Though their greatest-band-in-the-universe shtick is now seven years or so old, the humor and hyperbole of Jack Black and Kyle Gass remain interesting for two reasons. The first is an intimate, Spinal Tap-like knowledge of the mechanics and trappings of metal — what makes it good, what makes it cheesy, why it's funny, why we love it anyway.
The second is profanity. Lots and lots of profanity.
The Pick of Destiny's soundtrack more or less takes the listener on the same journey visualized in the film of the same name, which is more or less a refinement of the same story begun with the duo's HBO shorts and continued on '01's eponymous full-length CD: how the D rose from humble, bumbling beginnings to fulfill their destiny.
All of the songs here are new, but in terms of subject matter, many travel paths familiar to fans — Pick of Destiny's "Master Exploder," "Dude (I Totally Miss You)" and "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)" mirror the debut's "Explosivo," "Kyle Quits The Band" and "Rock Your Socks," and so on. And the band's clever musical blend of metal clichés, melodramatic acoustica and iconic guest performers (Ronnie James Dio, Meat Loaf and Dave Grohl contribute) hasn't changed much.
The new, equally hilarious lyrics and spot-on yet completely over-the-top performances transcend mere rut-mining, though; Black and Gass are undeniably giving the people what they want, but they're also committed to doing it at least as well as they did last time. Still, this particular joke has a shelf life, and those in on it since the beginning are probably going to find Pick a bit musty. 3 stars
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2006.