Kid Rock Albums (8)
What The Critics Say
When it comes right down to it, what Kid Rock attempts is kind of tricky: he's trying to create new classic rock, songs to compete with Skynyrd and Seger as the soundtrack of choice for jukeboxes and pickup trucks across the country. This is the sound of the white-trash, downriver rocker in him coming through, triumphing over the jive rapper who brought him his fame. It was there even when he was aping the Beastie Boys and yodeling in the canyon, but once the country-rock of "Picture" revived the sales of the flagging Cocky, he put all his chips on classic rock, beginning with 2004's eponymous platter, a good record without a single hit single. That lack of a hit was enough to scare Kid, to strip away his few lingering subtleties and turn out an album like 2007's Rock N Roll Jesus. Apart from a drum loop here and a chanted bridge there, this is classic white-trash rock through and through, withKid Rock doggedly following the path of his heroes: not only Bob Seger but John Fogerty, Alabama, Billy Squier, and evenElton John ("Blue Jeans and a Rosary" is straight out of "Levon"). He also pays homage to Back in Black with his cover art. Kid Rock works hard to evoke the ghosts of the past, hoping that all his allusions will give him classic rock cred by association. And while his words fall flat, the problems with the music aren't as serious: splashy and silly though it may be, at least the music gets the basic sound right, even if it's too polished and precise. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Kid Rock may have styled his first live album, Live Trucker, after Bob Seger's classic Live Bullet, paying homage to the artwork right down to the typeface and also choosing to record in his hometown of Detroit, but if Live Bullet caught Seger on the rise, Live Trucker catches Kid on his decline. This isn't a hard-driving, sweaty rock & roll record; this is a Vegas revue, all glam and glitz, with its heart in showbiz. Of course, Kid Rock has always had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek when he went about his self-mythologizing, particularly on his still potent and funny 1998 breakthrough, Devil Without a Cause, but on this live effort recorded largely in August 2004, his joking has turned into inadvertent self-parody. This wasn't the case on his eponymous 2003 effort, which may not have set the charts on fire, but it did capture him in good form, where his rough and rowdy ways still seemed roguishly charming. Here, it's possible to hear the toll that all the partying has taken on him: he sounds hoarse and winded, and when he trades lines with his keyboardist, it seems as if it's because he doesn't have the energy to finish the song, not because it makes for a better show. And while the Twisted Brown Trucker Band sound tight, they also sound too slick, never really giving this white trash rock & roll the grit that it needs. Of course, the album isn't helped by its ridiculously front-loaded sequencing, where "Bawitadaba," "Cowboy," and "Devil Without a Cause" follow back to back in the first four tracks, and his next biggest hit, "Picture" (here performed with Gretchen Wilson, not Sheryl Crow), also appears in the first half of the record; with the exception of "Only God Knows Why," the second half consists largely of new material, or lesser-known hits. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Kid Rock gained his fame as a white-trash rapper, but he retained his fame as a white-trash rocker, using the breakthrough of 1998's Devil Without a Cause to refashion himself as a modern-day blue-collar rocker, as comfortable with crunching bluesy riffs as he is with heartbroken country. The former Bob Ritchie started this transformation on 2001's Cocky, an enjoyably jumbled album that didn't quite take off until "Picture," his straight country duet with Sheryl Crow, was embraced by country radio, reviving the album and even bringing him nominations from the CMA. Kid was already in the process of abandoning metal and, to a lesser extent, hip-hop, so he seized this opportunity to become a full-out rocker and outlaw country singer with his next album, 2003's Kid Rock. Many of Kid's signatures are still in place -- the bragging, the boasting, the songs about sex, fame, and rock & roll, the hard riffs, the self-mythology -- but it no longer sounds like a mix of David Lee Roth and the Beastie Boys (even if the latter's Rod Carew rhyme from "Sure Shot" is lifted for "Intro," just moments after a "So Whatcha Want" reference); it sounds as if Hank Williams, Jr. and David Allan Coe are his new role models. Both Hank and Coe have a similar sense of inflated ego and penchant for name-dropping that borders on self-parody, and Kid Rock follows the same path here, particularly on the numerous rockers -- rockers that range from the heavy, heavy "Jackson, Mississippi" to laid-back, loose-limbed boogies like "Rock n' Roll Pain Train." He wisely plays up the sensitive side of "Picture," too, borrowing from DAC's soul-searching ballads