Tenacious D

Rize of the Fenix

Columbia, 2012

I liked a few of the songs from previous Tenacious D releases, so I was happy to get a hold of this latest effort. And this thing blows.

Opening with the title track that’s lyrically reminiscent of GNR’s “Get in the Ring,” where Jack Black rants at all those who ever dared to diss him, the album never seems to rise to the level of wit they showed on their first release. Black uses the word fuck as though he’s either hoping to be picked up for a future gangsta rap project, or he just learned the word.

And his near constant fucking use of the word fuck and all its variables is fucking boring. Black and Kyle Gass are aiming to be funny, possibly clever, and rock on some level and they miss.  Halfway through the inane cock jokes, you get the impression that Saving Silverman and Shallow Hal weren’t just dumb movies Black made to pay the rent, but possibly the height of humor.

Really, if I was 12, I might think this was funny and/or clever. Every last excruciating minute of the damn thing is nigh on unlistenable. O-k, “Rock is Dead,” wasn’t bad, or maybe just seemed incredibly listenable by comparison to the rest of the crap on here. “39” was also somewhat amusing, but it’s too little too late.

Given a choice between sitting through Nacho Libre once more, and listening to this again in its entirety, I’d rather have my toes broken with a hammer.