Born Free
Kid Rock called in a roster of heavy-hitting cameos for this 2010 collection of mellow, sincere, and rootsy rockers, produced by Rick Rubin. The guest list includes the songwriter’s Southern-flavored protégé Zac Brown, his longtime idol Bob Seger, and members of Los Lobos, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. An effort to rekindle his chart-dominating chemistry with Sheryl Crow yields the gratifying ballad “Collide,” but the best collaboration here—with T.I. and Martina McBride on “Care”—is a soulful, organ-driven number that demonstrates how well Kid Rock’s signature musical fusions have matured.
What blasted place have we arrived at as a culture when the worst part of a Kid Rock album is the lack of rapping? On Born Free, Kid Rock has become Grown Man Rock, setting aside the bombastic mélange of hip-hop, metal, country, and bad taste that made his name a permanent fixture on the asses of strippers across this…
With his eighth album, 'Born Free,' Kid Rock has done something he's threatened to do for years: slipped fully into classic-rock mode.