The Pick of Destiny

The Pick of Destiny
The cover is a reference to the Michelangelo painting The Creation of Adam.
Soundtrack album by Tenacious D
Released	November 14, 2006
Recorded	March–July 2005 at The Dell and 606 Studio
Genre	Comedy rock, heavy metal, hard rock, acoustic rock, rock opera
Length	33:46
Label	Epic
Producer	John King
Tenacious D chronology
D Fun Pak (2002) The Pick of Destiny (2006) Rize of the Fenix (2012)
Singles from The Pick of Destiny
"POD" Released: October 24, 2006

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	52/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]
The Guardian	[5]
IGN	8.4/10[6]
musicOMH	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Slant Magazine	[9]
Spin	5/10[10]
Sputnikmusic	4/5[11]

The Pick of Destiny is the second album by American comedy rock band Tenacious D, the soundtrack for their film of the same name. The album was released on November 14, 2006, through Epic Records, and debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200.^[12]

The Pick of Destiny is the band's first studio release in five years, following up their 2001 self-titled debut, Tenacious D. The album was produced by the Dust Brothers' John King, and features appearances by Meat Loaf, Ronnie James Dio and Dave Grohl. Another album, More Rocktastic Music from the Film, contains the score music that the soundtrack excludes.

Details

In the absence of original comedy skits, there are excerpts of dialogue from the soundtrack's accompanying film between numerous songs. Portions of The Pick of Destiny were recorded at Dave Grohl's studio.^[13] A clean version of the album was recorded.^[14]

The album was released in three separate edits: a "clean" radio edit featuring re-recorded vocals replacing foul language with non-sense words, a "dirty" edit featuring the full film versions, and a limited edition. All three versions feature clips from the movie, but some dialogue was re-recorded for the clean version. The special limited edition was released in a cardboard "old book case", which includes a digipack version of the album, a foldout poster depicting the D and Sasquatch, eight tarot cards from the film (Tenacious D, The Training, Destiny, Masterpiece, The Quest, The Divide, and Two Kings, as well as a card explaining the other cards), and a plastic replica of the Pick of Destiny. If the set was pre-ordered from the Tenacious D website, it also included a T-shirt.

Album art

The cover features Black and Gass in the clouds in the sky, parodying Michelangelo's painting The Creation of Adam. In between the two's hands is the green guitar pick used in the movie to defeat the devil, who's arm is pictured below them. The album was banned from K-Mart and Wal-Mart because of the satanic picture. Despite the actual CD not being stocked, Wal-Mart still carries the album sheet music book, movie poster and the 2014 re-release of the album on vinyl online, all of which carry exactly the same banned satanic picture.

Publicity

A short movie entitled Time Fixers was used as a promotional tool on the iTunes website. The movie starred Michael Keaton^[15] and longtime collaborators JR Reed and Paul F. Tompkins. The first half of the film was available as a free download on iTunes, while the second half could only be accessed after pre-ordering the album.^[16]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Kickapoo" (Featuring Meat Loaf and Ronnie James Dio)	Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Liam Lynch	4:14
2.	"Classico"	Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Black, Gass	0:58
3.	"Baby"	Black, Gass	1:36
4.	"Destiny" (extract from movie)	Black, Gass	0:37
5.	"History"	Black, Gass	1:42
6.	"The Government Totally Sucks" (Featuring JR Reed)	Black, Gass	1:34
7.	"Master Exploder"	Black, Gass	2:24
8.	"The Divide" (extract from movie)	Black, Gass	0:22
9.	"Papagenu (He's My Sassafrass)" (Featuring John C. Reilly)	Black, Gass, John King	2:24
10.	"Dude (I Totally Miss You)"	Black, Gass	2:53
11.	"Break In-City (Storm the Gate!)"	Black, Gass, King, Lynch	1:22
12.	"Car Chase City" (Featuring Paul F. Tompkins)	Black, Gass, King, John Konesky, John Spiker	2:42
13.	"Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)" (Featuring Dave Grohl)	Black, Gass, Dave Grohl, Lynch	5:35
14.	"POD"	Black, Gass	2:32
15.	"The Metal"	Black, Gass, Konesky	2:45
Total length:			33:40

Bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
16.	"Rock Your Socks" (Acoustic version, iTunes pre-order bonus track)	3:07
17.	"Training Medley" (Digital Download available with Best Buy version, also available on "POD" single, and the Japanese version)	1:11
18.	"Kong" (Japanese bonus track, also available on "POD" 7" single)	3:21
19.	"It's Late" (Digital download bonus track available from the eight year re-issue vinyl MP3 download card)	1:34
Total length:		43:20

Credits

Tenacious D

• Jack Black – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Kyle Gass – backing vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, recorder on "Papagenu (He's My Sassafrass)"

Additional Musicians

• Dave Grohl – drums, demon vocals on "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)"
• John Spiker – bass guitar, backing vocals on "Car Chase City", clavinet on "Papagenu (He's My Sassafrass)"
• John Konesky – electric guitar
• Liam Lynch – additional guitar on "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)" and "Break In-City (Storm the Gate!)"
• John King – drum programming on "Papagenu (He's My Sassafrass)"
• Meat Loaf – guest vocals on "Kickapoo"
• Ronnie James Dio – guest vocals on "Kickapoo"

Production

• Produced by John King
• Assistant engineers: Ed Cherney, Nick Raskulinecz, John Spiker, Brad Breeck
• Recorded at The Dell and 606 Studio
• Mixed by Ken Andrews
• Mastered by Tom Baker at Precision Mastering
• Orchestral arrangements by Andrew Gross, recorded at Sony Scoring Stage, engineered by Casey Stone
• Baritone saxophone and piano on "Kickapoo" recorded at Capitol Studios, engineered by Casey Stone
• Management: Sam
• A&R: Matt Marshall
• Music executive: Bob Bowen
• Photography: Michael Ellins
• Album packaging design by: Gregg Higggins/Michael Elins

Charts

Weekly

Chart (2006–07)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17]	35
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18]	64
Dutch Alternative Albums (MegaCharts)[19]	29
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20]	47
Irish Albums (IRMA)[21]	9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22]	44
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23]	82
UK Albums (OCC)[24]	10
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[25]	2
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[26]	2
US Billboard 200[27]	8
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[28]	1

Year-end

Chart (2007)	Position
US Billboard 200[29]	200

References

1. "The Pick Of Destiny OST - Tenacious D". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
2. Erlewine, Stephen. "The Pick of Destiny - Tenacious D". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20071013090038/http://blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4308. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (2006-11-13). "The Pick of Destiny - Tenacious D". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
5. McLean, Craig (2006-11-12). "Tenacious D, The Pick of Destiny". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
6. Spence D. (2006-11-16). "Tenacious D - The Pick Of Destiny". IGN. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
7. Shepherd, Sam (2006-11-13). "Tenacious D - The Pick Of Destiny". musicOMH. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
8. Greene, Andy (2006-11-01). "The Pick of Destiny : Tenacious D : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-02. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
9. Jones, Preston (2006-11-14). "Tenacious D: The Pick Of Destiny". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
10. Marchese, David (2006-12-14). "Tenacious D, 'The Pick of Destiny' (Epic)". Spin. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
11. Cruz, John (2006-11-14). "Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
12. Breznican, Anthony (2006-11-24). "The D is for 'Destiny'". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
13. Dave Grohl: 'The Mojo Interview'
14. Smith, Ethan (2006-10-27). "Can Jack Go Back?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
15. Ketchum, Lucas (2006-11-17). "Tenacious D: "The Pick of Destiny"". Retrieved 2008-02-09.
16. Cohen, Jonathan (2006-10-19). "Billboard Bits: Tenacious D, Gretchen Wilson, MerleFest". Retrieved 2008-02-09.
17. "Australiancharts.com – Tenacious D – The Pick Of Destiny". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
18. "Austriancharts.at – Tenacious D – The Pick Of Destiny" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
19. "Tenacious D - The Pick Of Destiny" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
20. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
21. "Discography Tenacious D". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Median|accessdate=March 19, 2016
22. "Swedishcharts.com – Tenacious D – The Pick Of Destiny". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
23. "Swisscharts.com – Tenacious D – The Pick Of Destiny". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
24. "Tenacious D | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved March 19, 2016.
25. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
26. "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
27. "Tenacious D – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Tenacious D. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
28. "Tenacious D – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Tenacious D. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
29. "Billboard 200 Albums : Year End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2016.

External links

• The Pick of Destiny at Metacritic