Kid Rock

“‘Live’ Trucker” (Atlantic)

Sounds Like: A live show attended by people who wish Lynyrd Skynyrd would come to their town.

REVIEW: 1.5 / 5

In short: This album has all the dirty South, truck stop hip-hop one should safely consume in a sitting. A perfect compliment to any Stetson hat or Carhart work coat.

They called him cowboy, badass in black, with a finger in the air we all knew where he was at – and then we didn’t. After 2001’s “Picture” Kid Rock’s career headed down the road to obscurity faster than a black Trans-Am with a confederate flag window-shade and naked lady silhouette mud flaps.

His 2003 “Rock” release probably didn’t arouse much chatter on the rural CB bands, much less the pop music scene. However, as any good Nascar fan knows, it’s not how loudly you tell Dale Earnhart Junior “don’t lift,” but how often. This time, the holler comes in the form of a live release for all of us who didn’t make it to his set at the state fair last year.

A good live album lets the audience know what it is like to be front and center at the live show. “Trucker” does it’s best to put the avid Kid Rock fan at a show – a show four years ago.

The album features flowing lyrics from Kid Rock’s late midget sidekick Joe C. It’s hard to resist his Gary Coleman-esque high-pitched voice, but who are we kidding? Joe C. may be the only thing on this disc deader than Kid Rock’s career.

The best thing about this album: Buy it at Amazon.com and get 5 percent off the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

– Kevin W. Stillman