Tenacious D is an American
rock band composed of musician/actors Kyle Gass and Jack Black Their style fuses rock with other musical styles such as folk metal, comedy rock, and stoner rock. They are known for their upbeat classic rock style and vulgar comedy. The band first gained popularity in 1999 when they starred in the eponymously titled
Tenacious D TV series, in which JB and Kage tried to establish themselves as The D and the Greatest Band on Earth. The series is occasionally aired on Comedy Central and is available on The Complete Masterworks. The storyteller-style lyrics of the
songs can be compared to lyrics of Rock Opera and Power Metal bands, like Meat Loaf, The Who, Queen, Dio, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper.
Black, then 16, first met 24-year-old Kyle Gass in Edinburgh, Scotland whilst the two were members of The Actors' Gang theater troupe based in Los Angeles. Black and Gass did not like each other, but eventually worked out their differences. Later, Gass taught Black to play the guitar in exchange for Black helping him with his acting. They eventually formed the band which played their first gig in Al's Bar. While they can both sing and play the guitar, Black is billed as lead singer and Gass as lead guitarist. The band's name is derived from a term used by sportscaster Marv Albert about the tenacious defense of the NBA's New York Knicks.
In 1997 HBO aired two
episodes of
Tenacious D, right after
Mr. Show for two weeks. The other four episodes were not aired until 1999. The show was about the trials and tribulations of a band trying to make it in the music business. The show's six episodes featured many songs that went on to be re-recorded and put on the band's first
album, but also featured songs that remain unreleased to this day. The episodes were as follows: The Search for Inspirado; Angel in Disguise; Death of a Dream; The Greatest Song in the World; The Fan and Road Gig. Though featuring songs composed by Jack and Kyle, the tone and content of the series was very much shaped by collaborators Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, and director Tom Gianas.
Tenacious D
released Tenacious D (#38 UK), in 2001. For their first album, they enlisted the help of Foo Fighters lead singer (and former Nirvana drummer) Dave Grohl on drums, keyboardist Page McConnell of Phish, guitarist Warren Fitzgerald of the Vandals, and bassist Steve McDonald. The Dust Brothers produced the album. The majority of the songs on the album are based on their short-lived HBO television series.
Several songs on this album are preceded by "skits" where Jack and Kyle go through some sort of rudimentary creative process or argument which immediately precedes the next song. Most of these skits are adapted from episodes of their show and showcase the band's absurdist humor. The first Tenacious D album had 110 profanities in it.
The first single from the album was the band's signature song Tribute. The second single was Wonderboy, which has since become popular in the US on both college radio and modern rock stations.
Two more singles would be released for the album. Dio, the last single was Fuck Her Gently, which had a music video that featured animations by Spümcø, the studio behind
Ren and Stimpy.
In 2003, they released a DVD entitled
The Complete Masterworks, .
In July 2004, the band started production on their film,
Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny. Filming was delayed by almost a year due to Black being cast in Peter Jackson's big budget remake of King Kong, . While on location, JB continued to work on preproduction for the Tenacious D film. Once Black was done with King Kong, shooting for
The Pick of Destiny started in April 2005 with director Liam Lynch, who also directed the band's Tribute music video. A month later, in May, 2005, the band started recording songs for the soundtrack of the movie, which is their second studio album,
The Pick of Destiny. The second Tenacious d 82 curse words in it.
Was released November 22, 2006 to poor reviews and box office. The film debuted in 11th place during the very busy Thanksgiving weekend. The soundtrack was released just over a week earlier, on November 14 and reached number #8 on the Billboard 200 in the US , #10 in the UK, and #35 in Australia.
As yet no new album has been confirmed, and in recent interviews the prospect of this is shown as being unlikely. In a recent interview, Gass expressed his desire to curb his work with Tenacious D, however, he did not say this definitely. In addition, a DVD of the Pick of Destiny is to be released, with, according to its director Liam Lynch, "major scenes that I had to cut out..
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