Probably most widely agreed as Kid Rock's best effort to date,
Kid Rock is almost pure country rock music. When Kid Rock first started the music gig in 1990, he (poorly) tried to make it as a white MC (a title given to hip-hop artist Eminiem). He did not gain any media attention or recognition until his fourth album,
Devil Without A Cause hit stores in 1998. He immediately became famous for mixing hard rock, country music, and hip-hop onto one album with hits like
Bawitdaba,
Cowboy, and
Only God Knows Why. After two years of touring, Kid Rock made the mistake of releasing his compilation album of old gems
The History Of Rock. It wasn't till 2001 that Kid Rock released his fifth full length album,
Cocky. The album showed that Kid Rock was making a drastic change into more melodic country rock and less hard hitting rap rock and contained hits like
Forever,
Lonely Road Of Faith, and
Picture featuring country artist Sheryl Crow. In 2003, Kid Rock released his latest album,
Kid Rock, which is a head on assault of pure alternative/ country rock (with the exception of
Intro).
Rock 'N' Roll Pain Train starts the album off with a few turntables and a voice introducing Kid Rock to the live crowd before him before some country based guitar licks start playing. Kid Rock's singing voice on this song, along with basically the rest of the album, is very standard country rock vocals, but he pulls it off well. The song is overall a good, solid first track showing off Kid Rock's new choice of music. The song ends with a voice talking about 'backwards theory' followed by about a minute and a half of Kid Rock singing the same verse over and over again until the music stops. The next song, featuring country star Hank Williams Jr.,
Cadillac P*ssy sounds like a catchy bar tune with it's funky piano music and smooth drum rolls and more country rock vocals. The lyrics are not the best on the album, showing that Kid Rock's personality hasn't changed so much since his rap rock days, but the overall catchy, jazzy tune to the song saves it.
Showing a bit softer side of Kid Rock is
Feel Like Makin' Love, which is very mellow and has a good acoustic flow to it. The vocals are rather well sung during the bridges but the chorus kinda kills the smoothness of the song with heavier guitar riffs. The song is good, but would be better if they just kept the simple acoustic flow the whole song. It's back to the nu-urban funk music as
Black Bob starts off with catchy turntables and some great funk guitar riffs. The song is very original as far as what Kid Rock has made so far. The song has a good flow and changes a lot, making it always on to of the beat without getting boring. Overall, the urban hymns of this song makes it one of the best songs on the album for it's funky grooves and varied vocals of country hick singing to hard rock-rap like singing.
The mellow bass intro to
Jackson, Mississippi is fooling at first, cause not long after come some heavy, Metallica inspired riffs and some (rather poorly done) screams by Kid Rock. The song then slows back down to it's intro's pace. As the chorus rolls in, Kid Rock shows off his heavier side as he screams in a sorta death rock singing along with more of his heavy guitar riffs. Aside from the changes of mellow country to heavy rock, the song doesn't really do much else, though is overall a good solid track.
Cold & Empty is the first ballad track on the album. With a soft piano melody and Kid Rock's (believe it or not) beautiful singing starting off the track, the song as a very progressive feel as the song ascends to a much more dynamic sound. The song is pretty simple, and the lyrics are rather well written, making it one of the better tracks on the album.
After a quick drum roll, the music jumps into an orchestral chorus like sound along with some rock based drum lines in
Intro. Kid Rock relives his old, dirty mouth rapping on this short track, but does in it a way that it's noticeable that he's changed since his days of
Devil Without A Cause.
Rock 'N' Roll starts off with another great funky rock groove and upbeat music and singing. The song sounds like something that you'd play during a drinking party at a local bar due to it's swinger theme music. The song is overall a good rock track, but it's not one of the best songs on the album by any means.
Hillbilly Stomp sounds more like what you'd get if you mixed mountain folk music with rock based guitars and rap-rock singing. The song has a really good musical beat, but the vocals are not some of Kid Rock's best. Overall the song is rather weak due to it's lack of variety and less than dynamic style.
I Am is another acoustic ballad song. The acoustic guitar riffs throughout the song create a good atmosphere behind Kid Rock's country ballad singing. The song has a bit less dynamics present then the previous ballad track, and is very straightforward. The singing in the song is some of Kid Rock's better work by far and the lyrics are pretty good too. Another heavy, groove tune is
Son Of Detroit starting off with some heavy drum rolls and heavy funk guitars. The song is good and a bit different form the last couple of songs on the album. The guitar solos on the song are also the best on the album, but aside from that the song is rather boring due to it's lack of variety.
Do It For You is yet another piano ballad track. The song has some good vocals but gets old way to quickly, unlike the other ballad tracks. The song still has good lyrics and vocals, but musically it gets way to boring.
Hard Night For Sarah is also somewhat of a piano ballad track (and a cover song by an artist I do not know of), but contains all the spice in the music and vocals that make it a really good track. The song is rather epic in feel, and the singing is some of Kid Rock's best on the album. My personal favorite track is
Run Off To L.A., which features yet again Sheryl Crow, but this time on backing vocals. The song is very groove orientated and has a great country feel to it. The singing is pretty well done as well, and the lyrics are both amusing and intriguing. The song does well near the end of the album due to it’s catchiness that refuses to get out of your head by the end of the CD (plus it's a bonus to hear Sheryl Crow swear like Kid Rock swears). The last track on the album is
Single Father, in which is Kid Rock singing heartfelt about his son over some light orchestration strings. The song is very simple and does not contain a lot of dynamics, but still ends up being a great song due to it's great melody and amazing chorus. Overall,
Kid Rock is a big step up for the country rocker in his career, having almost completely given up on his hardcore rap rock image for a more friendly, melodic country rock music.
Pros
-- Great musicianship and great singing vocals.
-- Kid Rock actually made a good, solid album.
-- A lot of the lyrics are very well written and show a better side of Kid Rock then they used to.
-- Very catchy tunes throughout most of the album.
Cons
-- Old Kid Rock fans will not approve.
-- Some of the songs lyrics are still the old, typical Kid Rock.
-- Some people will not be able to accept Kid Rock has actually made a good album.
Track Listing
1. Rock 'N' Roll Pain Train (4/5)
2. Cadillac P*ssy (3.5/5)
3. Feel Like Makin' Love (3.5/5)
4. Black Bob (4.5/5)
5. Jackson, Mississippi (4/5)
6. Cold & Empty (4.5/5)
7. Intro (2.5/5)
8. Rock 'N' Roll (3.5/5)
9. Hillbilly Stop (3/5)
10. I Am (3.5/5)
11. Son Of Detroit (3.5/5)
12. Do It For You (3/5)
13. Hard Night For Sarah (5/5)
14. Run Off To L.A. (5/5)
15. Single Father (4.5/5)