and Bob Seger's introspective numbers. He even revives "Hard Night for Sarah," a song Seger wrote and recorded in 1979 but never released (something that likely wouldn't have happened if he hadn't switched management to Seger's longtime partner, Punch Andrews), and the tune, along with the similarly effective original "Single Father" (inexplicably listed as a bonus track, when there is no other release of the album without it), gives Kid Rock an emotional underpinning it needs, since so much of this is nothing but good-time music. Of course, there's nothing wrong with good-time music, and Kid is proud to make party music -- which he should be, since he does it well. Song for song, this is better-written and harder-rocking than Cocky, and while it's easy to wish that Kid was still as witty and funny as he on Devil Without a Cause, there's a certain cornball charm to his unabashed silliness and how he treats every rock & roll cliché as if it was a newfound truth. That's the power of Kid Rock's personality -- he may blatantly borrow from his influences, and he may recycle and celebrate shopworn clichés, but he does it with flair, style, good hooks, and charisma that shines through on each track. It's what makes Kid Rock -- both the artist and the album -- kind of irresistible. As silly, foul-mouthed, and obvious as he is, he does it so well you just can't help but like the guy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Great title. Pretty good album. Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that Kid Rock decided to follow his Devil Without a Cause blueprint for its follow-up, since that was the record where he figured out how to mix "the hard rock/Southern rock with the hip-hop," creating a towering, powerful original blend of country-fried metal, heartland rock, knowing arena rock posturing, old-school rap, and classic American hard rock. It was what he planned to do from the outset, so why should he give it up now that he could finally do what he always wanted? Still, there's no denying that a sequel simply does not pack the punch and the surprise of the original, no matter how well it's constructed, and that's why it initially is easy to view Cocky as a bit of a disappointment, since it not only offers nothing new, it seems considerably tamer than its predecessor. How could it not? Not only does Kid have nothing to prove this time around -- he not only went platinum, he did it ten times-plus and then landed Sheryl Crow and Pam Anderson -- he no longer has his midget sidekick, Joe C., around to enhance the Midwestern carnival atmosphere of his entourage. That wild, white-trash Fellini-esque vibe is missed, as is the overwhelmingly great songwriting of Devil, but if not viewed as direct competition with its predecessor -- which is, after all, the great hard rock album of the late '90s, filled with great sounds and songwriting -- Cocky is a pretty good sequel. One that roots itself deeper in classic rock than in hip-hop and one that isn't as gonzo or as funny, but is still much, much funnier and looser than any of its competitors, while rocking much harder. If the songs aren't classics or if it tends to drift instead of staying focused like Devil, it still is better than anything else in Kid's catalog and anything else from his rap-metal competitors (he makes all of them sound like rank amateurs), and it has better riffs and earthier rhythms than any hard rock artist since 38 Special, while retaining a true Michigan flavor. That might not make it the equal of Devil Without a Cause, but unpretentious, blue-collar hard rock hasn't sounded this good in nearly 20 years, and that's reason enough to celebrate. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast'
Release Date 6/11/2001
Tracks 13
Label Jive
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
When Devil Without a Cause exploded onto the scene in 1998, Kid Rock was suddenly everywhere, seemingly out of nowhere. But underneath that fedora was the mind of an individual whose white-trash Grandmaster Flash persona had been conceived of, constructed, and refined over almost ten years of dogged determination. As a teenager growing up in Romeo, MI, Rock immersed himself in hip-hop culture. He learned to breakdance, grew in a high-top fade, and began rapping in a style similar to the Beastie Boys' License to Ill. A series of demo recordings led to a gig opening for Boogie Down Productions; that led in turn to a recording contract with Jive Records. The result was 1990's Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast. While its similarity to License to Ill borders on tribute range, Grits Sandwiches nevertheless contains a few elements of the Bob Seger-loving, turntable-scratching dirt-ass pimp character who would later emerge as the American Bad Ass. "Genuine Article" is an early version of Rock's distinctive first-person boast-speak; the track even includes a raw guitar sample in its verses. The riff from the Doobie Brothers' "China Grove" lights up the chorus of the otherwise tepid "With a One