Video Of The Week: Tribute

Jack Black, star of King Kong and School of Rock, has a side project. It is the greatest band in the world - or so he says.

Tenacious D, for it is they, consist of the portly actor and his sidekick Kyle Glass. They are that most diabolical of diabolical inventions -- a comedy rock group.


If Satan has the best tunes, then comedy bands are what Jesus has on his iPod.

To put it another way; jokes in songs are the musical equivalent of George Bush in the role of US president. They're funny at first, quickly becoming embarassing and then intolerable. Eventually, they both get eaten by crazed dingos in bandanas (it says here).

"The D," however, are a cut above the rest. That's partly due to Jack Black's manic energy, partly because their music is actually quite good, and partly because they can call on famous friends to help them out.

This video, for the song Tribute, is a great example. The song itself is only mildly amusing - the tale of how Black and Glass wrote the best song in the world but then forgot it - but the video lifts it into the realms of a comedy classic.

Directed by Liam Lynch, of United States of Whatever fame, and featuring Ben Stiller and Dave Grohl (as the devil), it was voted Kerrang TV's top video of 2002 - despite the fact it was never released as a single in the UK.

A full-length feature film about the band's rise to fame, also directed by Lynch, is out later this year. Let this be a warning to you.

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