Kid Rock: Born Free

Rock goes mild in the country.

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Buoyed by his 2007 smash hit All Summer Long, and the subsequent realisation that he now has an entirely different and much larger audience than the one that loved him for redneck rap anthems like American Badass, Kid Rock has now fully embraced middle-of-the-road country rock.

With shades of Tom Petty, The Black Crowes and Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road, with a dash of Bryan Adams at his radio-dominating best thrown in, this is sure to sell by the monster truckload.

Songs like the anthemic title track and saccharine slowies Collide and Rock On are insanely catchy and will sound phenomenal blasting from a tinny radio.

Those who rather enjoyed Kid Rock when he had a dwarf sidekick, topless go-go dancers and a cigar the size of a prize-winning marrow may feel that middle age and the allure of Nashville have robbed the rat-faced buffoon of his chief selling points.

Dom Lawson
Writer

Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s.