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Tenacious D: The Complete Master Works

One of my favorite CDs of 2001 is now one of my favorite DVDs of 2003! If you're not down with the D yet, WHY THE HELL NOT! Jack Black and Kyle Gass deserve your hard earned cash, so they can buy yet another gold backscratcher.

P  A  R  E  N  T  A  L
A D V I S O R Y
EXPLICIT CONTENT

Tenacious D, aka the greatest band on Earth, is the demonic love child of comic Jack Black (Cable Guy, High Fidelity, Saving Silverman, Shallow Hal, School of Rock) and his "brother" Kyle Gass (The Godfather, Saving Private Ryan, Lord of the Rings... yeah, he wishes!). They released their long awaited (or so I'm told) debut album back in 2002 without the now standard DVD extra! Those bastards! So here we get for only about the price of a normal CD, TWO DVDs full of everything you could want from the D. Hence the name, The Complete Master Works.

This DVD is a MUST for any fan of Tenacious D. And if you're not a fan yet, this is a great way to become one. Now you can be cool just like me! So cool it hurts! Plus any ESPN SportCenter fan probably always wondered why the anchors said lines like "that's levitation holmes". Now you'll be in on the joke, and won't have to give a token laugh just so no one realizes you're dumb as an axe (wait, it's axe right?). Just listening to their CD doesn't do the D justice. You need to see them in action to truly see what makes the D tick. Yes, they are more than an acoustic 70's metal band who think saying the word 'fuck' amounts to comedy. So here's a rundown of what you will soon spend over 3.5 hours of your freetime on.

Disc 1 - For Fans

We are treated to the "legendary" live concert at Brixton Academy (London, England). The long list of songs they go through include: Flash (a Queen cover), Wonderboy, Explosivo, Karate, Kyle Quit the Band, Friendship, Kielbasa, Dio, The Road, The Comic Shame, FHG (aka Fuck her Gently), Tribute, Rock Your Socks, and Double Team. Of course these are peppered with what they claim to be 'humor'. Though their 'Medley' of various songs (including Crazy Train, Paranoid Android, Mr. Brownstone, and Reaper (Don't Fear The)) is worth this disc alone. And Jack Black is right, Reaper doesn't work without the cowbell.

This disc also contains the best part of this DVD, the HBO episodes they did with Mr. Show. All six hilarious shows are here! The Search for Inspirado, Angel in Disguise, Death of a Dream, The Greatest Song in the World, The Fan, and of course, Road Gig. This is the REAL reason to get this DVD, especially if you have never seen them. It includes songs not on their CD like "Special Thing", "Warning", and two of my all-time favorites, "History" and "Jesus Ranch" (I still don't know why they arn't on their CD). Plus songs on their CD make more sense when viewed in context. Basically, you get to watch the D evolve into what the are today: the greatest band on Earth! See them as they perfect their sonic catalog of songs via humorous skits!

Disc 2 - For Psycho Fans Only

This disc contains the Short Films the D is known for showing at their concerts. And I'm not sure what to make of them, heh: JB's BJ, Rock Star Sperm for Sale, Butt Baby. Even though the production quality is low, you will be grossed out. You were warned.

It also contains their two videos, Tribute and Wonderboy. The 'psycho fan' part comes in since they also have the 'making of' for both of them. Yes, we even get to see, and hear, the legendary Spike Jonze who directed Wonderboy (the same Spike Jonze who has done classic videos for the likes of the Beastie Boys and Fatboy Slim, and movies like Adaptation), and better yet, Dave Grohl as Satan in Tribute! It also contains 'FHG'. (I guess they couldn't print "Fuck Her Gently" on the back of the case, so why not name it "Sex Song" again?) It's the same flash movie that you could download off their website, but here for view on your TV!

There is a 'Tenacious D in the Studio' that chronicles the making of their self-titled major label debut CD (approx. 10 minutes long, the clip, not the CD smartass). Includes the Dust Brothers and yet again another Dave Grohl appearance!

Next up is a 'Tenacious D on the Road Documentary' that is basically what it sounds like, a movie about Stalin. (I'm kidding dumbass.) This 30 minute clip shows concert footage, sound checks, and other non-concert related events on the road like radio appearances, airport shenanigans, eating, and of course, Road Diaries. Plus Weezer! (Sort of.)

Lastly, it has a few TV appearances by the D: On MadTV playing Tribute, complete with yet another sweet Dave Grohl cameo on drums (if you haven't caught on yet, I'm a big Dave Grohl fan); Crank Yankers performing Friendship is Rare; and Late Night with Conan O'Brien doing a full version of Wonderboy, with Max on drums! I don't recommend watching the Crank Yankers piece though. I know they are just puppets, but I really don't need to see that.

All in all, The Complete Master Works is all any D fan could ask for. The menu system is quite cool too, and is a treat for any fan of Satan! My only real disappointment is that 'City Hall' is no where to be found in any form, the only song on their CD that's not here in fact, and that's one of my favorite tracks. So I guess it's not as complete as I thought. Damn that D! I want my 15 bucks back! Well, it is a nice case...

(Update: I recently found a few 'easter eggs' that show a short promo Tenacious D did for their CD, and two promos for MTV's The Osbournes. I'll leave it to you to find them.)