Not a lot of people are big fans of comedy rock, but I have to admit that I am a hey-ouge fan of Tenacious D, or The D as they are known for short. I first saw them in Manchester in 2002 and they put on such an awesome show. Their songs about fast food, prodigious drug taking and ahem…”man-love” are nothing short of genius.
Tenacious D comprises of Jack Black and Kyle Gass. They first met at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1994 when they were in the same acting troupe. Gass taught Black how to play the guitair if he helped him out with his acting.
After a few years, Tenacious D got their own television show in 1997, about their experiences of hitting the big time. Whilst it was only a collection of short ten-minute shows, it impressed a lot of people – in particular Dave Grohl who asked them to cameo in their Learn to Fly video and Beck who asked them to support him on tour. The TV series is available on Tenacious D’s DVD, The Copmplete Masterworks.
Tenacious D released their first album in 2001, with Grohl on drums. Whilst it did received some bad reviews from critics, it did acquire cult status with its collection of funny songs and comedy skits. The first single from the album was Tribute (which again, Grohl starred in) which was about “the best song in the world” – allegedly Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.
In 2004, after a short hiatus to work on films, Black and Gass got back together to film Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny, which was released at the end of 2006. The film was about Tenacious D’s struggles as a band and their quest to obtain the Pick of Destiny – one of Satan’s horns which had been fashioned into a plectrum which gave the user magical musical powers. The soundtrack to the film was released at the same time and contained such songs as Kickapoo and The Government Totally Sucks.
The Band have dropped hints that they would like to release a new album in a few years but have said nothing else about the matter. Fingers crossed that they’ll start work on it soon!
Tenacious D have released two albums: Tenacious D (2002) and Pick Of Destiny (2006).
