Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny (Album)
The Pick of Destiny is possibly the most rockin’ soundtrack ever created. It is a heavy rock masterpiece, a metal opera like no other. With styles borrowed from and paying homage to Dio (who guests on the album), Megadeth, Queensryche, Metallica, Black Sabbath and countless other classic metal and hard rock acts, The Pick of Destiny is an instant heavy rock classic.
But unlike its inspiration, the humour on this album is intentional. And even funnier than the cheesiest Dio track (see “Rainbow in the Dark”).
Starting with the brilliant “Kickapoo” (the first sweetly sung line: “A long-ass fucking time ago in a town called Kickapoo”) the album is a chronicle of the saga of Tenacious D, a companion piece to the soon to be released film. We learn, musically, how JB (Jack Black) leaves his religious father (Meatloaf) to join up with Cage and go on all sorts of rock and roll adventures to find the Pick of Destiny. They even challenge Satan to a rock off so that he doesn’t make Cage his sex slave (and make him “gargle mayonnaise”).
The album tends to not make sense in some places without seeing the movie. I think that they meet the Saskwatch in an enchanted forest and find out that JB is the Saskwatch’s son. And there may or may not be a strawberry river or some shit. But musically and humour-wise it still works on the whole. The word “fuck” is used so well that it is consistently hilarious (“Fuck-a-lie, sing fuck-a-loo”? Brilliant)
Tenacious D are fascinating to me. The intensity with which they rock is not in question, but to some their intention may be. It may appear that these guys are taking the piss out of the whole epic-rawk “dragons and fireballs-of-rock”. But they just know how to do it so well that it is obvious that they are knowledgeable fans and exceptional heavy rock writers and musicians. They realize the often ludicrousness of late 70s-80s metal and yet are proud to embrace it. And pay homage to its creators by having friendly digs at them.
Hilarious and awesome hard rock. Motherfuckers.
