KID ROCK

Devil Without a Cause was so good it caused everybody to re-evaluate Kid Rock, including Rock himself. As he prepped a follow-up, he unleashed The History of Rock, a hodgepodge of new songs, unreleased tunes, demos, old cuts, and re-recordings. This not only bought the Kid time, it gave him a chance to revamp a past that was bordering on the seriously lame. According to The History, Rock always knew what he was doing. Anyone that's heard The Polyfuze Method knows that's not the case, but that's the beauty of The History, since the early stuff now sounds of piece with Devil. It isn't nearly as good, but it has some of the same thrills since his band hits harder and funkier than any of its rap-rock peers and Rock now has a fully cultivated persona. Still, the songs just aren't here. Apart from the "Get out of Denver" rewrite "Born 2 B a Hick," "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp," "3 Sheets to the Wind" and maybe the Skynyrd-aping "Prodigal Son," the older recordings are still clumsy, something the new song "American Bad Ass" is not. A shameless slab of self-mythology where the former Bob Ritchie calls out tag-lines from Devil and places himself in the company of Seger, the Beasties, and No-Show Jones, all to a sample of Metallica's "Sad But True," it's cool, more or less, but not as monumental as "Bawitdaba," which had true wit, original riffs, and a sense of purpose. But, once you've worn out Devil and you need a new fix, you're not going to find it on the older Kid Rock albums -- you're going to find it here. It's not a great listen, but its swagger and white-trash style make it the second-best record in his catalog. [The Japanese release adds a live recording of "3 Sheets to the Wind (What's My Name)."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

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