Tenacious D (album)

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Tenacious D
Studio album by Tenacious D
Released	September 25, 2001
Recorded	The Boat in Silverlake, CA
Genre	Comedy rock Hard rock
Length	50:35
Label	Epic Records
Producer(s)	The Dust Brothers
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone link
Tenacious D chronology
	Tenacious D (2001)	D Fun Pak (2002)

Tenacious D is the debut album of the comedy rock duo Jack Black and Kyle Gass. It was recorded at The Boat in Silverlake, CA .

For their first album, they enlisted the help of drummer Dave Grohl; keyboardist Page McConnell of Phish; guitarist Warren Fitzgerald; and bass player Steve McDonald. The Dust Brothers produced the album. The majority of the songs on their début album stem from early versions as seen on their HBO TV series. The record itself does not list the song titles on the back cover as is the convention but instead on the back cover of the jacket; therefore one must open the CD (after presumably buying it) to read them. This is perhaps to allow songs with expletives or words otherwise deemed offensive to escape censorship or omission.

The band's signature song is "Tribute", a tribute to the 'greatest song in the world', which - according to the duo - was once created by themselves and has now unfortunately been forgotten. Early versions of the song incorporated guitar riffs borrowed from Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, suggesting that the so-called "greatest song" is in fact Stairway to Heaven although they do say that the greatest song in the world "doesn't actually sound anything like this song." Their movie entitled "The Pick of Destiny" (released 2006), suggests that the song is in fact a tribute to the melody played against Satan in a rock off, which appeared in the song "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)" on their 2006 album, also named "The Pick of Destiny".

Their song "Wonderboy" (#34 UK, #48 Australia) and its video were also well-received, as a parody of and tribute to both the fantasy genre and power metal. "Wonderboy" was a tale of an unlikely superhero, portrayed by Black in the video, as he formed an alliance with a fellow adventurer Young Nasty Man (Gass) and attempted to destroy a fire-breathing hydra. (Note: "Wonder Boy" is also the name of an unrelated video game series.)

Their song "Dio" was a tribute of some sorts to the rock singer Ronnie James Dio. In the song they ask that Dio stop playing rock music and allow them to fill his shoes. Dio himself liked the song enough that he let the band appear in his next music video "Push".

The third single from the album, "Fuck Her Gently", was released in May 2004. The video was animated by John Kricfalusi, creator of Ren and Stimpy, and features Jack and Kyle as nude cherubs on the shoulders of Satan.

The recording session for the album began with a two-day session at Neil Diamond's studio in Los Angeles. They were able to use the studio because Diamond had just appeared with Black in the film Saving Silverman, in which Black plays a Neil Diamond cover singer. “Diamond claims it was the Liberty Records studio,” King says. “It's a really old place.”^[1]

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Song information 2.1 "Kielbasa" 2.2 "Dio" 2.3 "Kyle Quit The Band" 2.4 "The Road" 2.5 "Lee" 2.6 "Karate" 2.7 "Rock Your Socks" 2.8 "City Hall" 3 Critical response 4 Miscellanea 5 References 6 External Links

[edit] Track listing

All lyrics by Tenacious D, except where noted.

1. "Kielbasa" – 3:00
2. "One Note Song" – 1:23
3. "Tribute" – 4:08
4. "Wonderboy" – 4:06
5. "Hard Fucking" – 0:35
6. "Fuck Her Gently" – 2:03
7. "Explosivo" – 1:55
8. "Dio" – 1:41
9. "Inward Singing" – 2:13
10. "Kyle Quit The Band" – 1:29
11. "The Road" – 2:18
12. "Cock Pushups" – 0:48
13. "Lee" – 1:02
14. "Friendship Test" (Bob Odenkirk) – 1:30
15. "Friendship" – 1:59
16. "Karate Schnitzel" – 0:36
17. "Karate" – 1:05
18. "Rock Your Socks" – 3:32
19. "Drive-Thru" – 3:00
20. "Double Team" – 3:10
21. "City Hall" – 9:02
    • Includes the hidden track "Malibu Nights"

[edit] Song information

[edit] "Kielbasa"

Kielbasa is in fact a real type of sausage. In the track, lead singer Jack Black sings of his desire for anal sex ("Your buttcheeks is warm") and his worries that he will not be able to give his woman full sexual satisfaction, sexual satisfaction being a recurring theme in many Tenacious D songs, such as Fuck Her Gently.

