UK Edition
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Rock, real name Robert Ritchie, finally scored his first UK top ten hit earlier this month with the 'Sweet Home Alabama'-sampling 'All Summer Long'. Whether British audiences have finally taken to him remains to be seen - perhaps they just like old Lynyrd Skynyrd hits? However, Rock's eleventh studio album has certainly afforded him a renaissance across the pond, earning him surprisingly positive reviews from the American press and his first ever No.1 on the US albums chart.
With song titles such as 'Black Chick White Guy' and 'Balls In Your Mouth', Rock has always enjoyed courting controversy with his music. No doubt realising that the sex, drugs and filthy rap/rock act begins to sound a little sad as he approaches 40, Rock N Roll Jesus finds the singer attempting to make a more "mature" record, with material that veers away from his regular subject matter - himself, girls, himself again - and offering his thoughts on the state of the world.
The album's main talking point has been the politically-spiced rant 'Amen', on which Rock raps about the War On Iraq and "wolves in sheep's clothes pastors". It's certainly an intriguing moment from a musician generally accustomed to the world of Nickelback-style knuckle-dragging rock. But behind a few vaguely interesting lyrics ("Our nation's race relations got me feeling guilty for being white"), the track actually has quite a bullish, nationalistic centre, urging America to stop "living off hand-outs and favours" and avoiding any direct George Bush bashing - something that may have offended a large chunk of his fanbase.
Elsewhere, Rock's new-found "maturity" sees him replacing the old rap-rock thrashes with bluegrass and hoedowns. Sadly, the mixture of old-school country and crude, lewd lyrics makes for an unfortunate and often comic mix. On 'Half Your Age' Rock shoots put-downs at Pamela Anderson over banjos and fiddles, while the soft, bluesy finale 'Lowlife' features references to "strippers", "cocaine" and "porno".
To ensure his regular fans don't desert him, there are of course a few throwbacks to Rock's hell-raising younger days. 'So Hott' is a grunting, misogynistic trudge that features the horrifically unsexy chorus: "I want to f**k you like I'm never gonna see you again", while 'Sugar' finds Rock at his most offensive, telling us to kiss his "Anglo-Saxon ass" and managing to rhyme Nazi, Yahtzee and Paparazzi.
He may consider himself a "rock 'n roll Jesus", but this album suggests Kid Rock's music is every bit as contrived towards its target audience as the most cynical, dead-eyed manufactured pop.
