Born Free

Artist: Kid Rock

Release Date: November 16th, 2010

Genre: Rock

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Music:                        

The sound is very much like modern popular country in my opinion.  Kid Rock may have to consider changing his name to Old Man Country if he wants to keep making music and showing his face to his original fans.  All the tracks sound cookie cutter manufactured for pop and country radio.

Lyrics / Message:     

Alot of this album attempts to connect with the pain and hardship felt in the rust belt during these hard economic times which mostly just comes across as hokie and cheesy especially on the track entitled "Care".  There was a time when Kid Rock could effectively reach this crowd but after selling a few million records it appears more like he's using hard times to sell a few million more.

Originality:                

It seemed like every decision made for "Born Free" was made to go against the forces of creativity and orginality.

Overall:                       

What used to make Kid Rock so great was his ability to transcend labels and blur the lines between musical genres which "Born Free" doesn't even appear to attempt.  He has completely sold out, allowing two of his songs to become corporate jingles for sports TV productions, and the usual suspects will undoubtedly eat this up like Lemmings but there will be a lot of fans who become former fans over this dismal effort.