Kid Rock – The History Of Rock (2000)

Kid Rock was on a roll. After the release of his third album Devil Without A Cause, he finally broke into the mainstream and never looked back. Or at least we thought so. He decided to rework some of his older songs, as he now had the time and money to do so. It was a good move.

This album is mostly reworked songs he has done before, but the reworked pieces here are brilliant. There are some new songs as well to sink our teeth into, so let’s observe what Kid Rock has on offer here.

There is a short Intro which plays a track Kid Rock made way back in the 1980s, along with a deep voiceover summarising why we are here.

The first track leads us onto the single and tune named American Bad Ass. This heavily samples Metallica’s Sad But True and is a great rock song by Kid Rock. It shows off his selfish lyrical style and bent, but is just fantastic to listen to. An awesome rock/metal song with wicked guitar solos.

Prodigal Son is Kid Rock’s rework of the original. The original was fun, but this version is much better and shows Kid Rock excelling at singing and interesting guitar work. It’s a good one to listen to.

Paid is next and is a semi-disco funky track. It’s pretty direct “I’ll be in the house getting paid like Trump”. Mint, it sounds unusual and awesome simultaneously.

The follow up is Early Mornin’ Stoned Pimp. The rework here is far better than the original, getting fellow rapper and midget Joe C to do the main reworked part of the song. Fantastic and fun. Joe C was part of the Twisted Brown Trucker band that Kid Rock assembled for musical purposes.

The strange and punky Dark And Grey follow, which is a rather weak track. Still, it has some selfishly loveable lyrics in it. It is quite short, so not too overwhelming.

3 Sheets To The Wind (What’s My Name) is a great song which has a crowd chanting Kid Rock’s name. It’s a decent call and response song. It’s not hugely different from the original, however.

Abortion is a terrible song, even for Kid Rock. Ironically, it was a new release at the time as well. Kid Rock could do much better than this song, and it should have been removed from the recording.

The ode to younger days is here in I Wanna Go Back. It’s a great rework of the original that sounds punchy and reflective on Kid Rock spending time on his music when younger. It’s an awesome piece.

‘Ya Keep On is a fantastic rework of the original and breathes life into the song itself. The backing singers sound truly wonderful here and add depth and emotion to this song.

Fuck That is a trashy song but with a catchy chorus. It’s a typical Kid Rock song, with some diverse musical influences in it, however.

The rework of Fuck You Blind is so much better than the original, that it turns crap into lyrical gold. It’s a sleazy, funky piece which demands heavy listening. It’s a great song. It has the most explicit lyrics in it, which adds value to the song.

The Yardbirds direct rip off Born 2 B A Hick is fun but so obviously unoriginal that maybe The Yardbirds could sue Kid Rock for this song. Who knows? But it’s a short song prior to the final piece on the album.

The last song is a rework of the highly controversial My Oedipus Complex which is a multi-faceted rant about Kid Rock being overparented by his father. It’s intense listening if you are up to it. It sounds like a million dollars compared to the original. The album is silent for a while after this song finishes before the deep voiceover through the album stating the main Kid Rock ending the lesson.

So after studying Kid Rock, we learn our lessons of the greatest songs by Kid Rock. Although Devil Without A Cause sold more and broke Kid Rock into the mainstream, this is the one to have. It’s a very good listen indeed. Kid Rock afterwards went gradually more and more country in his music and began ranting on about supporting Donald Trump. This album, on the other hand, is far more important than that. It’s a great listen.

8/10