REVIEWS:
Post your comments about Tenacious D
(reviewed by John Sieber)
Tenacious D. Are they pure comedy with good music thrown on top, or genius music mixed with raunchy jokes? Or does it really matter? All I know is that the arrangements, no matter how overblown they can be, are actually intelligent, and the melodies... Jesus, man! It is truly few and far between nowadays that a band uses their brains. But Jack Black and Kyle Gass, thankfully, DO use their brains. A lot. Anyway, about half of the album is comedy tunes heavy on good melodies and funny Spinal Tap-esque lyrics. And the other half is Kyle and Jack bullshitting with each other. Great stuff! It must've been a lot of fun for them to make this album; it sure sounds like it, anyway. Anyway....
As for the songs, "Tribute" stands out as an all-time favorite for me, in which Jack and Kyle defeat a shiny demon with the greatest song in the world. It's a fucking hilarious story and the chorus melody sucks the listener in, yo! "Wonderboy" is the D's current single, I do believe; here we get super-fantasy lyrics about Wonderboy and his arch-nemesis, young Nastyman, finally joining forces and fighting wildabeasts and Monica Lewinsky (okay, I was kidding about the Monica part.). "Fuck Her Gently" just asks to be liked, as the boys put down the hard fucking and tell us that sometimes you have fuck her softly. Too bad for ME there is no HER! Oh you evil bastard, Irony! Your sick tricks have gone too far! And now! Now I must get on with the review, lest I kill you, you whore, Irony!
Sorry, where was I?
But not all the songs are good. I'm not much of a fan of "The Road", which starts out like Spinal Tap's "Tonight We're Gonna Rock You Tonight". Yeesh. But that's okay, because the rest of the album RULES, man! So the comedy bits are short, but very very sweet. Take "Inward Singing". Jack learns to sing while breathing in and realizes that it allows one to rock non-stop. Or the long but funny "Drive Thru", where Jack orders several customized items from McDonalds, I suppose, and goes ballistic when Kyle ponders his order for a second. A-Ha! And the "One-Note Song" is possibly the capstone of this weird humor! It probably isn't actually, but it's still funny. Anyway, I guess that about wraps up the highlights, eh? But I will re-iterate the main points about these guys:
1) MELODIES. Genius melodies that are, by the way, very well harmonized by Jack and Kyle.
2) THE SONGS, MAN! Little compact progressive/Spinal Tap nuggets that are smart without really trying to be. Sweet!
3) HUMOR. Raunchy, hilarious jokes! The word "fuck" is used with great frequency, which makes me happy. And the way they deliver everything, even on CD, is very impressive!
4) TWO FAT GUYS WITH GUITARS. The fact remains that these guys are not Backstreet Boy wanna-bes; in fact, they are quite the opposite, as they are TWO FAT GUYS WITH GUITARS! Yes! Seriously, get this damn album! In spite of "The Road", which isn't really THAT bad, this is A FUCKING 10!
P.S.: I almost forgot about the closing epic, which in fact, it most certainly is! "City Hall" is the story of the boys leading society to a new existence where there is no rich or poor. It's brilliant! The sections are very contrasting, and I think, Genesis-influenced. But that could just be me... anyway, after "City Hall" is a little final patter between Jack and Kyle and a short thing which I suppose is called "Malibu" and to me seems incredibly pointless, but cute anyway. Anyway... GET THIS ALBUM!
Post your comments / reviews for this album