"My Kielbasa Sausage has just got to perform"

The song "Kielbasa" is basically a fusion of two songs; two (Kielbasa Sausage and Tenacious D Time) originating from the Tenacious D episodes and a bridge between the two discussing Dianetics possibly being of distant relation to the song "Hare Krishna" that Tenacious D perform live^[2][3], and appears on a demo tape that purports to be by the D. The "Kielbasa Sausage" 'section' of the song is chiefly concerned with sex, whereas the Dianetics section discusses Hare Krishna and cannabis consumption.

"And you're smoking up a big-ass bowl of weed with me, me and KG"

A possible link between Hare Krishna and cannabis may be that, India (the base of the Hindu sect of Krishna consciousness), is often associated with ancient tribal traditions of large cannabis consumption, which is supported by smoking 'up' a "bowl" of weed. Also the sitar, an Indian stringed instrument, that plays when Jack talks about Krishna connotes drug-induced hallucenogenic experiences.

Finally, the song reaches its climax with the "Tenacious D time" part where Jack declares that it is indeed "Tenacious D time". Jack's need to loudly proclaim it is Tenacious D's time may be a reference to the Tenacious D shows, in which the audiences receive Tenacious D's songs coldly, in that it is almost something said to wake a 'tough' crowd up.

"Kielbasa" was never released as a single, perhaps owing to the fact that the contents of the lyrics, in a sanitized format, would take much away from the content of the song.

[edit] "Dio"

The song is a tribute to Ronnie James Dio, Jack Black's idol, that calls for the singer to 'pass the torch' on to them. Reportedly, Dio approved of the song^[4] and let Tenacious D appear in the video for his single, "Push". In addition, Dio also appeared in the 2006 film Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny^[5], playing himself.

[edit] "Kyle Quit The Band"

During the previous track, a skit entitled Inward Singing, Kyle Gass announces he is leaving the band, after a tirade of abuse from fellow band member Jack Black. This is the context for "Kyle Quit the Band".

"Last week, Kyle quit the band,

But now we're back together"

The song was originally entitled "Song of Exultant Joy", when it was played in the first Tenacious D episode entitled The Search for Inspirado. In the episode, the premise for Kyle quitting the band is, like the album, verbal abuse from Jack. The episode shows the two, under pressure to write a new song for their next appearance at an open-mic night, becoming stressed leading to Jack shouting at Kyle, and blaming him solely for their lack of success in writing a new song. Jack says. "Let's kick it. I'll say kick it, and you'll just kick it with a tasty groove, okay? 1, 2, 3, kick it. Kick it. God damn it. Could you one time kick it..." This is continued in the song, in a heartfelt reprise.

"Come on Kyle, one time come on!"

Whereupon Kyle does 'kick it' and he performs a solo to end the song on. Jack sings the lyrics:

"Couldn't split up Kato and Nash.

Couldn't split up Tango and Cash."

He does this to show, like his partnership with Kyle, it is strong and cannot be broken, like Tango and Cash. However, there is no Kato and Nash, it is in fact one person, former Urge Overkill founder member: Nash Kato.

[edit] "The Road"

It talks of the hardship incurred by a band whilst touring, on 'the road'.

"The road is fuckin' hard,

"The road is fuckin' tough"

The song came originally from the Tenacious D episodes, during the episode entitled Road Gig. The song accompanied the D's drive into the desert, as they made their way to the Road Gig, even though they had gone in the wrong direction. The "tasty baby in Michigan" section is reprised later on in the episode during the credits. Like "Kielbasa", "The Road" is a fusion of two songs from the Tenacious D episodes.

