CD Reviews: Tenacious D -- 'Rize of the Fenix'

'Rize of the Fenix'
TENACIOUS D
3.5 stars
Tenacious D, aka the "Greatest Band in the World," asserts itself right off the bat on the group's first album since 2006's soundtrack to "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny." The title track opens with an acknowledgment that the movie was a failure, leading people to write off the band. But the Phoenix - or in this case, the "Fenix" - would "Rize" again. Jack Black and Kyle Gass' latest effort is a throwback rocker - goofy and vulgar - but also a serious headbanger.

"Deth Starr" (no relation to the Death Star from "Star Wars," of course) is a monster of a metal attack, and the strummy "The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and The Rage Kage" is the finest self-referential ballad since the Beatles' "The Ballad of John and Yoko."

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