Customer Reviews

Kid Rock

5 star:		(129)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

I know this album will more-than-likely turn off his (possibly narrow-minded) rap fans, but let me clarify...this is NOT a COUNTRY album. I guess folks that are so entwined in the hip-hop world and NEVER venture outside ONE genre of music (WHAT A CONFINED CURSE THAT MUST BE! EXPAND YE MIND!!!) This is an AMERICAN album!! It comprises hip-hop, country, and a little ol' genre some have forgotten about...ROCK AND ROLL!!! This is a natural extension of "Cocky". That album was a little more organic than "Devil" and this is even more organic. And hey, if I'm not mistaken, he raps on "Intro", does a Prince-type rap on "Black Bob", and has a bunch of scratches and hip-hop type production going on. And no, the whole album is NOT like "Picture" for Pete's sake! Jackson, MS is a HEAVY METAL song! (OK, maybe more Molly Hatchet heavy than Pantera heavy, but still...) And there's plenty of ROCK - hey, it's a nice balance of ballads and partiers.

Kid brought back the ATTITUDE WITH A PERSONALITY that was missing in hard rock since Axl lost his mind. We've got our rock'n'roll frontman for the new millennium - following Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Steve Tyler, and Mr. Rose. A void that needed to be filled 'cause it sure was empty when all we had was Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder complaining with no humor at all. Hey, Kid brought back WOMEN AND BOOZE...and threw PC back into the dumpster! God bless him!

Bottom line: hey Ritchie - don't fret it if your "Stoned Pimp" fans forsake you for following your dream, us old rock'n'rollers welcome you with open arms...we also loved "Devil" and "Cocky", 'cause as Hank, Jr. once sang: "we like all kinds of music and people, 'cause we don't draw no lines". Looks like some of your old rap fans are the ones intolerant to anything with a melody or singing...well, to each his own.

The Devil without a Cause has done it again! Another great album that expresses his deepest thoughts and emotions. The "word on the street" is that Kid Rock went soft and his music has gone country. This may be true for the more naive Kid Rock fans. There is an obvious transition through his last three albums which reflects his growing maturity as an artist and as a human being. Its not to say that he is getting past his prime when it comes to being an American Badass, but he is paying his respect to "good old fashioned" music. He has had the oppurtunity to work with music legends and popular artists such as: Bob Seger, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Sheryl Crow, Eminem, and scores more. By now fans should know what Kid Rock is all about. He's not just in it for the money, fans, women, and booze, not to say that he doesn't mind these things, but above all of this, he does what he does for the music. He does what he does for Detroit. And he does what he does for himself.

In this album the Kid goes back to his roots, which of course are the "sticks" of northern Macomb County in a small town called Romeo. As a child he grew up listening to some of the music that helped define what the word "music" meant to him. Kid Rock has never been the type of artist that is easily predicted. His unique creativity and insight in his music allows him to never be categorized in one genre. As he states in I am, " you'll never put your finger on me."

Now I must admit that Kid Rock never caught my attention until Devil without a Cause. Although I do favor the intensity of that album over the slow jams with Sheryl Crow, I can respect the artists choice in the music that he puts on his album. He isn't trying to win the fans over, he has already done that. Now he writes music for himself and to observe which fans will continue to support and love his music.

I never truly understood what his message was until I attended my very first Kid Rock concert. That night will remain important to me until the day I die. He feeds off the emotion from the crowd. During the show not a single seat in the Palace actually had a someone sitting in it. The show never seemed to stop, the crowd never died down, and the Kid continued his energetic, phantasmagoric performance until he physically could not continue. Which was long after I was pooped. I strongly recommend attending one his shows and witnessing who Kid Rock really is and then you will truly understand what his music is all about.

I got a confession to make: I'm a country fan. I bet a lot of you are. You heard "Picture"--which somehow made it up the country charts a ways--and you wanna check out Kid Rock. Maybe you'd better check out Sheryl Crow instead.

Now if you're like me, you like different genres of music. I primary dabble in country...but I got a thing for good rock 'n' roll. Now, Kid Rock ain't classic rock 'n' roll--I'm talking Springsteen and John Cougar here--but he has a pretty damn good idea what rock is...and rap...and heavy metal...and country...

The songs--it's all about the songs. "Rock 'n' Roll Pain Train" is anything but painful to listen to (I got a million of 'em!). "Cadillac Pussy" feat. Hank Jr. is a good rocker; and "Black Bob" and "Intro" delve into his rapping more than the other tracks.

Now, as a country fan, my favorites are, of course, the ballads. How about "Do it For You?" Too pop? There's "Feel Like Makin' Love", a good mix of pop/rock/country. And "Hard Night For Sarah" is a remake of a Bob Seger song. "Cold And Empty" is a country ballad--co-written by Kenny Chesney, so of course it's country. And "Single Father" is an emotional number co-written by David Allen Coe.

