As anyone who witnessed their legendary shorts on HBO will attest, Tenacious D is indeed the greatest band on earth. Bad D is still better than the Beatles and good D is transcendent. Even so, Tenacious D's debut album will likely kick fans on their asses because the D is no longer just about JB and KG. They're even ready to be more than a power trio -- they're ready to be backed by a full band, complete with Dave Grohl on drums and the Dust Brothers behind the boards. After years of hearing them as an acoustic heavy metal duo, that's a real shock, but they've also overhauled their repertoire, reworking and retitling several songs and leaving many tunes behind. Most regrettably, there is no "History of Tenacious D," even if it is quoted in the liner notes, but there's also no "Rocketsauce," no "Kyle Took a Bullet for Me," no "Sasquatch," no "Cosmic Shame," no "Special Things," and no "Jesus Ranch." "You Broke the Rules" becomes "Karate," "Song of Exultant Joy" is "Kyle Quit the Band," "Sex Supreme" becomes "Double Team," "The Best Song in the World" becomes "Tribute," lacking many of the "Stairway to Heaven" allusions in this version, and so on and so forth (elements of their opening theme are incorporated into "Kielbasa," thankfully). Furthermore, the dynamic has shifted drastically because the group no longer sounds like maniacal misfits who've conquered the worlds in their own minds playing to an audience who just hasn't caught up yet. Here, they sound like victors who've had their delusions of grandeur come real (which is true when you think about it -- those shorts might not have done much on HBO, but videotapes passed through a lot of hands on the underground video railroad). This is a bigger change than you might think, and while the acoustic D sounds better, weirder, and purer, this still is a hell of a record, particularly because it rocks so damn hard. The worst thing about it are the sketches, which may be funny, but not nearly as funny as the plots that tied the shows together (nothing as funny as asides from the show, like "circle church," either) or the live routines; they tend to distract from the music. And the music is indeed what matters, since no matter how silly and gleefully profane this can be, Tenacious D rules because the music is terrific. The tunes have hooks, Kage and Jables harmonize well, and the cheerfully demented worldview is intoxicating, since their self-belief and self-referential world is delightfully absurd and warm (think about it the sex songs may be vulgar and may be about their prowess, but their prowess is about making those backstage Betties feel good).
Track listing
01. Kielbasa - 3:02
02. One Note Song (skit) - 1:24
03. Tribute - 4:08
04. Wonderboy - 4:07
05. Hard Fucking (skit) - 0:36
06. Fuck Her Gently - 2:03
07. Explosivo - 1:56
08. Dio - 1:41
09. Inward Singing (skit) - 2:13
10. Kyle Quit the Band - 1:30
11. The Road - 2:20
12. Cock Pushups (skit) - 0:47
13. Lee - 1:02
14. Friendship Test (skit) - 1:31
15. Friendship - 2:00
16. Karate Schnitzel (skit) - 0:37
17. Karate - 1:05
18. Rock Your Socks - 3:33
19. Drive-Thru (skit) - 3:01
20. Double Team - 3:11
21. City Hall - 9:02
Released: September 25, 2001
Recorded at: The Boat, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, ArchAngel Recording Studio, Los Angeles
Genre: Comedy Rock, Acoustic Rock
Length: 50:44
Label: Epic
Producer: The Dust Brothers (John King and Michael Simpson)
Mixed by: Ken Andrews
Engineer for Dave Grohl Sessions: Adam Kasper
Engineer at ArchAngel: Bernie Becker
All songs written and composed by: Tenacious D
Personnel
Jack Black - lead vocals, rhythm acoustic guitar
Kyle Gass - lead acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Dave Grohl - drums, guitar
Steve McDonald - bass guitar
Warren Fitzgerald - lead electric guitar
Page McConnell - keyboards
Alfredo Ortiz - percussion
Woody Jackson - sitar
Andrew Gross - strings
Ken Andrews - guitar
John King - echoplex
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