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Underground > Radio & Music >

Justify Tenacious D if you can.

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Matthew Fluxington

09:55 / 28.06.02

So? What exactly is the problem? Why the passionate distaste for something for which polite indifference might be a more appropriate reaction?

I don't see anything wrong with 'joke songs'. They've got their place. Lighten up.

11:01 / 28.06.02

Joke record = "hey, that's a funny gag, let's make it into a record"
Music with humour = "this is a great tune, wouldn't it be funny if..."

I still don't see why one is better than the other. Surely Girlfriend in a Coma is a joke record? Pet Shop Boys' Shameless is a joke record that became one of their most popular songs among fans and was later ressurrected in their West End musical. You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk is a joke record that became a minor hit, but that doesn't change the fact its lyrics are witty and it has an accomplished melody.

To get even sillier, most songs by Army of Lovers are "joke records" by your standards, yet the group had chart success, wrote musically accomplished pop tunes and had lyrics that frequently required a history degree to decipher. I don't see why the fact that they're deliberately funny should overturn the other qualities.

Perhaps you just have no sense of humor? Or perhaps if you like it, it's "music with humor," but if you don't it must be a "joke record?"

The Natural Way

12:15 / 28.06.02

Yeah, soon he'll be cussing "Star Trekking Across the Universe" and Black Lace. The fascist Knodge.

No star here laces

13:08 / 28.06.02

c***

13:28 / 28.06.02

So I gave Tenacious D a try yesterday. I'm reminded of a review for Spinal Tap in which the reviewer said that Spinal Tap was so convincing that many metalheads took them seriously. Because metalheads are stupid, y'know. Anyway, I think the reason Spinal Tap and Tenacious D both work is because they aren't just songs made to mock, but to provide a kind of loving tribute to. It's been said that the only way you can pull off a good mockery is to be part homage.

Granted, I've listened to only a few songs, but with Tribute at least, I think that they aren't just tossing shit at rock cliches, but celebrating their beautiful absurdity. It's music to play air guitar to.

13:47 / 28.06.02

I think the level of snottiness on this thread is staggering. is there no such thing as "its not my thing. next" without the accompanying "shite, shite, SHITE, and anyone who disagrees is simply and utterly without any semblance of taste or reason"

The Natural Way

14:28 / 28.06.02

In the end, though, it's much more fun to get into big old cussdebates over music than it is to go "uh-huh, yeah, I may not understand it, but I dig yr scene, maaaan"

Flux and all his mates are officially into "The Chicken Song" and there aint two ways about it.

14:31 / 28.06.02

I think Moriarty nails it, by the way. Equal parts parody and homage.

And yeah, I'm kind of amazed at the venom in this thread too.

gentleman loser

14:54 / 28.06.02

I wish I had that big ol' pile of buds sitting in front of me right now! Tasty!

bitchiekittie:

I think the level of snottiness on this thread is staggering.

My thoughts exactly. If there's one thing that is always screaming out to be made fun of, it's the deadly dull seriousness and/or inanity of most popular music, be it rap, rock, pop, whatever.

Hey, let's start a thread that slags Weird Al Yankovic!

15:43 / 28.06.02

The Chicken Song rules.

"When I can afford to be both fat and skinny, I'll know I've made it."

I would be breaking tradition if I didn't give mad props to my favourite performing artist and goat worshipper, Douglas Nagy, the sinister ukelele minstrel. Like The D, Doug is misunderstood by a public who believes he uses "jokes" to hide supposedly weak licks. Not so! Yes, The Nage-man has been known to sing about Brain Eating Squirrels and lonely guys who buy She-Hulk comics, and sure, he puts on a pretty wacky show, but that is not the end of his triumphs. He also deals with interracial dating, the working class man, his slow slide from Christianity to Atheism, and Patrick Swayze in Point Break.

Would you choose to do battle with a man who custom built a $1000 signature electric ukelele? Or a man who had the Crue themselves pay tribute to his mastery? Can Tenacious D truly say taht they are the World's Greatest Band when they lack that one thing that makes Nagy's music so special, namely, being born in the Rose City? You mess with the Rose, YOU GET THE THORNS!

OK, I'll admit to a little bit of bias, seeing as I'm lead tambourinist in a side project with Nagy. But he defines the difference between joke band and band with jokes, a category which The D themselves fall into. Why? Because he rocks harder then Lita Ford, and that's saying an awful lot, don't you think?

00:02 / 29.06.02

Tenacious D was funny as a novelty. Then they did the whirlwind tour of EVERY talk show and for what seemed like weeks I couldn't turn on the TV without seeing them. And then they wore thin pretty quickly. Now I hate them. "Ok, guys, we get the gag. You're making fun of Dio and Meatloaf and so forth. What else ya got? Nothing? Well, please go away, then." Since that whole over-wrought style of rock/metal is for the most part long gone, why bother doing a parody of it now? It's a parody of itself, does it need someone to make a further level of joke out of it? One of the reasons Spinal Tap was so funny was because they were getting laughs out of the music of the time. TD is trying to milk the same cow, but it's 20 years later, and WHO CARES? IT'S BEEN DONE.

BUT...I did laugh really hard at first. At first.

01:22 / 29.06.02

But getting sick of something because it's been incessantly thrown at you could happen with even the most perfect, sublime artist.

Which the D are.

So stop watching TV.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

11:14 / 29.06.02

Kittie doth say: I think the level of snottiness on this thread is staggering. is there no such thing as "its not my thing. next" without the accompanying "shite, shite, SHITE, and anyone who disagrees is simply and utterly without any semblance of taste or reason"

No! No! No! It's vitally important! You smell of wee! And you probably like the Knodge too!

13:08 / 29.06.02

"But getting sick of something because it's been incessantly thrown at you could happen with even the most perfect, sublime artist.

Which the D are.

So stop watching TV."

Too late. I already saw thru them. One joke, one trick pony, byebye.

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