Tenacious D

Jack Black's best work. From the incredible interplay between Black and partner Kyle Glass, to such masterpieces as the totally bizarre "Tribute" and the somewhat self-explanatory "F*ck Her Gently," this 2001 release won over pretty much everyone who came within 100 feet of it. Even years later, Tenacious D is as funny as ever.

Every metal generation sees a new team of high priests take over the Temple of Syrinx, and
now is the hour of Tenacious D, standing tall on rock's Mount Olympus with their acoustic
guitars and a songbook full of pure stoner poetry. Jack Black and Kyle Gass are the twin
visionaries here: two sloppy dudes strumming and wailing the hysterically funny Seventies
faux-metal ballads that have already made Tenacious D legendary for their L.A. c... More >

Of course Jack Black makes me laugh sometimes. He's got serious comic gifts. But the meanness of his joke band proves how much easier it is to act a role than inhabit a persona. I can imagine him playing a sympathetic character in a movie somebody else scripted. But I can't imagine him writing a song I cared about, even as a laugh, because he treats music the way his songs treat women--as a means to an end. What end, though? Getting laid is a snap, after all. Maybe just believing his life means a damn thing. (Grade - C+)