“Kick-ass tunes”: Jack Black’s six favourite albums
When The Fall’s Mark E Smith said that he wanted to outlaw actors being in bands, there was surely an asterisk to the name of Jack Black. The School of Rock star subverted the usual pretentious tropes of cinema icons, pretending that their filmography doesn’t exist and they’re some sort of underground indie boho, who just so happened to be picked up by Glastonbury. Instead, he fronts his band like a full-on fanny living his dream. It’s refreshing.
Regardless of your opinion on Tenacious D, there is no denying that Jack Black lives and breathes music. As he once proclaimed: “I don’t have any real spirituality in my life – I’m kind of an atheist – but when music can take me to the highest heights, it’s almost like a spiritual feeling. It fills that void for me.” Concert halls are his church—Jimmy Page is his Jesus.
This exact sentiment was at the core of the film High Fidelity, where he played the record store clerk, Barry, a figure akin to a vinyl version of The Simpsons’ comic book guy. In promotion of that classic slacker flick based on Nick Hornby’s novel – resplendent with quotes such as: “What came first – the music or the misery? Did I listen to the music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to the music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person?” – Black sat down and listed off his own personal favourite records.
Given his rocking demeanour, it might surprise some that the tenderness of Radiohead is actually his favourite musical tonic. And as for his favourite Radiohead album, he champions The Bends. “If you want concept,” he told Entertainment, “You go OK Computer. But if you wanna rock — if you want straight-up fuckin’ 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!'”
On a more niche note, Black has a love for Liz Phair. The American singer-songwriter entered the music industry with her Girly Sound tapes back in 1990 when she – in a proto bedroom-pop move – acquired a four-track tape recorder and sat in her bedroom writing songs. These matured into something a bit more formal with her debut Exile in Guyville, which ended up being one of Black’s favourites. “Song after song, it’s a kick in the nuts and a clop in the chops. She’s got those meandering melodies that never stop. So complex and delicious. Love her,” he says.
One of the more predictable records on his prized list was Black Sabbath, given his like-minded vocals. But it perhaps is surprising that he places We Sold Our Souls for Rock ‘n’ Roll over records like Paranoid. “Ozzy is the most haunting, evil, kick-ass vocalist in history. Hands down,” he explains. “This album is a capsule of a romantic time when Satan was real. You were going to hell, but you didn’t care because it rocked so fuckin’ hard.” Satan was so real, in fact, that a sense of hysteria swept over the US—a problematic time, but also a symbol of Sabbath’s roaring quality in its own twisted way.
And speaking of Satanism, it is no surprise to see the debasing ways of fellow screaming mound of flesh, Francis Black made a splash in the list with the seminal Surfer Rosa. “[His] melodies and vocalizations were so primal and original,” Black said of his namesake. “And that Santiago guy was from another fuckin’ planet with genius guitar licks. They were Nirvana, but no one knew it.” It is an appraisal very similar to David Bowie’s own take on Pixies when he famously called them a “psychotic Beatles”.
Then, completing the constitution of the School of Rock star comes his penchant for wild humour. It could’ve been Sparks, but instead, he goes for Devo and their 1980 record Freedom of Choice. “They were the first ones in my mind to have a fully realised concept with their band. They had a genius theatricality, a creepy sense of humour, and also some kick-ass tunes,” Black opines.
In a sudden moment of realisation, Black then exclaimed: “I can’t believe I left out AC/DC’s Back in Black! It kicks all those albums’ asses. Can you make that five and a half? No, put it like fuckin’ zero — it comes ahead of one.” The rollicking record is one that he certainly holds dear. He’s even covered AC/DC on-stage alongside Foo Fighters, and, in what could be described as a half-jokey manner, he has even expressed a desire to join the group.
There are no doubt a few other asterisks he’d like to add to his selection, having cited a love for the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Tom Waits – who he said was still going to be here “in 100 years”, The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Nirvana, Arcade Fire, Beatie Boys, ABBA, Urge Overkill and a good few others in the past as well. He’s a man of eclectic tastes, and he’s proven that he has eclectic talents to boot.
Jack Black’s favourite albums:
- Back in Black – AC/DC
- The Bends – Radiohead
- Exile in Guyville – Liz Phair
- Freedom of Choice – Devo
- We Sold Our Souls for Rock ‘n’ Roll – Black Sabbath
- Surfer Rosa – Pixies
