Kid Rock – Sweet Southern Sugar (2017)

Believe it or not, Kid Rock is still around these days. He transitioned from being a rapper to a rock star, onto doing his own brand of country based music. This, his latest release is a surprisingly good listen. Let’s check it out.

We start off with some native American sounds and trippy backdrop of Greatest Show On Earth before marching into a droptuned piece that sounds great. Some great lyrics are here as well. Kid Rock sounds better than ever here. It’s an excellent piece that sounds, once again, different to anything Kid Rock has done before. It’s catchy as well, with a great guitar solo. Nice way to start, dude.

The follow up song Po-Dunk has a great set of riffs to start with. It leads into a harmony heavy song about a southern girl. It’s a very country style song, but doesn’t sound anything like old country and western songs. It’s Kid Rock in the 21st century for all of us to hear. It’s a quirky and wonderful listen for all to hear. It has many different riffs and samples here, a nice tune.

Tennessee Mountain Hop alludes to good tunes and good times, and lyrically refers to Johnny Depp. Ironically, Kid Rock dissed him on his first album. But hey, this song will make you feel good. That is what great music is about though, it sounds so good that you will refreshed afterwards. It’s an ode to classic rock as well, with references to God as well. An excellent tune, and a shining moment on the album. It is picturesque this song for sure.

I Wonder is an attempt at a postmodern sounding country piece. It’s a loop and electronic based piece. It’s a little weaker but still, it’s Kid Rock. It breaks into a rock heavy song, with a blistering guitar solo. It gets better as it goes along, however, with Kid Rock pleading about a lover that he misses. A good listen anyway.

The next song, American Rock ‘n’ Roll is a pacing, drum driven song about said topic and having a good time. It is a great song for the purpose of music alone. It’s a gentle and driven listen, a classic Kid Rock song for sure. A blistering guitar solo will blow you away here, a decent tune. The chorus is very much a singalong one.

The follow up Back to the Otherside is an acoustic driven piece. It’s about keeping on through tough times, which isn’t sung about much these days. Self-preservation is the theme here, a great anti-Nine Inch Nails sort of song. A good effort. Positivity is the main point.

Raining Whiskey is another acoustic number. It talks about a place that one cannot go back to with a lover. It references a dark place where one goes to drink away their own pain. It’s a good listen with some old fashioned touches about it, which is reflective lyrically. A chilled out sort of vibe is on this tune.

Stand The Pain is another good piece about dealing with issues. It’s a wonderfully constructed and orchestrated piece. Kid Rock knows how to make good music for sure, even at over 40 years old. The theme of keeping strong goes on throughout this album, which is essentially a positive one. The outro is full on.

Up next is Sugar Pie Honey Bunch which is a love song. Kid Rock seems overly serious on this record, which is unusual for him to be so. It’s a quieter and more meaningful listen compared to the other songs on the album. It’s very moving. It’s very committed to a love in Kid Rock’s life, be it real or metaphorically speaking.

The last song on the album is Grandpa’s Jam, is an out there, more rock and roll based. It’s very explicit, and fittingly so. It’s Kid Rock being selfish again, but it rocks hard. A good way to complete the album with a hard rock sort of vibe. A good listen, despite a lot of selfish swearing.

This album is quite good. It shows Kid Rock still has his mojo after all the years of being a musician. Hopefully he keeps on going as he ages. His records are still very consistent, if you like what is written here about Kid Rock, give this a listen.

8/10

Tan Dun – Martial Arts Trilogy: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Banquet & Hero (Music from the Soundtracks) (2011)

It’s rare we have a release like this. Tan Dun is a famous Chinese classical composer who features on this album. For anyone who finds Chinese history and culture fascinating, here is a great way to discover some of that, at least musically. It’s a mixture of music from three different Chinese films. Let’s have a listen here to discover some of the great Chinese classical music at hand.

