Born Free Kid Rock

• 1Born Free05:15
• 2Slow My Roll04:20
• 3Care04:12
• 4Purple Sky04:07
• 5When It Rains04:46
• 6God Bless Saturday03:35
• 7Collide04:49
• 8Flyin' High04:03
• 9Times Like These05:57
• 10Rock On05:23
• 11Rock Bottom Blues03:53
• 12For The First Time [In A Long Time]05:47
• 13Care04:25
• Total Runtime01:00:32

Info for Born Free

Born Free, Kid Rock's follow-up to 2007's platinum (three times over) Rock N Roll Jesus, was produced by Rick Rubin and features guest appearances from T.I., Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow, Bob Seger, and James Hetfield.

'With his eighth album, Kid Rock has done something he's threatened to do for years: slipped fully into classic-rock mode. Born Free has the Skynyrd guitar attack, the Leon Russell- style gospel backup singers, some fire-down-below boogie from Rock's Detroit godfather, Bob Seger (who adds his blessing with the piano part on 'Collide'). The trippy, pinwheeling guitars of the closing 'For the First Time (In a Long Time)' even drift into — I kid you not — Grateful Dead territory.

It's a direction Rock has headed in since 2002's 'Picture,' the unexpected-smash duet with Sheryl Crow that became his career's pivot point. Guided by producer Rick Rubin, Rock harnesses his previously erratic songwriting into a cohesive package and reveals new range, emotionally and vocally. Guest stars (Crow, Zac Brown) are deployed flawlessly: Though pairing Martina McBride with T.I. on 'Care' might seem ridiculous, the song's compassionate country soul feels nothing like a novelty. The familiar Kid Rock is still here, praising 'foot-stompin' music and wine.' But he sounds more earnest than ever on Born Free, and there's a very adult kind of wistfulness to songs like 'When It Rains' and 'Times Like These.' Born Free shows that you just might be able to take the Kid out of the Rock.' (Rolling Stone)

Kid Rock, vocals, guitars
Zac Brown, vocals
T.I., vocals
Marlon Young, lead-guitar
Blake Mills, guitar
Benmont Tench, piano, organ
Matt Sweeney, guitar, banjo
Chad Smith, drums
Justin Meldal-Johnsen, bass
Bob Seger, piano
Martina Mc Bride, vocals
Smokey Hormel, guitar
David Hidalgo, guitar
Kim Wilson, harmonica
Trace Adkins, vocals
Herschel Boone, vocals
Stacey Michelle, vocals
Jessica Wagner, vocals

Recorded at 800 East, Atlanta, GA; Akademie Mathematique of Philosophical Sound Research,; Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Shangri La Studios, Malibu, CA; Silent Sound, Atlantic, GA; Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, CA; The Allen Roadhouse, Clarkston, MI.
Produced by Rick Rubin
Mixed by Greg Fidelman and Andrew Scheps
Mastering by Vlado Meller

No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums
No. 5 on the Billboard 200

One of the unlikeliest success stories in rock at the turn of the millennium, Detroit rap-rocker Kid Rock shot to superstardom with his fourth full-length album, 1998's Devil Without a Cause. What made it so shocking was that Rock had recorded his first demo a full decade before, been booted off major label Jive following his Beastie Boys-ish 1990 debut, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast, and toiled for most of the decade in obscurity, releasing albums to a small, devoted, mostly local fan base while earning his fair share of ridicule around his home state. Nevertheless, Rock persevered, and by the time rap-metal had begun to attract a substantial audience, he had perfected the outlandish, over the top white-trash persona that gave Devil Without a Cause such a distinctive personality and made it such an infectious party record.