Not into ballads? Well, my favorite's the tongue-in-cheek "Run Off To L.A.", co-written by and featuring the afore-mentioned Sheryl Crow. "Son of Detroit" is a re-written version of the afore-mentioned Coe's "Son of the South." "I Am" can only be descrived as American Rock 'n' Roll. And "Jackson, Mississippi" is just a good tune. And "Hillbilly Stomp" features the one and only Billy Gibbens (of ZZ Top, you poor person who didn't know that).

Did I miss any? If so--too bad.

So, hopefully you aren't put off by Kid Rock's language. You shouldn't be--a song is a song is a song, and if it has some "expressive" language in it...so much the better (if you want to completely ruin the CD, go by an edited version). If you think you can tough it out--if you're enough of a music fan at heart--then you should go right ahead and purchase this CD. Trust me...if you don't rock with this thing in your CD player, you ain't got a set of ears!

I would never pretend to be an expert at evaluating what does and does not make a great rock'n'roll album. I don't understand the commercialization of the music industry, but I believe -- as an average Joe -- I do have an understanding of what works, what might work, what fails, what might fail, and what might really stink.

KID ROCK rocks.

Granted, it probably isn't going to be the CD that pleases everyone. It certainly has its fill of explicit lyrics, grinding guitars, and extra heavy boom-boom bass (when necessary). What the album has going for it in volumes, however, is Kid's confidence, and people -- listeners, mainly -- will follow confidence wherever it may lead. Some may call it arrogance, but I think Kid has fashioned an album well worth listening to for adult audiences, spanning the spectrum from hard rock, hiphop, rockabilly, to alt country. Sometimes he screams, sometimes he bellows, and sometimes he reflects ... but, at all times, it's very clear that he's in perfect command of creating the music he wants to create.

Rock n' Roll Pain Train: one great fun listening track. A fun way to open the album.

Cadillac P***y (with Hank Williams, Jr.): an even better great fun listening track. Too bad with lyrics like these it'll never get airplay.

Feel Like Makin' Love: a terrific cover to a rock standard. Turns in one powerhouse performance.

Black Bob: a take-it-or-leave-it track. Reasonably well done. Reasonably well performed.

Jackson, Mississippi: the song resonates long after the tune has ended.

Cold and Empty: introspective rock-style ballad. While some of feels like a retread of other songs featuring similar themes, Kid brings some heart and soul to this in ways unimagined.

Hillbilly Stomp: here's where Kid's confidence comes out to play. Not many performers would risk attempting this tune let alone cutting it to disc. Not the best listen on the album, but worthy of being committed.

I Am Son Of Detroit: again, another nod to confidence, here. Probably plays well in Detroit, no doubt.

Do It For You: better than average performance. Not entirely memorable, but a worthy outing.

Hard Night For Sarah: another great cover. Kid seems a bit slow getting into this, but, come the ending, it's worth the listen.

Run Off To LA: another great duet with Sheryl Crow. Unlike PICTURE, RUN OFF TO LA is all about attitude, of which the two of them have in overabundance.

Single Father: of the more introspective songs on the album, this one resonated the most with me. Some of the lyrics are arguably sugary, but it's the message that matters, and Kid delivers.

Kid Rock's new Album "Kid Rock", is in one word, amazing. I think this is the stage where he has been trying to get to throughout his career. We saw hints of it on "Devil" and a little more on "Cocky". However; unlike Cocky, which seemed choppy and random in parts, "Kid Rock" is one fluid piece of work. All one has to do is listen to the song; "I am" to understand Kid Rock's plan. He and his Twisted Brown Trucker band are great in that they can blend and switch between southern rock, country, metal, rock, rap and hip-hop, sometimes all within one song. Who else, really, can do that? I think this album is the final formulation (for now) of who Kid Rock is, a musician who refuses to be stuck into any category- he just makes music. Something that is refreshing in todays over-hyped world of music.

This album is absolutely the best rap/rock/blues/country album you will listen to this year. It's almost impossible to define Kid Rock's musical genre, but it's fair to say it's an harmonious blend of rock and blues, with healthy doses of country and rap thrown in. The lyrics are hard hitting, the guitar work is stellar, and the rhytm is pulsating. I can't wait to listen to the CD in the mornings, during breaks, when I get home, etc. Look, if you don't like this album you're probably into boy bands, or dead.

