REVIEW: Tenacious D – Post-Apocalypto (2018)

TENACIOUS D – Post-Apocalypto (2018 Sony)

I don’t know how this is supposed to work. Do you have to watch an animated series in order to “get” Post-Apocalypto?  I’m not doing that.  I’m listening to an album; I’m reviewing an album.

21 tracks, half an hour.  Most of the tracks run a minute and a half.  So what’s the concept?  Humanity has destroyed the Earth in a nuclear holocaust.  Tenacious D survived, though their songwriting abilities did not.  Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Yo-Yo Ma have been saved, and now live on a space station.  Kyle Gass wasn’t good enough to make the cut and now has a two-headed dog named Hope to keep him company.  Unfortunately the KKK seems to have taken over security on what’s left of Earth.

Post-Apocalypto is part uninspired sketches, part uninspired songs.  Some are decent, or half-decent, like “Take Us Into Space” and “Woman Time”.  Most are too soft, light and forgettable, and the sketches are tired.  Jack Black’s “Arnold” accent isn’t bad, but the joke wears out.

Bottom line:  as stated by Uncle Meat, “18 minutes of music isn’t an album.”  Iron Tom adds, “Although I’ll listen to some tunes individually, I don’t see myself listening to it again as an entire album.”

1/5 stars

33 comments

  1. 1/5? Wouldn’t this qualify as a flaming turd? Too bad, because the first Tenacious D CD is kickass and funny. The sketch/song ratio was presumably much better on that one, and the material was probably a lot fresher too. It’s the only one I own, of course the uncensored back cover. It was $1, so I couldn’t pass it up.

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  2. The Stormtroopers of Death’s “Speak English or Die” album is 21 songs in less than 30 minutes and it doesn’t suck. Still, this sounds like Tenacious D didn’t know what they were doing here.

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        1. Pick Of Destiny — fantastic album. Guest vocals by Dio, Meat Loaf, and Dave Grohl. Has some of their best songs on it. Don’t need to see the movie to follow the songs.

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  5. The tunes make A LOT more sense within context of the video. They should have labeled this as a soundtrack instead because it doesn’t work as an album.

    With that said… the video has a few hilarious moments but isn’t their best work. I admire the process as they just made it on the fly. But it comes off as a rough draft of something that could have been so much better.

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  6. I never knew how to take them.

    Metal rock comedians or dudes just having fun playing acoustic jingles and using their rock and metal influences to supplement their little commercial jingles.

    But I do agree on The Pick Of Destiny. That one is a blast.

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    1. Pick of Destiny is a blast in the car. I have the Japanese version, of course!

      “Dudes just having fun playing acoustic jingles and using their rock and metal influences to supplement their little commercial jingles.”

      That is my summation of it. Jack Black’s metal credentials are solid, but the D is them just having fun. In my estimation.

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