Bob "Kid Rock" Ritchie (born Robert James Ritchie, January 17, 1971) grew up in Romeo, Michigan, a small rural town north of the Detroit metro area. Finding small-town life stiflingly dull, Ritchie immersed himself in rap music, learned to breakdance, and began making the talent-show rounds in Detroit. Inspired by the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill -- white performers fusing rap and hard guitar rock -- Kid Rock recorded his first demos in 1988, and eventually scored an opening slot at a Boogie Down Productions gig. That performance, in turn, led to a contract with Jive Records, which issued Kid Rock's debut album, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast, in 1990. Produced by Kid Rock, Too Short, and D-Nice, the album was heavily derivative of Licensed to Ill. Rock briefly became notorious when a New York college radio station aired the album's profanity-laced ode to oral sex, "Yodelin' in the Valley," and was fined over $20,000 (a judgment later rescinded). However, despite a tour with Too Short and Ice Cube, Jive didn't see much of a future for Kid Rock and dropped him from their roster.

Moving to Brooklyn, Rock hooked up with the small Continuum label, and moved his brand of rap further into hard rock with The Polyfuze Method, released in 1993. Reviews were mixed, with some critics praising the record's humor and eclecticism while others dismissed it as awkward and forced. The EP Fire It Up followed in 1994, appearing on Rock's own Top Dog imprint (which was still distributed by Continuum). Rock eventually returned to the Detroit area and began work on another album; recorded on a shoestring budget, Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp was released in 1996. Although sometimes forced to sell bootleg dubs of his own records to pay the rent, Rock set about forming a full-fledged backing band, which he dubbed Twisted Brown Trucker. While its membership fluctuated early on, rapper Joe C. (born Joseph Calleja) was one of the first to join; a longtime fan and frequent concert attendee, Calleja caught Rock's eye in 1994, partly because of his diminutive stature (due to a digestive condition known as celiac disease, which required both dialysis and extensive medication) and partly because of his encyclopedic knowledge of Rock's song lyrics. The rest of the lineup settled around mostly Detroit-area musicians: guitarists Kenny Olson and Jason Krause, keyboardist Jimmy Bones (born Jimmy Trombly, he handles the basslines himself), drummer Stefanie Eulinberg, DJ/turntablist Uncle Kracker (born Matt Shafer, who had been with Rock since the early '90s), and backing vocalists Misty Love and Shirley Hayden.

As rap-metal acts like Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Rage Against the Machine began to dominate the hard rock landscape, Atlantic Records decided to take a chance on signing Rock. Devil Without a Cause didn't do much upon its initial release in August 1998, but a big promotional push from the label and MTV helped make the album's second single and video, "Bawitdaba," a nationwide smash. The follow-up, "Cowboy," achieved similar success, and suddenly, after a decade of trying, Kid Rock was a superstar with a Top Five, seven-times-platinum album and a gig at Woodstock '99. While pondering how to follow up Devil, Rock acquired the rights to his indie label recordings and remixed or re-recorded the best material for The History of Rock, which was released in the summer of 2000 and featured some new songs as well. Sadly, after being forced to take a break from touring a year earlier by his medical difficulties, Joe C. passed away in his sleep on November 16, 2000.

Even with a tragedy like this in his life, Rock continued work on his follow-up to Devil Without a Cause. The media focused more on his relationship with actress Pamela Anderson than his musical career, which many magazines were beginning to ridicule. His DJ, Uncle Kracker, had a successful solo career during the spring and summer of 2001, leaving Rock without one of his most frequent collaborators. Still, by the winter of that year he had completed work on Cocky and had released "Forever" to success on rock radio. In fall 2003, Kid Rock returned with a self-titled effort. A cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love" marked the first single. The cover art to his 2006 live album, Live Trucker, paid tribute to Bob Seger's Live Bullet. Just a year later the studio record Rock N Roll Jesus came out, landing at number one and selling 172,000 copies in its first week. Born Free, produced by Rick Rubin and featuring guest appearances by Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow, Bob Seger, James Hetfield, and T.I., arrived in 2010. Born Free debuted at number five on the Billboard charts but it didn't generate any hit singles; the title track peaked at 31 on the Rock Songs chart and "Collide," featuring Crow and Seger, didn't fare much better on the Country and Adult Contemporary charts. Kid Rock toured in 2011, then set about recording his next album, Rebel Soul, which appeared late in 2012. (Steve Huey, Rovi)

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