Kid Rock (WEA International) Kid Rock is fond of saying he is a 10-year overnight sensation, having toiled for a decade before 1998's Devil Without A Cause sold eight million albums, popularising his moonshine mix of white-trash rock and hip-hop. And there is a reason it took Michigan native Bob Ritchie so long to make it big - as revealed by his latest release, The History Of Rock, which isn't really a new record but consists of rarities, a few demos with only two new songs out of 15 tracks.
The History Of Rock is a lyrically painful listen - 'I'm here/I'm there/I'm getting rocked, huh/I'm everywhere' - and the majority of tracks are musically simplistic. Despite the rocked part being a potential play on his name, much of the wordplay throughout is worn out.
In Kid Rock's defence, words have never been his strong point, his notoriety coming from overblown live performances.
A few tracks hint at the talent to come, like the flavour of old-school hip-hop rapped over a beatbox on Three Sheets To The Wind. Even so, The History Of Rock is best left to hardcore fans looking to complete their discography.
