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Album Review
by SashaS
7-1-2002
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| Kid Cocky |
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Kid Rock : 'Cocky'
(Lava/Atlantic)
Kid Rock’s album is cocky in name, in boastin’, in (alleged) size…
As Kid Rock says, “It’s all over the place again,” and you better believe the man. This really is a just all over the place, showing many different sides to this Robert Ritchie guy. That’s a usually a very good thing but not when you are facing a lot of mediocrity and a few good tunes. And, an oversized ego: he reminds us of it on so many occasions throughout the album.
Whether he is dropping his name, or bragging about selling an extravagant amount of records – ‘More than Matchbox Twenty’ but that is not proof of anything because they are shite and American taste is suspect – then larging his reputation and sex conquests, Kid will never be in need of a shrink for inferiority complex. If you live outside the goss-world, and who honestly can, his latest squeeze is Pammy Anderson, the Canadian blonde brainbox.
Kid Rock is offering us a selection of styles that stretch from metal, funk, rock-rap, pop to country with guests such as Sheryl Crow (for countrified ‘Picture’) and Snoop Dogg (on diabolical ‘WCSR’, or ‘World Class Sex Rhymes’). At one moment Kid addresses the issue of his musical multi-personality by ‘singing’ ‘That’s the way I’m!’ Sure, it is honest but imagine reading a review that is pure stream of consciousness, it would be confusing, n’est pas? There needs to be discipline and coherence is a sign of communicating skills as well as of maturity.
Rock, as most musicians, is a child-at-heart and still adores Lynyrd Skynyrd (‘You Never Met A Mothrf**ker Like Me’ cites ‘Firebird’), which is a bit of a problem because it misses his target-audience by twenty-five years at least. For all the blandness of certain tracks, there are few that are real gems, the opening ‘Forever’, ‘What I Learned Out On The Road’, ‘Wrong, But Your Ain’t Right’ and ‘Drunk In The Morning’.
But, the overall feeling is that Rock is really just a lot of talk and cool image over substance. He’s not Eminem, he’s not Limp Bizkit, he’s not Korn, he’s not Lynyrd Skynyrd but he knows how to handle all. Still when you think that Kid Rock is the best live then this makes sense as a blueprint for the next series of shows. As it stands, it is a mess that makes him a nerd of the nation.
Sleeve notes bring this message: “I don’t make music to be a role model. I decide what’s appropriate for my children, you decide what’s right for yours. Enjoy!”
Cocky in a word: boastin’ of alleged size, xxxxL self-importance… Anything new, Kid?
7/10
SashaS
7-1-2002
Kid Rock’s album ‘Cocky’ is released 28 January 2002 on Lava/Atlantic
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