CD of The Week

Although their act is predicated upon an almost Herculean sense of hubris, Tenacious D is still pretty adept at self-deprecation. Therefore it makes sense that their latest album, Rize of the Fenix, opens by admitting their last effort, The Pick of Destiny, was a painful box office failure. (The soundtrack fared better at least, with a top ten debut on the Billboard 200 album chart.) Such a failure could have damned lesser artists, and indeed, the D took some six years to produce a proper follow-up--though to be fair, a lot of that delay can be attributed to Jack Black's mega-stardom.

That follow-up finds Black and Kyle Gass doing what they generally do best--doing hard-rocking, silly songs alternated with sillier interstitial sketches. Obviously the movie's failureis a theme, as in the title track, as well as in "The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage," covering similar ground as the promo video they released earlier this year. (The montage song from that video, "To Be The Best," is included here too, and in case you missed it the first time, it's pretty hilarious.)

Following up from the Picksoundtrack, Rize of the Fenix finds the boys making bigger, bolder overtures toward prog rock, as in the title song and the standout "Deth Starr." It also finds them joking about that decision, in a sketch that sees the two fighting over whether to include flutes and trombones in the recording. "Roadie" is another standout song, a tribute to that unsung hero of rock.

So is it good? Musically, yes, the D is as good as ever, especially with Dave Grohl returning to add the thunder on drums once again. Is it funny? That depends. If you're already down with the D and their parody of excess, then yes, you'll get laughs out of Rize of the Fenix. It isn't quite the classic as their debut album, but it's still a solid effort that brings Jables and Kage back to the big stage--just like the "fenix." You can catch the return of the D live at Festival Pieron June 30th.