599. Tenacious D / Rize of the Fenix. 2012. 3/5

It was somewhat of a surprise to learn that the D was going to release another album. Not because I thought they were done, how do you approach a new album after the previous album was the soundtrack to your own movie, which bombed big time at the box office? Well, you make the album (or part of it, anyway) the story of that, and just move onwards!

It is great to hear Jack and Kyle back again, and for the most part the songs are upbeat and humorous. It is probably unfair to try and compare to their earlier efforts. Their self-titled debut album contained the very best of everything they had written and played for a decade. Their second album was also the soundtrack to their movie, and as such the material was well done. On this new album, they had to start from scratch and come up with new material and new ideas. It's not like they could just come together and write a bunch of songs about love or any other subjects. They also had to be amusing and clever, because that is what the D do. And in a lot of ways that is even more difficult to do, because the backlash can be twofold.

Without trying to overanalyse the whole production (which I think I have already done), it is an album that is enjoyable to listen to without the great memorable tracks that their previous two albums have. "Rize of the Fenix" answers the questions of what the D have been doing since 2007. "Deth Starr", "Roadie" and "Throw Down" are all in the classic sense Tenacious D songs. On the other side, songs like "Rock is Dead" and "To Be the Best" remind me of songs off the Team America: World Police soundtrack ("Montage" anyone?), but probably not quite as good. And as clever as a song like "39" is, I really think it is drawn out far too long.

I haven't got the same vibe about this album as I did with the previous two albums. This may well change over time and more spinning of the album. It's clever and funny, but without the memorability of that which came before.