Born Free

Kid Rock looks young and acts wisely

You can hardly say how fast a man is getting older or see the signs of maturing if this person hides behind sunglasses and under a hat all the time. This is how Kid Rock (his parents once called him officially Robert James Ritchie) remains forever young, mystique and attractive. Youth is known for its lack of discipline, disorderliness and desire to have all at once. For a while, you could use these words to describe Kid Rock when he was just starting out. The young man was casting into his music seeds of whichever genres to harvest sometimes pretty fascinating numbers. Yet he had to grow up, too. As time went by, the singer ceased to run to extremes. There came a moment when he found no more pleasure in combining eternal opponents, hip-hop and metal. Kid Rock seems now to have decided finally to commit himself to blues and rock-n-roll. After all, he is Kid Rock, not Kid Hip-Hop. The musician’s long player number eight, Born Free, is a record of classic rock with favors of blues here and there. The remarkable thing is that this is the first album from this artist that does not have the Parental Advisory label on it. Is in it another sign of the man’s maturing?

Kid Rock was making Born Free in company of big masters

Kid Rock was preparing Born Free in cooperation with a reputed producer, Rick Rubin. This man knows the ropes in any style and genre. Otherwise, he could not have collaborated with Jay-Z, and Slayer with equal success. Rubin saw to it that Kid Rock had reliable supporters, vocalists and musicians called for from completely different fields of music. Even James Hetfield (Metallica) showed up on a couple of tracks to play the most popular six-string instrument. On a number of occasions, Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers was employed as a drummer, too. So, you have but to expect some amount of true rock over here, like in Rock On, or Slow My Roll. Care features Kid Rock forming an exquisite duet with Martina McBride and having a little hip-hop duel with T.I. Collide has another star shedding its singing light on us, Cheryl Crow. In the meantime, Kid Rock feels real confident showing his own vocal training as he reaches perfection in For The First Time (In A Long Time). The instrumental work is of different kinds, but always fits the mood. Times Like This has acoustic guitar fresh and light like a breeze, while Flyin’ High pleases experts with elaborate solos.

Born Free is a quality you have to be proud of

Kid Rock has delivered nothing but a quality record. True, it would be easier to produce something worthy rather than ruin the whole deal when you‘re working with a group of such performers, but the history remembers well both cases. Meanwhile, Kid Rock deserves personal credits, too. He sang perfectly and preserved his own style throughout the entire record. The other participants of the creative process simply could not neglect this project after seeing the level of Kid’s commitment. Born Free lasts almost an hour, which you have a chance to know only accidentally because listening to it will turn into a too short-term pleasure for you. The supreme ordering of tracks eliminates any possibility that some parts of the album may seem dragging or boring to you, while the guest vocals coming out from time to time make the record even more interesting. Certainly, Kid Rock may not worry about the reception critics and listeners will offer to this release.