Music / Kid Rock (2003)

Kid Rock's 2003 self-titled sixth album showed him drawing largely from Southern Rock, Blues Rock, classic Rock & Roll and Country Music, and he only rapped on two tracks: "Hillbilly Stomp" and "Intro" (track 7 on the album). It completely lacks the Rap Rock sound of his previous four albums. It's also considered by many to be his best album, and was one of his most acclaimed. Rolling Stone named it one of the 50 Greatest Albums of 2003.

Keeping with the 70s classic rock feel of the album, Kid Rock scored a big hit with his Cover Version of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love".

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Track listing

1. "Rock N Roll Pain Train" 5:52
2. "Cadillac Pussy" (feat. Hank Williams Jr.) 3:12
3. "Feel Like Makin' Love" (Bad Company cover) 5:08
4. "Black Bob" 5:31
5. "Jackson, Mississippi" 4:31
6. "Cold and Empty" (cowritten with Kenny Chesney) 4:22
7. "Intro" 2:04
8. "Rock N Roll" 4:28
9. "Hillbilly Stomp" 4:21
10. "I Am" 5:03
11. "Son of Detroit" (rewrite of David Allan Coe's song "Son of the South") 4:21
12. "Do It for You" 4:26
13. "Hard Night for Sarah" (written by Bob Seger) 4:13
14. "Run Off to LA" (cowritten by Sheryl Crow) 5:16
15. "Single Father" (written by David Allan Coe) 4:27

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Tropes:

• Ballad: "Hard Night for Sarah", a previously unrecorded Bob Seger song.
• Blues Rock: One of the predominant styles of the album, along with Southern Rock and Country Music styles. "Rock N Roll Pain Train" features Delta Blues guitar riffs combined with rock guitar and turntable scratching.
• Call-Back: On "I Am", Rock sings, "I'll be a Cowboy till I diiiiiiiiie."
• Country Rap: "Hillbilly Stomp" combines country banjo, Southern Rock electric guitar riffs and rapping.
• Guest Star: Keeping with the title, the album gives the man himself more room in the spotlight. Guest Stars are less prominent on this album, and Kid Rock was more involved with the songwriting process (as opposed to cowriting with Twisted Brown Trucker bandmembers). But there are some notable guests and songwriters: In addition to the few songs cowritten with TBB members, "Cold and Empty" was cowritten with Country Music singer Kenny Chesney, Bob Seger wrote the song "Hard Night for Sarah", Sheryl Crow cowrote "Run Off To L.A." and not only did David Allan Coe write "Single Father" for Kid Rock (inspired by Kid's own experiences raising his son, who Kid previously discussed in the lyrics of "Black Chick, White Guy", as well as "Only God Knows Why"), but Kid rewrote Coe's "Son of the South" as a ZZ Top-esque Rock & Roll boogie called "Son of Detroit". The only actual guests on the album are Hank Williams Jr. singing the chorus on "Cadillac Pussy", and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, who plays guitar and sings back-up on the Country Rap song "Hillbilly Stomp".
• Rock & Roll: Another huge stylistic influence on the album. "Cadillac Pussy" in particular is heavily influenced by piano-based 50s rock and roll, and there's a saxophone rhythm.
• Sampling:
  • "Hillbilly Stomp": The rhythm of Queen's "We Will Rock You" and the intro of Parliament's "Little Ole Country Boy"
  • "Intro" samples Run–D.M.C.'s line "I won't stop rockin' till I retire" from "King of Rock".

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