We begin with the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon title track. It has a haunting melody and beautiful Chinese instrumentation at hand. The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra lead on, eventually leading in with violins and other classical instrumentation. It’s so beautiful that you never want to forget this piece. Epic. A nice introduction to this sort of music, it ends sounding glorious.

The next piece The Eternal Vow is a melancholy, yet pacing piece to listen to. It is merely a continuation of what has come before, but sounds so lovely and beautiful that it demands close listening. It is surely one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever made. Terrific stuff.

Silk Road harks back to a traditional sounding piece of music that most westerners would never have the opportunity to hear in their lives. Ladies and gentleman, this is something one should listen to before they die. Chinese classical music is fantastic, and this is no exception.

A Love Before Time is a pacing and lovely sounding tune with English female vocals. It’s different for sure, but sounds fantastic. It takes the main melody from the previous pieces and makes a great song out of it. A good listen, still sounding different from anything else out there.

The next piece, The Banquet – From “The Banquet” is a subtle piano piece with some distant sounding Chinese instrumentation and melodies in the background. Some gospel vocals are here too, it’s a nice sounding instrumental at hand. It changes pace surprisingly towards the end.

After that, we have Waiting – From “The Banquet”. This is a more typical piece that one would find in a movie. It’s a piano and violin piece that soothes the soul. A nice, gentle and understandable listen for this album.

In The Bamboo Forest – From “The Banquet” is a low end piano and percussion piece that goes together well. It is propelled along with a chugging rhythm, and sounds pretty neat. It then has orchestra sections in it as well. Chanted vocals then appear. The percussion then overtakes the listening experience.

Sword Dance – From “The Banquet” is a continuation of the previous piece, yet with a more orchestrated and beautiful classical background that is more traditional of western music. It’s a lovely sounding piece, although short.

The next piece, Only For Love – From “The Banquet” has Chinese singing, which is really beautiful, along with a traditional European sort of classical music setting. It’s an interesting mixture, and is just as good as the other songs here. Nice. It’s soothing and reassuring.

The next piece, Overture, starts off with a Chinese based melody. It then has some traditional Chinese drumming propelling the piece along. It’s not as melancholy as some of the other pieces on this album, at least to begin with, but it still works effectively. It’s a nice listen all the same. Good stuff. More backing gospel harmonies are here, too.

Tan Dun’s most famous piece, For The World, arrives next. It’s a sad and beautiful piece that is extremely moving emotionally. It is a must hear if you enjoy this sort of music, undeniably beautiful. It’s a greatly orchestrated piece of emotion here. Gorgeous.

Sorrow In Desert is a lonely sounding piece that has some prominent drum sounds in it. It’s an image evoking and soundscape sort of piece for listening. Brilliant stuff here, worth a listen.

Farewell, Hero is the last piece on this album. It’s another sad and moving instrumental here. One could even be moved to tears listening to this album, but hey, that is what some of the music here is like. Gospel harmonies and violins are here to be heard.

Although this is merely a film soundtrack, it is definitely worth hearing for something different out there. It’s worth the time, and any Chinese culture fan should take a listen to this. It’s a good representation of these three films set to music.

8/10

Korn – Follow The Leader (1998)

Nu Metal was seen mostly as a niche genre of heavy metal music. Before the release of this album the genre and band were not taken very seriously by music listeners. This album, Follow The Leader, changed that. It made Korn into superstars.

Does the album live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

We begin with the weird sounding It’s On! which then has a groove based beat and some freaky sounding distorted guitars. We head into Nu Metal territory right here, and it sounds demonic. Jonathan Davis’s ripping vocals enter the scene. The groovy sounding chorus hits you. A good way to start the album. It is totally different to most music out there.

The next song is Freak On A Leash. It’s about being ripped apart by emotions. The drumming here is excellent with rolling snare beats, leaving the rest of the band filling in with the distorted guitars and quiet/loud dynamics. The chorus is strange uplifting for a singer sounding like he is having some personal issues at hand. It’s brilliant though. Catchy too. The drop tuned guitars are fantastic to hear.

