Issue #47: Kid Rock – Devil Without a Cause

Released:  August 18th, 1998

Recorded:  September 1997 – July 1998

Genre:  Rap Rock, Nu-metal

Record Label:  Lava / Atlantic

Duration:  71:12

Producer:  Kid Rock with John Travis

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Devil Without a Cause is One of My Favorites

Alright, so for one second, let’s try to forget a couple of things:  a) the ridiculous fans that this album drew; b) Kid Rock’s personality; c) the juvenile lyrics.  Yes, there are plenty of reasons to hate Devil Without a Cause, but there’s one great reason to love it – it sounds awesome.  I’ll admit that at the time I listened to “Bawitdaba” in secret, and that yes, “Cowboy” was overplayed by virtually every white person (rocker or redneck) in existence, and even that as ridiculous as “Only God Knows Why” is, I still liked hearing it.  Call it a guilty pleasure.

It’s no secret that I disliked the “rappy” direction that nu-metal look in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.  Limp Bizkit had the world by the balls for 3 or 4 years there, and yeah, I liked “Faith” and I could stand a loud playthrough of “Nookie” or “Rollin'” but I didn’t care for them much as a group.  It wasn’t really a seamless fusion of “rap” and “rock,” it was Fred Durst rapping (and rather mediocre rapping at that) over some guitars.  But let’s give Kid Rock a little credit, on this album at least.  He managed to merge the ghetto, the trailer park, and suburbia into one album that surprisingly appealed to almost any fan of popular music.

Country music has an obscene amount of untapped potential when it comes to crossover genres.  (Please, let’s forget about Nelly and Tim McGraw.)  It’s got a bad reputation from the 90’s…and 80’s…but if you go back a little further in time, it’s just as satisfying as other genres.  But as a mainstream, commercial product, it’s always been on sort of separate-but-equal territory with rock and rap.  There are a few edgier country “bands” around these days which I suppose are helping to close the gap, and while I think country could be receptive to rock influence, there’s some sort of suburban vs. rural threshold that keeps rock from embracing country, though I suppose a case could be made for the recent popularity of Mumford & Sons (even though they’re technically embracing styles which predate country as we know it and arguably not really producing “rock” music).

Ok, so Devil Without a Cause may not be the Buck Owens-meets-Buddy Holly or Willie Nelson-meets-The Ramones that I sort of wish would happen, but really, it was a better attempt than anyone else had made (at least of any recognition) and he threw in rap.  Now if he could’ve actually worked all 3 into a single song we’d really have something cool (“Cowboy,” maybe?), but to even make any sort of attempt at mashing these up on an album that turned out to be pretty damn good is a fine accomplishment.

“Bawitdaba” may be a pretty meaningless song, but it kicks hard, reminding me a bit of how “Blind” opens Korn’s self-titled album with such energy.  There was a period there where I really tried to hate this song just because of how ridiculous the chorus is; eventually, I resigned myself to listening to it in private and admitting it to no one.  As weird as it is, I think it says something that not only was I unable to hate something that I tried to hate, but that I ended up embracing it.

“Roving Gangster,” “Fist of Rage,” and “Where U at Rock” really embrace the rap-rock ideal with relative success.  “Roving Gangster” has a ton of drum fills and transitions to keep it rooted in rock, and Kid Rock manages to hit something between rapping and shouting in “Fist of Rage,” which also contains a guitar solo of sorts.  “Where U at Rock” is another one of those pulsating, rolling songs with the perfect balance of beat and crunch crunch guitar.  “I Am the Bullgod” comes closer to the nu-metal/alt metal sound than most cuts, with Kid going in an almost Alice in Chains direction on the chorus.

For all the “rapping” that Kid Rock does on Devil Without a Cause, there isn’t exactly a full-on rap song anywhere on it.  “Devil Without a Cause” comes closest with its funk-inspired beat, and “Fuck Off,” as scathing as the lyrics are, is full of booming guitar.  As far as a true melding of “rap” with “rock,” “Fuck Off” is one of the most successful attempts I’ve ever heard.

“Cowboy” got played to death.  It was all over TV, everyone’s car I rode in, and the neighbors behind us were blasting it throughout their backyard 2 hours a day for a week (true story).  But coming back to it a few years later, it’s actually kind of a fun song.  And we might just have an all out combo of rap, rock, and country.  “Wasting Time” is probably the most interesting track on Devil Without a Cause musically, as it essentially attempts to combine rap and country.  It almost sounds like an old 80’s rap song that would insert a small clip of music from a disco song to act as the hook, except Kid Rock is really making a song like this.  Is it a little weird?  Yes, but I always find myself drawn to it.

The last song I want to touch on is, of course, “Only God Knows Why.”  This one caught possibly more shit than “Bawitdaba” and “Cowboy” combined, but I think it’s pretty good song.  Although not really country, it definitely falls in line with southern rock.  And it has a beautiful chord progression that really hammers home the sad-but-hopeful mood.  And so what if Kid used Auto-Tune?  T-Pain made his whole damn career off the thing.

Lyrically, Devil Without a Cause may not be the most profound record.  Most of it is bragging and partying and other superficial stuff, though I find it funny that, say, Jay-Z doesn’t get derided for similar content (nothing against Jay-Z).  It wasn’t meant to be anything other than a fun album, and anyone listening to the words will see instantly that he doesn’t take himself all that seriously.  Part of that casual attitude is what serves to make the album not only enjoyable but also impressive.  This meshing of styles wasn’t an artistic statement or any sort of meticulous design.  Kid Rock obviously took what he liked and ran with it, and Devil Without a Cause was the result.  The record may not be perfect, but it’s got more than enough bright spots to make it worthwhile.  I’m glad that I kept these songs around over the years and continued to listen to them from time to time, else they may have been overshadowed by my teenage pretentiousness.  Fun music isn’t always dumb, and good music isn’t always serious.

Written by The Cubist

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Written by The Cubist

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I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

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