Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Pictures
All hail The Dictator
Sacha Baron Cohen introduces his latest character. Slideshow
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Romney apologizes for bullying incident at school
3:06pm EDT
No survivors found after Russian plane crashes in Indonesia
|
4:01pm EDT
Bernanke: even worthy borrowers can't get mortgages
4:00pm EDT
Crash deals blow to Russian aerospace revival
3:54pm EDT
John Travolta's Attorney Threatens Accuser with Malicious Prosecution
12:50am EDT
Discussed
137
Obesity fight must shift from personal blame: U.S. panel
121
Florida nabs white supremacists planning ”race war”
91
Obama says same-sex couples should be able to marry: ABC
Watched
Russian plane crash in Indonesia
3:33am EDT
World's rarest gorilla makes camera-trap debut
Wed, May 9 2012
Russian plane goes missing in Indonesia
Wed, May 9 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Gay marriage battle
A look at the legal battles and the controversies over gay marriage. Slideshow
Wild weather
Scenes of the awesome and sometimes destructive power of nature. Slideshow
Tenacious D aim to revive hard rock with "Fenix"
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Pandora, Spotify face off in free online music market
Sun, May 6 2012
Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch dies of cancer, aged 47
Fri, May 4 2012
Gotye aims to avoid being somebody we used to know
Thu, May 3 2012
Michael Jackson dances again on one billion Pepsi cans
Thu, May 3 2012
Jethro Tull's Anderson "Thick As A Brick" and dapper
Thu, May 3 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Kickstarter’s growing pains
Marilyn Manson… and Johnny Depp?
Related Topics
Entertainment »
Fashion »
Music »
By Piya Sinha-Roy
LOS ANGELES |
Thu May 10, 2012 3:36pm EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - To hear Tenacious D tell it, hard rock music is dead and they plan to resurrect it. That's no joke.
Comedy-rock duo Tenacious D, formed 18 years ago by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, drop their third album, "Rize of the Fenix," next Tuesday, aiming to save what they see as a dying musical genre.
Six years after their last album, "The Pick of Destiny," they claim to be bringing back "the majesty and the genius" of hard rock while exploring deeper, darker themes on their album. And despite what they see as a bias against their music by some critics because they mix satirical comedy with song, they are completely serious about their newest endeavor.
"Since we had our last album, rock and roll completely died. Thank God for The D, riding in on their white stallions to rescue rock and roll," Black told Reuters in a recent interview.
"What killed it? Was it Axl Rose in the library with a wrench, or was it Lady Gaga in the pantry with the pliers? We don't know but we'll figure it out," he added.
The title track, "Rize of the Fenix" is a rousing country rock-themed ode to the band's attempt to "rise again" that expresses Tenacious D's desire for a chart-topping song, while Black's favorite, "Senorita," is a Mariachi-style tale of a damsel in distress named Conchita.
"We've dug deep for a lot of the jams, such as "Throw Down," our major anti-organized religion song, and "Senorita," a story about a man who falls in love with a woman who can't let go of her abusive relationship. It doesn't sound funny ... we're exploring some deeper, darker material," said Black.
But there is comedy. After all, what would Tenacious D be, without a sense of humor. The songs are divided up by skits such as "Flutes and Trombones," which features Black and Gass getting into a fight over instruments, while "Classical Teacher" sees Gass getting classical guitar lessons.
Still, Black and Gass say they have serious ambitions to crack the mainstream music market, and they have sought advice from Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters on how to write a hit song.
"I've always wanted to have one of those hits on the radio, but we haven't really been able to crack that code. I think we're trying this time a lot," said Gass.
Black is adamant their third album is "in all seriousness, better than any album out there right now."
"RIZE" TO SUCCESS
Tenacious D was formed in 1994 by Gass and Black in Los Angeles where the duo performed their "mock rock" routines in local bars.
Initially, the success of the band was spurred by Black's skyrocketing fame as a comedic actor in movies such as "High Fidelity," "School of Rock" and Peter Jackson's "King Kong." Gass, also an actor, hasn't seen the same level of success in Hollywood, but the duo insist their chemistry remains unaffected by Black's Hollywood A-list status.
"I go and do some other stuff, but I always come back to the D, because it's the best stuff, it's the stuff I get the most satisfaction for ... On Tenacious D island, all things are equal, me and Kyle are on level-playing fields," said Black.
In 1997, Black and Gass performed in an HBO TV show based on their journey as a band, producing three half-hour episodes and two short sketches each that aired through 2000.
As their fame grew, the joke morphed into a serious endeavor, and in 2001, the duo released their debut self-titled album. It featured a backing band comprised of Grohl on drums, The Vandals' guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald and Phish keyboardist Page McConnell, and it eventually went platinum, led by the song "Tribute."
The second album, "The Pick of Destiny," was combined with a Tenacious D film of the same name and a world tour, but failed to achieve the same level of success of the first album, although the film became a cult hit through DVD sales. To date, the band has sold more than 3 million albums worldwide.
Still, there is a sense of frustration for Black in Tenacious D not being taken seriously as a credible rock band. He feels critics overlook their talents due to the satirical content, but he has faith the band's loyal fans see them differently.
"I do love (Jack White's) "Blunderbuss," I love the Foo, I love Tom Waits, his new record is incredible ... and Goyte ... but our album is better than all of those, and because we're clowns, we don't get that kind of love," he said.
"In a hundred years' time, no one will remember Gotye or the rest, but the shining beacon of The D -- they're going to start religions after us."
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Entertainment
Fashion
Music
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.