Got The Life, another hit single, is very catchy. It sounds like satanic disco, and the interplay between the instruments and singing are top notch. Jonathan Davis sounds like a man full of fear and rage, not many singers can fit that description. It is still a great listen today. It refers to a God that hates oneself. If you are Christian, stay away from this album. It is certain heavy listening.

Dead Bodies Everywhere is a slow start with a toy sounding melody, before bursting into a Nu Metal style danceable tune. That’s right, these guys had a great sense of musical accomplishment at hand. It’s not as strong as the two before it, but it’s a deeply disturbing listen. There is some semi wah-wah guitar sounds in the breakdown too.

The rebellious Children Of The Korn is a rap/metal piece. It sounds better than you’d expect. It’s just different, in a good way. It seems more subtle than what came before. Ice Cube is featured here as the rapper, and does a great job. This sort of song would likely have got some good attention here for Korn.

The next piece, B.B.K. sounds creepy. It’s designed to sound that way. This is almost like Industrial Music in the respect that it sounds rather freaky. But in any case, it still sounds consistent to listen to. The semi rapped jibberish on this one is interesting as well. This album is very heavy indeed.

Pretty is not what you’d expect. It sounds monstrous in the chorus, whilst being quieter in the verses, a good Nirvana style trick. The lyrics are horrific, taking a likely influence from Death Metal or a similar source. Sort of a cross between Nirvana and Slayer. It’s effective though.

All In The Family is a rather disturbing tale of horrific sex. It’s not really worth mentioning in this review as it is rather disturbing lyrical adventure. It’s a good listen if you want to hear some freaky stuff though.

The next song, Reclaim My Place has some more unusual guitars and bass work once again, focuses on personal issues. Strangely enough, this seems to be the case throughout the album. It’s a lesser track on the album but still, it’s okay. It’s about fighting demons from within and without. The repeated screaming of the phrase: “WHAT THE FUCK?!” is epic and brilliant.

Up next is Justin. Surprisingly for a Nu Metal band, these guys can groove too. This is a case in point, this is a heavy, groove based piece. It has some good wah-wah guitar and multi-tracked sound effects and vocals. This makes for a compelling listen. Korn sounding heavier than most forms of music out there, and this is an example of that. This song is rather long though, it could have benefitted from some editing here. Otherwise, it’s okay.

Seed begins with some quiet sounds, before launching into more Nu Metal goodness. It is rather slow to begin with, but once Jonathan Davis begins singing, we are back in Nu Metal territory. It sounds like a plea for help from the singer here. It breaks down into a mid-section with bass guitar and excellent drumming, before beginning to rock hard. It’s a surprising listen all the way through.

Cameltosis begins with some goosebump inducing sounds, sounding like a distorted electric sitar. It then goes into a song asking a woman of fancy what she wants sexually. You could only imagine the restrictions by those who find this album scary towards others, namely parents and authorities. This is not light music at all, it is some of the heaviest music you will hear. The drum loop at the end is awesome.

The next song, My Gift To You starts with, get this, bagpipe style sounds with Nu Metal guitars. It’s certainly different, but better than the last two songs for sure. It’s another great listen from the world of Nu Metal here. It has some down-pitched distorted vocals here too. Great stuff. It certainly sounds warped. The repeated screams about hating someone and feeling the pain are brilliant.

The last piece Earache My Eye starts with a spoken word piece. It seems totally unnecessary to begin with. The last piece here is a nonsensical Nu Metal piece. It finishes off the album quite nicely, and we come to a close here.

Nu Metal rose in popularity after the release of this album. It’s not the best album ever, but it’s not bad still. The only real drawback? Many of the songs here are quite long, some editing of the length of album would have helped. Otherwise, it is a good entry to the world of Nu Metal here.

