Tenacious D: Rize Of The Fenix

After my review of Twin Atlantic's debut album 'Free' turned out more like a lengthy novel than a short, to-the-point blog post, I've decided to set myself a challenge: To review Tenacious D's latest single 'Rize Of The Fenix' in under 250 words. Here goes...

If it was possible to put Iron Maiden’s ‘Flight of Icarus’, Samson’s ‘Hard Times’, AC/DC’s ‘Shoot to Thrill’ and Tenacious D’s very own ‘Tribute’ into a huge, heavy metal blender, the result would be this monster of a track! ‘Rize Of The Fenix’ is, as the title suggests, Tenacious D’s attempt at revitalising their music career after the box office flop their movie ‘The Pick Of Destiny’. It’s been an entire six years since fans of the D have seen any new releases from the comedy rock duo, and the band’s latest single certainly lives up to the years of expectations! Filled with Kyle Gass’ signature guitar-work and Jack Black’s powerful wails, upon listening to ‘Rize Of The Fenix’ it seems like Tenacious D never went away. The accompanying music video (see above) is also without a doubt the funniest thing I’ve seen all year! Although the track, which failed to chart, didn’t enjoy the mainstream success that the band wished for – “One hit, Yeah we're hoping this is it… Top 10 hit, Top 40 hit... Aw, we don't care, as long as we get there” – with a 99.2% rating of 'likes' on YouTube* it’s evident that fans are more than happy with the song. In my opinion, ‘Rize Of The Fenix’ is a fantastic effort by the D, summing up the fusion of comedy and rock n’ roll which makes up the band’s signature sound, and it is certain that “the D [will] rise again, Just like the phoenix”.

…Okay, now I’m off to get my Tenacious D tattoo reapplied (listen to the song if you don’t get it)!

So, in exactly 250 words (if you don’t count the previous sentence) there’s my review of the track ‘Rize Of The Fenix’. The single is available to buy now, as is the album of the same name, from all the usual music retailers.


Stay tuned to Superunknown as there's a lot more musical awesomeness to come very shortly!
PsyD

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And now for the announcement that I promised in my last blog post! Starting from next week, I'll be posting a track review weekly as part of a new feature entitled 'Alive in the Superunknown'. Each week I'll alternate between reviewing new hits and forgotten classics, starting with Iron Maiden's breakthrough track 'Prowler'. I'll also continue to try to do album reviews and interviews as much as possible, although this does depend on my college workload over the next couple of months.

*Correct at the time of writing