I used to look at Kid Rock as a cheesy novelty act. I just couldn't take the guy seriously at all as an artist with all his rap/rock bragging about how great and tough a guy he is, and how his music is so great, and how much money he makes and how many women he can get. It seems like a guy who always has to brag that much in his songs is insecure and is trying to proove himself to the world. That stuff wears thin very quickly. It got to the point of him sounding like some juvenile fratboy bragging about how much he could drink or how often he gets laid. Yawn! So what. There comes a time when you have to grow up lyrically and musically and leave that stuff behind. I got his last cd "Cocky" because musically i liked the direction of some of the songs. The song "Picture" from that cd was a hint of a much more diversified and talented side to Kid Rock that i didn't know existed. He actally has a pretty decent voice, and i thought that it was brave and mature of him to go off in a totally different genre than his other cds. The song worked in his favor. It was a bit of a joke for CMT to have nominated him for country artist of the year for that song, when he was up against more seasoned artists who've been in the country genre for years and decades, because Kid Rock is not a country artist, but that song was excellent. I hoped that his new cd would have more songs in that direction. Thankfully it happened. I haven't bought the new cd yet, but after listening to the sound clips on Amazon i'll be picking it up ASAP. The new Kid Rock is NOT a country cd, but considering that most of his fans are accustomed to him being hip-hop and rap, i'm not surprised one bit at their narrow attitudes. I find A LOT of guys who listen to hip-hop are very limited in their thinking, and many will either say an artist sucks if the artist tries another style of music or just expect that artist to always do the same style and write the same types of songs over and over. People go through phases in their life and people change. There is nothing wrong with the new direction Kid Rock has chosen. He has not gone soft or wimpy just because of that Picture song. This is NOT a country album, guys. It's a blend of southern rock, country, and good ol'straight-ahead-bar-band rock n roll. Nothing wrong with that!!! Anyone who likes ZZ Top, Bob Seger, Alabama or The Allman Brothers, or just good 70s American rock will love this cd. And guess what? SO WHAT if this cd has country sounds to it!! You hip-hop fans treat country music like some kind of disease instead of realizing that many of today's artists that you worship and idolize LOVE country and that they know of its importance to music in general. Look at Elvis. He blended ALL styles of music together and wasn't just into ONE style of music. He did rock, pop, gospel, country, blues, you name it. That's why Elvis was loved by so many and that he was the king of rock. Musicians that are not afraid to branch out or try other genres, even if it's an experiment, are the ones who have a wider appeal. I applaud Kid Rock totally for going in this new direction. I'm glad to see he's not putting out the same tired material and has grown enough to expand his musical horizons to get even more audience appeal. I can't wait to get this cd! All you other reviewers trashing this cd as a zero-star write-off can go back to your Eminem discs. Kid Rock is the man!!!!!

Kid Rock has become the most versatile artist in popular music today. He hit it big with hip hop songs like Bawitdaba and Cowboy from his 1998 release Devil Without a Cause. His 2001 release Cocky included equal parts southern rock, rap, and country and spawned the hit song Picture (a duet with Sheryl Crow).

The self titled Kid Rock CD may be one of the best disc of the year and is certainly Kid Rock's best offering. Overall, the music on this disc covers a ton of territory but it is less rap and more hard rock, country, southern rock and boogie blues-rock with a Midwestern flavor. The disc is sort of Aerosmith meets Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr. The first single is an energetic cover of Bad Company's Feel Like Making Love and other highlights include a cover of an unreleased Bob Seger ballad called Hard Night for Sarah, Son of Detroit, and Rock and Roll Pain Train. Kid Rock covers all the usual territory of partying and life on the road but also explores mature themes, including single fatherhood (bonus track called Single Father) and relationships gone bad (Cold and Empty). This is not your little brother's Kid Rock.

Kid Rock's self titled disc may be remembered as one of the great classic rock and roll albums of the year. Highly recommended.

Now, while this isn't Kid Rocks best album and it's got a lot more country then rock, I liked every song on the album. It's a lot more melodic then his other stuff and he shows off his vocal skills. I think that "Devil Without a Cause" and "Cocky" are his best albums. But this is a good album. If I owned,
"Devil Without a Cause," "Cocky," "The History of Rock," and "Kid Rock" I would probably listen to this album the least, but here are the tracks and my thoughts & oppinions:
Rock N' Roll Pain Train: Cool song, but is a little bit too country. Still good.
Cadillac P****: Funny song. Good chorus.
Feel Like Makin' Love: Terrific song. Haven't heard the original version, but this one is good.
Black Bob: Good freakin' song.
Jackson, Mississippi: Really good, rocking song.
Cold & Empty: Another country song, but it's good.
Intro: Short, but is a real good rap song.
Rock N'Roll: Really good song. Very catchy.
Hillbilly Stomp: Catchy and rather funny song.
I Am: One of the best songs on the album. Really liked it.
Son of Detroit: Really good song.
Do It For You: Sweet song, another side of Kid Rock.
Hard Night for Sarah: Haven't heard the original Bob Seger version, but this is really good.
Run Off to LA: I found this song funny. Please pack your s**t and take the first train out of my life.
Single Father: Slow song, but still good.
A-

This is a GREAT CD. Although it is a departure from Kid Rock's previous hard rock/rap style, this CD illustrates the true depth and range of his talent as a musician. A prequel to this CD can be heard in "God Knows Why" on Devil Without A Cause.

The music reflects and pays homage to Kid Rock's southern rock influences with songs from "Cadillac Pussy" with Hank Williams Jr., to the excellent covers of "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Hard Night For Sarah". The theme for this entire CD can be summed up in the lyrics from "I Am"...

"And I am Boston and DC
And all of Detroit City
I am everything
That Hollywood wants to be
I am southern rock and roll
Country and hip hop soul
And you'll never put a finger on me"

You may never be able to put a finger on Kid Rock's style, but put your money down for this CD, because you will not regret it.