7/10

Knife Party – Abandon Ship (2014)

Knife Party are notably a musical duo from Australia. Early pieces, such as Internet Friends were club classics, and great tunes too. They released this, their first and only album so far, in 2014. Is it up to scratch? Let’s have a listen to the music here.

We begin with Reconnect. It has a psychedelic intro with a spoken voice letting the world know that Knife Party are here. It’s a good listen and a nice way to kick off the album.

After this, we go to Resistance, a nice piece with some house and dubstep overtones. The breakdown is intense. There are some African sounding drums in this breakdown, we hit party central with an awesome groove. This is a refreshing listen compared to the RnB of today, it’s fantastic. These guys are fantastic at what they do, the music here is great.

Boss Mode begins with some freaky distorted chimes, before knocking down the competition with a Hip Hop style groove and distorted dubstep riffs. It is a great tune here, the sampled lyrics pointing to a higher level of consciousness. Our sonic journey on this track is wonderful. It ends with some gunshots. Mint.

EDM Trend Machine is a piece that sounds much more mellow, along with some good male soul like singing. It’s a good one to relax to after a heavy night of clubbing, assuming that people enjoy this sort of thing for that purpose. It’s way different than the tracks before it. Automated dance music for the people.

The following piece 404 sounds a little weird. It has some Chiptune sort of noises in the track, before going into a static sounding bliss. Rotating drums capture our attention, before launching into a very good piece in the style of Knife Party. It’s a good listen, taking us into the future of music and sounds we have not heard before. There are a few twists and turns in this one, being very suspenseful indeed.

We Begin Again with some poly rhythmic beats and we hit sonic waves afterwards. The vocals, which have a sense of urgency, then kick in. Honestly, this piece is not as good as the ones before, which is disappointing. But it fits the album well anyway. There are some good samples in the middle of the track as well.

A more dubstep driven Give It Up with some reggae influences comes next. It is a good uptempo and busy sounding piece that sounds club ready. A progressive and semi-psychedelic listen here. A nice effort. The dubstep bassline is fantastic here.

D.I.M.H. sounds much more mainstream and House based, you can seriously dance to this tune. It has some interesting sound effects, and vocals comparing music to God. It sounds like a rework of an old 1980’s song, but seriously, it is much better than that for sure. It’s a greatly textured piece.

Micropenis is a strange tune that begins with a strangely sampled situation, before leading into a piece that has beats galore everywhere. It had some rather metallic sounds in it as well. It’s okay, but not fantastic, mind you. There are some Sufjan Stevens like melodies in the breakdown here. The second half is far better than the first half by far.

The next song Superstar is outright awful. It sounds like a poor take on a disco track here. Worth avoiding, and enough said about this number. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds do a better job at disco than what Knife Party do here, and that’s saying something.

The follow up Red Dawn is a far better tune, something indeed to listen to at sunrise, for all you party animals out there. It has some middle eastern melodies and cut up vocals for your enjoyment. It’s a good dance number. Some neat intricate backwards loops occur, before banging beats hit you. A good way to liven up the listen towards the end of the album. A ghostly outro makes it better, too.

Kaleidoscope is the last one on the album. It’s a laid back and chill tune, for those who made it through this album. A good downtempo, deep house sort of joutney. It has suspense all the way through. We then finish the album.

This is a good album, not a great one. It does have its moments, but for the most part, could have been bettered. It’s still listenable, especially for you young nightclub goers. Having said that, it is worth a listen anyway.

7/10

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

It was a strange time for music. The mid 1970’s was all about progressive rock. This was both positive and negative at the time. Of course, Pink Floyd took notice and crafted a more progressive rock style into their music. This album is proof of that.

It’s actually devoted to Syd Barrett, their original guitarist and songwriter. Apparently after recording The Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd were stumped to know where to go musically. Memories of their old band mate inspired this album’s material. Ironically Syd himself walked into the studio when the band were recording the Shine On You Crazy Diamond parts. How sad and strange…

That being said, this is a superb listen. Let’s dive in and have a listen to the album.

