5]
12. Cock Push-Ups [N/A]
13. Lee [3]
14. Friendship Test [N/A]
15. Friendship [4]
16. Karate Schnitzel [N/A]
17. Karate [3]
18. Rock Your Socks [4]
19. Drive Thru [N/A]
20. Double Team [4.5]
21. City Hall [4.5]
Secret Song: Malibu [3]
Content Rating: Parental Advisory: Explicit Content
