Post by StevePulaski on Feb 24, 2015 23:46:51 GMT -5
First Kiss (2015)
By: Kid Rock
By: Kid Rock
Rating: ★★★
Following the release of his 2010 effort Born Free, which served as more of a testimony to the love for his homeland of Detroit and the rowdy, mixed bag that was Rebel Soul, Kid Rock returns in 2015 with an album that is immediately two things. For one, First Kiss is an album more suited for summertime than the brutal cold of February, and two, it's an album that returns to what Kid knows best, which is finding and exploiting nostalgia for all its worth. Just the title of the album and its lead single transport the listener back to simpler times, or times when teen angst, first loves, and first signs of affection were the defining moments in their lives. That kind of nostalgia happily carries through First Kiss, a brisk, ten-track release from one of music's most restless and diverse individuals, never making one album too similar to his last.
With the titular track, Kid sets the mood for the album quite richly, as it concerns Kid cruising through a simple, homey town that has him reflecting on his first kiss and the days he hungers for once again. The song blends two distinct, power-pop styles, opening in a similar vein to The Outfield's "Your Love" and carrying on with a flow reminiscent of Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up the Sun." Anyone either disillusioned with the current state of their world, or even their life, will find solace in this track. He follows it with more relatable jams like "Good Times, Cheap Wine," talking about how the working class hold their parties, "Drinking Beer With Dad," an tune that echoes a great deal of my teenage experiences, sitting on the back porch and enjoying a hot fire and an ice cold one with my father, and "Johnny Cash," an ode to the revolutionary country singer.
No sole song on First Kiss is bad, or even below average, but shining tunes blind us from ones that are humbly average. Songs like "Jesus and Bocephus," a song adhering to the idea that Kid learned what he learned from two men - Jesus Christ and Hank Williams, Jr. - work better in theory than a four minute long song, and "Best of Me"'s interchangeability starts at its instrumentation and continues into its lyricism. Nonetheless, the shining stars here along with the titular track are "FOAD," a tune that, while feeling slightly out of place due to its vulgarity, nonetheless accentuates Kid's mood on his former lover perfectly, to which I empathize with deeply, and "Ain't Enough Whiskey" is, in itself, an ode to the partying tracks of yesteryear in country.
First Kiss is a hard-hitting set of songs, giving us with traditionalist values, simple songwriting, and pleasantly uplifting instrumentation by a musician more than capable of delivering the goods to us on a regular basis. Over the years, due to his wishy-washy nature and his inconsistent releases (and, okay, maybe unpopular, outspoken political/social beliefs), Kid has garnered a vast group of naysayers, and First Kiss is a simultaneous recognition of this with a great deal of the "FOAD" message thrown in, as well.
NOTE: There are two versions of this album, an explicit one, which includes the track "FOAD," and a clean version, likely to be sold at places like Wal-Mart, including a modified version of the song by the name of "Say Goodbye," a solid tune but nowhere near as impacting and emotionally-truthful as "FOAD."
Recommended tracks: "First Kiss," "FOAD," "Drinking Beer With Dad," "Ain't Enough Whiskey," and "Good Times, Cheap Wine."