Music Worth Buying 02/16/09 Kid Rock

Artist Kid Rock

Album Rock'n'Roll Jesus

Worth Buying? Hell yeah!

You will be interested in this album if you are a fan of: Classic Rock, Lynnyrd Skynyard, Old School Country Music, Blues, & Kickass white boy Rock'n'Roll!

Tell Me More: Sometimes all it takes is one great live performance to make you want to get the album. Case in point Kid Rock's lastest album "Rock'n'Roll" Jesus".

Kid rock is on of those artists whom I am casually familiar with. I had the opportunity to hear his breakout album "Devil Without A Cause" album and I can remember enjoying a number of tracks from the album. I admit that I have never heard much (if anything) from his later releases. But many of you may remember that I was knocked out by his performance during the recent Grammy Awards.  He performed a medley of three songs from his latest album. A smart marketing move to be sure, but all that aside, it didn't take long (and I didn't even need to hear the songs in their entirety) to realize that these where great songs.

Rock'n'Roll Jesus is classic rock album that jumps around combining roots, country and blues. On songs like "So Hott" He delivers the usual blistering white boy kickass rock that he is known for (and he does it well), but on songs like "Amen" Kid Rock is not only making, and succeeding, at social commentary through his music, he is also tapping into the kind of production that Elton John used during his Tumbleweed Connection days. On a song like Half Your Age, its pure humor laden country.

There are two things that really strike me about this album. One is how authentic it all sounds. It doesn't matter if he is being deadly serious, completely in earnest, flashing some macho bravado or being a jester in these songs (and he spends time wearing all these hats), because they all come off as authentic.

Kid Rock made a name for himself as a Rock/Rapper, so the other thing that strikes me, is how little he relies on Rap during this album. This time around there is only one song on the whole album where I can say that he is actually Rapping. Rappers have often sampled other popular songs to then rap over. In the song "All Summer Long" he employ's that trick, but instead of sampling  Lynnyrd Skynyard's Sweet Home Alabama, he has his band play the song, while he sings about days gone by.

Like I said, sometimes all it takes is one outstanding performance to make you say "I gotta go get that album"  (That's what Elvis Costello did for me on his SNL performance). Rock'n'Roll Jesus lived up to the expectations of the performance and it is (so far) one of the best new albums that I have heard this year.

As of this writing, Rock'nRoll Jesus is only 3.99 at the Amazon MP3 Store

 

But you can get it on CD here

What if I am not ready to buy the whole album? Try the track Amen