Review by Trent Zelazny

TENACIOUS D Sony/Epic

I was hanging out with Liz the other day playing some game on her Play Station when she told me she had a CD I had to hear. "Mm," I said, more intent on the game (it was my first Play Station experience and damn if I was gonna be easily distracted).

She popped the CD into the stereo and within thirty seconds my Play Station self was killed but I had lost interest. I trained my ears on the music, more importantly the lyrics. Snatching the case I regarded the cover: two fat naked guys with guitars covering their noodles, chains around their necks, smiling like idiots in the center of a pentagram with the All-Mighty Satan behind them. At the top it said TENACIOUS D .

I've only just learned about all of this.

The music ranged from goofy and offensive acoustic tunes to goofy and offensive hardcore, including songs and sketches with titles such as "Fuck Her Gently", "Cock Pushups", and "Karate Schnitzel", and let's not forget "Inward Singing" and "Dio", about none other than, well, you know who. Oh, you don't? That's okay, nothing lost.

Liz took the controller away from me and proceeded to whoop ass. I studied the black and white booklet. Jack Black and Kyle Gass were the two fat guys on the cover, Jack Black of course being the actor from such things as Bob Roberts, High Fidelity, Saving Silverman, an appearance on X-Files and a hell of a lot more. The charming interior photo displays Black and Gass in their briefs, Gass racing away as Black grabs hold of his undies. I was completely ignorant of TENACIOUS D until just the other day. I'm not sure how, but life is suddenly a little different.

Without doing much of anything innovative, the two manage to pull off a very original sound. Along with their skits and monologues inter cut throughout the album, reminiscent of Cheech and Chong and the Jerky Boys, it took some serious self-control not to wet my pants. The music is good, interesting structures and a few clever tricks here and there; but the lyrics are what make this album. Brilliant fucking lyrics.

I'm really glad I've heard TENACIOUS D . In fact, this may be more of a pitch than it is an honest to God review, but hey, who's honest these days?

Go buy this album. Even if you don't like it in the end, you'll find you are thankful for something. Maybe you won't know what but that doesn't really matter. This is a rocking CD, and as TENACIOUS D says, "It doesn't matter if it's good. It only matters if it rocks."

I give TENACIOUS D 4 Perplexed Skulls.

Run along now.

This review copyright 2000 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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