Kid Rock

When Kid Rock (born Robert Ritchie) released “The History of Rock,” he admitted that it’s not supposed to be good and sell 8 million copies like his 1998 release “Devil Without a Cause.”

It’s supposed to show all the kids who think “Devil” was his first record that he didn’t become a rock star overnight — he had to work at it and independently put out a number of albums on his own before he got his break.

With that being said, “The History of Rock” is still a great album and a stroke of genius on Rock’s part. Instead of re-releasing all of his past albums on his major label like many money-hungry musicians would do, he put highlights from each into one record.

And he of course put a handful of new songs, “Fuck That,” “Abortion” and “American Bad Ass,” on the record to keep the interest of his less-serious fans.

Kid Rock as it’s known today, is a group consisting of Rock himself, DJ Kracker, Joe C. and the Twisted Brown Trucker Band, all the ingredients that helped create the success of “Devil.” But “History” is very much just Kid Rock the guy, rapping and singing over rock music that isn’t bad, but it’s no Twisted Brown. In fact, Joe C. and Twisted Brown are only featured in one song each.

To make the record tolerable for more listeners, many of the older tracks have been remixed and reworked, still giving them the feel of an older, less experienced song but with a good quality sound.

“History” contains songs from 1993’s “The Polyfuze Method” and 1996’s “Early Mornin’ Stoned Pimp” as well as a few very early-day demo tracks called “Dark and Grey” and “Born To Be A Hick.”

The record gets its point across: Kid Rock hasn’t always been TRL material, but his fusion of rock and rap has been going on for a very long time, and he could actually be considered a pioneer.

His raps don’t flow all the time, his background music isn’t super catchy and his lyrical content isn’t the most intelligent on “History,” but it’s Kid Rock proving that hard work does pay off, and following a dream to make a certain kind of music isn’t easy.

But when all is said and done, you got yourself a true American bad ass who has been making music for almost a decade.

*** and 1/2

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Kyle Moss

Rating based on a ***** scale.