Tenacious D rocks out in poor taste

enacious D, the self-proclaimed greatest band of all time, bursts onto the music scene in glorious fashion with its immensely raunchy yet infinitely funny self-titled debut.\nThe D is composed of gifted comedic film actor Jack Black and right-hand man Kyle Gass. The duo's lineage can be traced back to their short-lived self-titled HBO cult television show. \nBlack and Gass bring a manic comic energy to the music. Their lyrics could have derived from the salacious scrawlings strewn about the "classiest" of lavatory walls or perhaps the over-sexed gloats that echo through a high school locker room. Tenacious D matches its incessant obscenity-laced rants with spiked barbs chock full of sexual oddities and potent drug references in an orgy of poor taste. Despite the album's offensive nature, most listeners will still find themselves in stitches because of the sheer sense of absurdity of the music.\nAlthough The D is a primarily comedic venture, one can't dispute the musical craftsmanship that separates these guys from your run-of-the-mill novelty band. Both Black and Gass are strong guitarists and vocalists, as exemplified by Black's performance of "Let's Get it On" in the John Cusack comedy "High Fidelity." The D finds able assistance through the top tier production team of The Dust Brothers (best known for their work with the Beastie Boys and Beck), as well as Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, who plays guitar and drums on various tracks.\nMusically, the strongest tunes on the album include "Tribute," "Wonderboy," "Explosivo," "Dio" and "Friendship." These tracks mute The D's crude humor in favor of sharp musical stylings and storytelling technique. On a comedic level, the disc reaches its epoch with the none-too-subtly titled "Kielbasa" and the album's single "Fuck Her Gently." Black milks his cinematic jackass persona to perfection in a series of vignettes dispersed through the album including "Karate Schnitzel" and "Drive-Thru."\nTenacious D is not for all tastes, but for those of you who dig coarse humor and sharply crafted hard rocking grooves, The D should be right up your alley.