The album Jack Black and Ricky Gervais agree is the greatest of all time
Jack Black and Ricky Gervais have something in common, other than both being involved in some of the greatest-ever comedy content of recent times, they both agree on one album being the greatest of all time.
When it comes to music, both figures have been fairly forthcoming with the bands and musicians they’re especially fond of. Black, in particular, is well-versed in the music world himself, immersed as a charismatic belter who built his craft from the foundations of classic rock.
His side project, Tenacious D, was born out of his love for bands like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, with frontmen like Brian Johnson showing him the way on how to generate hype and supercharge the energy of an entire room from the small space of the stage. Black has the personality and the talent to match many of his heroes, making it super easy to transition his hobby into a serious facet of his artistic offering alongside acting.
Gervais is also a massive music lover. Like Black, Gervais has been a longtime observer and follower of many stalwarts of rock through several movements. Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Sex Pistols, and Neil Young are among his favourite musicians of all time, while David Bowie seemingly takes the cake when it comes to those who actually went on to shape his own approach to art.
One song in particular stuck with him. “David Bowie, probably my single biggest hero in music,” Gervais said during his episode of Desert Island Discs. “He’s written one of the most beautiful love songs ever. It’s called ‘Letter to Hermione’, and it’s just so stripped-down it’s just gorgeous.”
Although Black and Gervais don’t seem to have all that much in common outside of their comedic streak, they do share the same appreciation for a certain major rock entity, and that’s the Abingdon force itself, Radiohead. Specifically, they both agree that their record, The Bends, is the greatest rock record ever made.
“I’ve listened to this album so much that I’ve had to replace it three times,” Gervais told Zoo. “‘Bones’, especially, brings a tear to my eye every time.”
He also told The Guardian that he revisits The Bends the most out of all records, and that, for all the albums that were, at the time, “only five years old”, it’s “already in the best albums of all time” because “it’s got taste, effort, poetry… everyone’s a winner”.
As for Black, it was the record that made him realise who was the boss in modern rock. “If you want concept, you go OK Computer,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “But if you wanna rock – if you want straight-up fucking songs – you go The Bends. The first few listens, I was like, ‘I don’t understand… My brain’s not computing…’ Then it clicked in: ‘Ohhhh, I see! It’s the best band in the history of rock!’”
Anyone with an ear for good, solid rock music will likely agree with both Black and Gervais. After all, The Bends wasn’t just a masterclass in album tracklisting coherency, it also has the kind of ambiguous tone you can stick on anywhere, at any time, and always feel the same sense of awe. It’s completely timeless, which is likely why stars like Black and Gervais could never really get over it.