[edit] "Lee"

a tribute to Tenacious D's friend Lee. However, on Tenacious D's HBO comedy series in the episode The Fan, it is sung as Jack Black and Kyle Gass give the obsessive fan Lee a taste of his own medicine, even going as far, in a dream like sequence, as to stab Lee. The song Lee lasts for 1:02 on the album.

Lee is played by JR Reed who also leads Kyle Gass's other band Trainwreck. Lee appears live with the D and often break dances during this song.

[edit] "Karate"

tells us the consequences of Kyle Gass stealing Jack Black's Schnitzel. At the end of the track, there is backmasked speech. This, when played in reverse is quite clearly Jack Black saying "donkey crap".^[6] The song lasts for 1:05.

[edit] "Rock Your Socks"

The song deals with Tenacious D's desire to prove its classical and rock prowess through giving "a taste" of Johann Sebastian Bach's Bourée in E minor from Suite in E minor, BWV 996. ("This is Bach and it rocks..."), popularised by one of the most famous classical guitarists; Andrés Segovia and prog rock band, Jethro Tull. The song features a shock comedy climax when lead singer Jack Black asks for the listener, in return for their troubles in playing to them, to perform a scat ritual.

[edit] "City Hall"

In it, lead singer Jack Black paints an anarchic view of the political system. The song is described by the D, and others^[7] as a rock opera.

[edit] Critical response

Tenacious D's first album featured a variety of reactions from the critics. Entertainment Weekly described the release as being "hilarious", and "no mere comedy record".^[8]. All Music Guide says it "rocks so damn hard" but it reflects on the lack of the some of the songs from the HBO episodes.^[9]. Splendid Magazine said of Tenacious D, "As entertainment, Tenacious D succeeds surprisingly well -- for the first few listens.... The only long-term replay value you'll get from this record will come from playing it for friends who haven't heard it."^[10]

[edit] Miscellanea

• The cover is a reference to the Tarot card The Devil.
• The track "Kielbasa" mentions "Dianetics" (which is the basis for the religion of Scientology). In the FAQ section on the official website, a fan asked if "The D" are Scientologists, to which Jack Black responded: "No, but we infiltrated the Scientology celebrity center (a fact gathering research mission) in the hopes of doing a loosely based cult episode, but we got cold feet. Those dudes are all about money and brainwashing. I can't speak for Rage but I believe that God is an unfathomable force of love and cosmic sadness."
• At least one song was cut from the final release of the album. A studio recording of "Jesus Ranch", the final song from the HBO shorts (the closing credits feature the end of "The Road"), was omitted from the album because "it just didn't cut the mustard" (quoted by the D in the 'FAQ' section of their site). The HBO version can be found on their DVD The Complete Masterworks and a recorded studio demo can be found on their 2002 EP D Fun Pak.
• Andrew Gross, a classmate of Jack Black, penned the orchestral score for Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny.^[11] He also played strings on several songs from Tenacious D's first album.
• Some of Tenacious D was recorded at the studio owned by Neil Diamond^[12]. In addition, Jack Black was reportedly given a guitar by Neil Diamond^[13], after his performance in Saving Silverman which saw him play in a Neil Diamond cover band.
• Despite only charting at #38 in the UK, it has sold over 400,000 copies and has gone platinum as a result.

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

An article discussing The Boat, and the the Dust Brothers

Tenacious D

Jack Black • Kyle Gass Lee

Other musicians: Warren Fitzgerald • David Grohl • John Konesky • Liam Lynch • Page McConnell • Steve McDonald • John Spiker • Meat Loaf • Ronnie James Dio

Management and producers: John King • Michael Simpson • Dust Brothers

Discography

Albums/EP: Tenacious D (2001) • D Fun Pak EP (2002) The Pick of Destiny (2006)

Singles: "Tribute" • "Wonderboy" • "POD"

Music videos: "Tribute" • "Wonderboy" • "Fuck Her Gently" • "POD" • "Classico"

TV/DVD/Film

Tenacious D (1997 – 2000) • Tenacious D - The Complete Masterworks DVD (2003) • Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny (2006)

Related articles

v • d • e The Tenacious D Portal • Trainwreck • Tenacious D 2006-2007 Tour • Sax-a-boom