Two," though at this point in Rock's career, the reference was more likely an attempt to emulate the Beastie Boys' freewheeling use of rock samples over traditional beats than any nod to his later genre-mixing dirt-track irony. For despite Kid's distinct, hard-edged flow and references to the building blocks that would later make his career, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast is a mostly laughable recording that apes not only the Beasties, but LL Cool J's "Going Back to Cali" ("Yo-Da-a-Lin in the Valley") and Rob Base ("The Upside"), two other hip-hop heavyweights of the era. Grits Sandwiches' best track is likely "Super Rhyme Maker," which references the Rock's high-top fade (immortalized in cartoon form in the album's cover art), and rhymes "gave a hoot" with "knock the boots." ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's unlikely that even Kid Rock believed he had an album as good as Devil Without a Cause in him. Nobody else believed it, that's for sure. But he didn't just find the perfect extention of his Beastie and Diamond Dave infatuations here, he came up with the great hard rock album of the late '90s -- a fearlessly funny, bone-crunching record that manages to sustain its strength, not just until the end of its long running time, but through repeated plays. The key to its sucesss is that it's never trying to be a hip-hop record. It's simply a monster rock album, as Twisted Brown Trucker turns out thunderous, funky noise -- and that's funky not just in the classic sense, but also in a Southern-fried, white trash sense, as he gives this as much foundation in country as he does hip-hop. But what really reigns supreme on Devil Without a Cause is a love of piledriving, classic hard rock, not just that of hometown hero Bob Seger, but Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Halen, and faceless arena rock ballads. The Kid makes it all shine with rhymes so clever and irresistible that it's impossible not to quote them. For all its modernity -- Rock's rapping, the titanic metallic guitars, Joe C's sideshow sidekick, the plea to "get in the pit and try to love someone" -- this is firmly in the tradition of classic hard rock, and it's the best good-time hard rock album in years (certainly the best of the last three years of the '90s). ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp'
Release Date 1/9/1996
Tracks 16
Label Top Dog
See Album Tracklist and Review
'The Polyfuze Method'
Release Date 12/6/1993
Tracks 16
Label Gestrichen
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In 1990, Kid Rock landed a 100,000 dollar record deal with Jive, only to be unceremoniously kicked to the curb when Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast, his corny debut, was much less than a blockbuster. Displaying the pluck that would contribute to his eventual stardom, Rock was undeterred by the chilly reception. He moved to New York City, signed on with indie label Continuum, and in 1993 released The Polyfuze Method. While it isn't much better than its predecessor, the album doesn't swipe as shamelessly from established hip-hop acts, and represents a significant leap forward not only in the development of Kid Rock's unlikely mixture of classic rock, hip-hop, and country influences, but his own trailer-park pimp-daddy persona. While the 2 Live Crew-style bass workouts of Grits Sandwiches aren't as prominent, The Polyfuze Method does borrow liberally from the militant, congested sound of Public Enemy, as well as N.W.A. However, Rock isn't even in the same lyrical universe as Chuck D, so the influence doesn't seem like blatant theft. If anything, Polyfuze Method's beefed-up production is a plus, as it strengthens Kid's occasionally weak raps by shouldering some of the centralizing pressure. "Killin' Brain Cells" features big percussion and a funky guitar sample underneath lines like: "People wanna know what I'm thinkin'/But I don't care/So I keep my thoughts in a bottle of Cuervo." The song foreshadowed the confluence of blind bravado, hard liquor, and rocking beats that would become such a successful formula with 1998's Devil Without a Cause. "Prodigal Son," "The Cramper," and "Fuck You Blind" feature similar sounds and themes; the latter's live guitar and percussion was a definite break from the prevailing hip-hop sound in 1993. Unfortunately, these relatively promising tracks can't save The Polyfuze Method. The album's second half is plenty raunchy, but songs like "Balls in Your Mouth" can't get by with lurid porn samples alone. The unfortunate slow jam "My Oedipus Complex" isn't good for anyone, either. The Rock himself may have delivered the final verdict on The Polyfuze Method. Many of its better songs were later re-released on the post-Devil Without a Cause retrospective History of Rock. However, they were also re-recorded or largely reworked by Kid and his new band, Twisted Brown Trucker. Despite its strong suggestion of what was to come, Polyfuze Method doesn't really go anywhere. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
