The History of Rock
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The History of Rock is a compilation album by Kid Rock. Released in 2000, the album consists of re-recorded versions of songs from the album The Polyfuze Method, remixed versions of songs from the album Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp, demos and unreleased songs, including the single "American Bad Ass".
Music
Many of the compilation's songs were previously released on Kid Rock's second and third studio albums, The Polyfuze Method[2] and Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp.[1] The inclusions from The Polyfuze Method have been re-recorded for this compilation[1], while the songs from Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp are remixed.
The new recording "American Bad Ass" has been praised by Allmusic and Rolling Stone as being the best song on the compilation.[2][3] The nu metal song is built around samples from Metallica's song "Sad But True", while paying lyrical tribute to Johnny Cash, Grandmaster Flash, David Allan Coe, the Beastie Boys and Bob Seger.[2][3][4]
Also new to this compilation are the songs ”Abortion”, a hard rock blues song,[1] "Fuck That", categorized by Entertainment Weekly as alternative rock,[1] and ”Born 2 B a Hick”, which has been compared stylistically to Chuck Berry.[1] "Fuck That" previously appeared on the soundtrack to the 1999 film Any Given Sunday.
”Born 2 B a Hick” was an older song that Kid Rock had never recorded.[1] Despite its title, "Abortion" is a anti-drug ballad, which Rolling Stone described as "[finding] common ground between the Geto Boys and Lynyrd Skynyrd".[3]
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 64/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (C)[1] |
| Robert Christgau |  [6] |
The History of Rock received mixed to positive reviews from critics, earning a 64 out of 100 score on Metacritic.[5]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for Allmusic, gave the album four out of five stars, saying that "It's not a great listen, but its swagger and white-trash style make it the second-best record in [Kid Rock's] catalog to date."[2] Robert Christgau gave the album an honorable mention.[6]
Rob Sheffield, writing for Rolling Stone, gave the album three out of five stars, writing that "History peaks with the two new songs".[3] Entertainment Weekly panned the album, however, giving it a C, writing, "Perhaps this marginal collection by a potentially major act should have been called The History of Rap (by White Boys)."[1]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording source | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro" | Robert Ritchie (Kid Rock), Wes Gandy (Wes Chill) | 1:08 | |
| 2. | "American Bad Ass" | Ritchie, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | New track | 4:32 |
| 3. | "Prodigal Son" | Ritchie | Re-recorded from The Polyfuze Method | 6:41 |
| 4. | "Paid" | Ritchie | Remixed from Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp | 4:45 |
| 5. | "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp" (feat. Joe C.) | Ritchie, Martin Gross | Remixed from Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp | 7:14 |
| 6. | "Dark & Gray" | Ritchie | Previously unreleased | 4:56 |
| 7. | "3 Sheets to the Wind (What's My Name?)" | Ritchie | Re-recorded from The Polyfuze Method | 3:59 |
| 8. | "Abortion" | Ritchie | Previously unreleased | 4:29 |
| 9. | "I Wanna Go Back" | Ritchie | Remixed from Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp | 5:29 |
| 10. | "Ya' Keep On" | Ritchie, Barbara Lomas, Carlos Ward, Dennis Rowe, Louis Risbrook, William Risbrook, Orlando Woods, Richard Thompson | Remixed from Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp | 3:57 |
| 11. | "Fuck That" | Ritchie | Previously released on the Any Given Sunday soundtrack | 3:42 |
| 12. | "Fuck U Blind" | Ritchie | Re-recorded from The Polyfuze Method | 3:57 |
| 13. | "Born 2 B a Hick" | Ritchie | Unreleased demo | 1:42 |
| 14. | "My Oedipus Complex" (feat. Twisted Brown Trucker) | Ritchie | Re-recorded from The Polyfuze Method | 8:19 |
Musicians
- Kid Rock - Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, organ, drums
- Michael Stevens - Narration
- Jimmie Bones - Keyboards
- Joe C. - Raps
- Stefanie Eulinberg - Drums
- Shirley Hayden - Background vocals
- Jason Krause - Metal guitar
- Misty Love - Background vocals
- Kenny Olson - Electric guitar
- Uncle Kracker - Turntables, background vocals
- Michael Bradford - Bass guitar
- Wes Chill - Spoken word on intro
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Entertainment Weekly review
- ^ a b c d e Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. The History of Rock at AllMusic
- ^ a b c d e Rolling Stone review
- ^ Hill, Stephen (July 4, 2017). "The Top 40 nu-metal songs of all time". Metal Hammer. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "The History of Rock". Metacritic.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Robert Christgau review