While Tenacious D did not achieve chart success after its release, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by the end of 2005.

[3] For their first album, they enlisted the help of drummer Dave Grohl, keyboardist Page McConnell of Phish, guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, and bass player Steven Shane McDonald.

The majority of the songs on their debut album stem from early versions as seen on their HBO TV series, Tenacious D.[4] The record itself does not list the song titles on the back cover as is the convention but instead on the back cover of the jacket; therefore one must open the CD (after presumably buying it) to read them.

A studio recording of "Jesus Ranch," the final song from the HBO shorts (the closing credits feature the end of "The Road"), was omitted from the album because "it just didn't cut the mustard" (quoted by the D in the FAQ section of their website).

[13] "Tribute", the second single from the album, discusses the "greatest song in the world"[14] written to save the souls of Gass and Black from a demon[15] but later forgotten.

[16] The song dropped guitar riffs from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" which had appeared in early versions.

[26] Seven of the tracks on the album are comedy skits: "One Note Song",[23] "Hard Fucking", "Inward Singing",[23] "Cock Pushups", "Friendship Test",[23] "Karate Schnitzel" and "Drive-Thru".

The song features a shock comedy climax when lead singer Jack Black asks for the listener, in return for their troubles in playing to them, to perform a coprophilic ritual (referred to colloquially as a Cleveland steamer).

[32] In "City Hall", the longest song on the album – described as epic[33] – lead singer Black calls for the legalisation of cannabis.

Review aggregate website Metacritic gave the album a score of 85 out of 100, signifying "universal acclaim".

Club wrote that Black and Gass manage "an odd simultaneous fusion of stupid and clever",[44] while Time wrote, "The pleasures of Tenacious D... flow from a similar revelation: Black and Gass set themselves up as buffoons with titles like Karate Schnitzel, then proceed to defy expectations with precise guitars, polished vocal harmonies and slamming backup musicians".

[4] In addition, Andy Gill of The Independent remarked that the album was full of "swearing and scatology" and was "bereft of even the slightest skidmark of humour".

[47] All tracks are written by Tenacious D, except "Friendship Test" skit by Bob OdenkirkTenacious D Additional musicians Production