We begin with Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-5) which has ethereal sounds, a keyboard based flute and the feeling that we are going to be transported into something really great here. The lonely flute melody sticks out, it’s not a fast track, and it never was intentionally so. Some trippy keyboard sounds back up this part of this song. David Gilmour’s Fender Stratocaster then enters. My God, it’s good. His playing sounds fantastic here. The sound is nice and bright. Mysteriously, the sound almost fades into oblivion, before we hear THAT four note guitar figure, which sounds ghostly. Nick Mason and the others come into play afterwards, driving the song rhythmically. The song just flows and evolves here. It sounds mega emotional, even though there are no lyrics here just yet. The sound slows down once more, just before going uptempo again. Pink Floyd sound like a solidly united musical front here, not willing to back down for anyone or anything. Then Roger Waters finally starts singing the chorus, and goodness, it is mind blowing. A nice development of things, clearly being about Syd Barrett. It’s a lament for their lost band member, and the performance here is fantastic. After all this, we have Dick Parry playing a beautiful saxophone solo and some trippy and interesting guitar parts in the background. The song then fades out gracefully and nicely as well, before we jump into the next piece on the album.

The next song Welcome To The Machine begins with some mechanical noises, before launching into an acoustic number about railing against the record industry. It’s easily the weakest song on the album, and even then it’s worth a listen. Some brilliant playing is here, Pink Floyd had no equals with the sort of music that they were making in this era. It’s more a sonic journey this one, but hey, Pink Floyd were experts at this sort of thing. After more Theremin like noises, the song ending is rather strange. Without spoiling it, it is worth following along for the listen.

Have A Cigar is a very funky piece again about the trappings of the music industry. It is musically better than the previous song, with a friend of theirs (Roy Harper) singing this song. There are many descriptions of the nasty business of the album based record industry of the time: “And did we tell you the name of the game, boy? We call it riding the gravy train…” Obviously Roger Waters was fed up of being prodded by record executives to sell more records. Indeed, this is true of many rock bands, why sell out to compromise artistic integrity? There is no point, but the funky guitar solo at the end rocks hard, segueing into the next song.

Wish You Were Here is a sad acoustic ballad about missing someone who you have not seen in a very long time. It may or may not be specifically about Syd Barrett, but is likely so. It’s a great radio ready number for the masses. It uses a comparative analysis to observe different situations at hand. The slide guitar and melodies here are beautiful, a very nice song indeed. The wind blows this track away at the end, before we enter into the next piece.

The next piece, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 6-9) revisits the first part of the album, just in a very different way. We have some different keyboard and guitar based melodies here this time, whilst still keeping the theme of the album going. It is very well structured here. It then suddenly burst into a shuffle sort of groove based section here, before leading us back into the main melody of the song. It sounds a bit more messy a mix than the first sections of this song, but it is intended to be so. High pitched keyboard sounds propel this number along. We then go back to David Gilmour’s stunning guitar parts, and Roger Waters sings about the long lost Syd Barrett legend that the band dearly missed. The backing vocals are mint here as well. The whole piece is thoroughly consistent throughout. The trippy riff comes in after the singing is complete, and then we finalise our musical trip with a beautiful, almost jazzy section to boot. The keyboard brings a groove based piece to light with more funky, quacky sounding guitar playing. We then return to familiar territory with the ethereal keyboard sound, and lastly enter the final, very relaxing section of this song. After some gentle music, we conclude the album here, feeling very satisfied.

This album is just as good as Dark Side Of The Moon, although not as popular. It should be essential listening for Pink Floyd fans though. A very decent and overall excellent musical accomplishment. Pink Floyd were at their best with Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here. It’s a great listen here, don’t miss it.

9/10

Van Halen – Balance (1995)

It seemingly was all over for Van Halen at this point. Some of the rot had set into the band. It went way back to 1985 when show master singer David Lee Roth had left the band. Then Sammy Hagar arrived, splitting the fan base. Their output slowed from then on in.

If that weren’t enough, Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen were constantly fighting. There was also Eddie’s claim he was “clean and sober” at the time, which wasn’t exactly true. He was drinking constantly and on painkillers as his hips were shot, and taking other drugs as well. Everyone inside of the Van Halen circle were unsure about their future.

But Balance is a decent record. Okay, it is not Van Halen’s best by any measure. But Eddie’s tone sounds great here, better so than any other “Van Hagar” record that was recorded. His constant evolution of tone and sonic ability still shines through this record, and the rest of the band sound empowered because of this. It’s a good, but not great listen. So let’s hear it.

The Seventh Seal begins with wind chimes and the freakiest Buddhist chanting that you will ever hear, before crashing into an okay rock song that dates back to the very early days of Van Halen. The guitar riff by Eddie Van Halen is pretty good though, and the whole thing sounds different. It’s a better piece off this recording. The lyrics on this one, are very biblical. A nice effort.

Can’t Stop Lovin’ You follows. It was one of the singles off the album. It seems rather soppy in approach, even for a “Van Hagar” song. It still affects one emotionally, but we cannot but help think that these songs could be better done. But still, it’s a good flashback tune anyway. Nice vocal harmonies here though.

The next song is the polarising Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do). It was originally designed to be a vastly different song, but Eddie Van Halen disliked the original. So this version comes across as a badass piece, despite it being originally written in memory of Kurt Cobain after his suicide. Strange, but a fairly ordinary song anyway, despite the intention of the song.

After that, we go to Amsterdam. Sammy Hagar, being a bit of a pothead, no doubt loved this song as sort of ritualistic piece. But, it has some great riffs and playing by the band in general. It’s a more cheerful uptempo number by Van Halen, and one of the better songs on the album. It’s about the city in Europe where all the tourists go to smoke pot. A good effort here.

Big Fat Money is a song about desiring money. It’s a great uptempo rock number which paces very quickly. Alex Van Halen shines on here, and there is a jazz guitar solo in the middle. Nice to hear, even if the song is rather rubbish anyway. At least it is positive and fun.

Strung Out is a short instrumental that was recorded years before Balance was. It’s Eddie doing a muck around on a piano. Rather unnecessary for this album, doesn’t need to be here at all. But hey, at least it is short. It segues into the next song.

The piano driven Not Enough is a song about love being not enough from another person. It’s a rather depressing listen, but a good one. It has a great line in the song: “Because my heart will always be…yours honestly.” It was a hit single at the time, and is no doubt a good listen, even if it feels uncomfortable to listen to throughout.

The following song, Aftershock, is more or less a continuation of the previous song. It has some pretty sweet guitar playing by Eddie Van Halen. It sounds as though the band were about to fall apart, even on this recording. Still, it’s a great number to here, and there are some great guitar tapping and harmonics here. Nice.

Doin’ Time is an Alex Van Halen drum solo. It’s actually pretty good, although unlike his live stuff, didn’t go on for 20 minutes or longer. It’s just a short and decent piece with a variety of different drums and drum sounds here. A nice change from the other songs.

Baluchiterium is another instrumental. Plenty of instrumentals on this album, it is here mainly to show off Eddie Van Halen’s playing here. It’s a good listen, and the outro in particular is very psychedelic. Just an interesting and quality piece by the group, although Sammy Hagar is missing here, mysteriously.

The next song, Take Me Back (Deja Vu) is about reliving a good time that is being sorely missed. It relates this experience to memories about a certain place, “Some desert island off Morocco”. It has an acoustic guitar in it, too. A nice number from the group here on the album.

The last song on the album, Feelin’ is a good way to finish off this album. It has some good playing by Eddie Van Halen, but you can kind of hear that the band were sick of each other at this point. Still, it rocks hard.

The album which was considered a balanced effort by the group (hence the title of the album) went to #1 and was the last real effort by Van Halen for many years. Still, it is a good listen and shows that Van Halen still had a few musical tricks up their sleeve. Ironically, the album artwork was changed in Japan due to it being considered offensive. It is still a good listen, although not a great one.

7/10

Kid Rock – First Kiss (2015)

Kid Rock has slowly transitioned from (believe it or not) rapper to country rock artist over the years. It has been an interesting transition, although many consider the Devil Without A Cause album his best. It wasn’t specifically, he has had many highlights in his musical career. But this release in 2015 shows that, despite the age of rock and roll, Kid Rock still rocks hard. This is a great listen, let’s dive in.

First Kiss kicks off the album. It looks in retrospect to a simpler and more rural time in Kid Rock’s life with basic things in life. The whole thing sounds melancholy in general. But hey, it’s a great radio ready song for people to enjoy. Isn’t that what rock and roll is about? Yes it is. Great song. The guitar solo is fantastic towards the end.

Good Times, Cheap Wine is about exactly that. It sounds super bluesy and country like. Kid Rock knows the history of rock and roll very well. He insists the things he digs and doesn’t dig, mainly the latter. It’s easy to dance along to, and sounds wicked. There is some good slide guitar here as well. Not a bad listen. “You can try to change me, or love me just the way I am,” he sings. A great statement.

The next song is by far the greatest on this album. An ode to a great musician himself, Johnny Cash is a chilled summer vibe tune about having fun with a girl as well. The guitar used here is likely a great sounding Fender Telecaster. It’s a classic song, and deserves a good listen.

The anti Socialist rant Ain’t Enough Whiskey is a weak point on the album. Kid Rock these days is a big Donald Trump supporter, which is rather silly for a guy like Kid Rock to like a person like him. But in any case, it’s obviously aimed squarely at Barack Obama. The chorus is a great devotion to getting trashed though, which is better than the rest of the song.

Drinking Beer With Dad is definitely a good song though. It’s about drinking and playing tunes on the back porch with one’s old man. Yes, Mr. My Oedipus Complex has some respect for his late father here. It’s a really touching song, and definitely worth listening if you dig Country Rock. A nice statement.

Good Time Lookin’ for Me is about just that, and is a sort of redneck country thing that Kid Rock does nowadays. It sounds very much like a strain of country that nobody does anymore. Still, it’s a good listen on the album. This album flows very nicely, and there is some great guitar work here. A nice piece.

The next song Best Of Me has Kid Rock comparing himself to others, and then stating that he is giving his best to others in life, namely a love he has. He does really well here in this ballad. It sounds so soulful and well delivered. The female backing vocals are very reassuring. A nice organ and guitar driven piece. Even in old age, Kid Rock delivers well.

The next piece starts off weird, but then, here we go! One More Song delivers so well, and is a great piece about music. Yep, Kid Rock talks about some difficulties in his life, and adds that the music will save him, and us. It’s so true, and surely we all agree with that. It’s so emotional and catchy too.

Jesus and Bocephus is a spiritual piece about Kid Rock meeting said Jesus in a said spiritual confrontation. It’s another emotional and moving piece which is a bit of a tearjerker. It has some eastern sounding strings in it, ironically. But it has some reflective lyrics in it. A slow piece, but just sounds great.

FOAD is a pretty direct song. The politically incorrect version, which is FOAD, is on most album versions, and the other version, Say Goodbye, also is around on the internet for listening. It’s a good way to finish the album, but sounds a little twisted. But hey, it’s Kid Rock for you.

This album is a great modern day throwback to the older styles of music that are slowly dying out over time. It’s a great thing to hear, especially in the day and age of Rap and RnB, this is a breath of fresh air. Give it a listen if you can.

8/10