First kiss

"Regrettably, his tackiness ripens into mawkishness whenever the tempo slows, which it does on the back half of the record. As long as he sticks to a bit of a Southern-fried soul groove, as he does on "Best of Me," he still works up a pulse, but the seemingly blasphemous backporch pair of "Jesus and Bocephus" and "FOAD" don't make nearly as deep an impression as "Drinking Beer with Dad," a heartfelt ode to tradition from the former rebel. Earlier on the album, Kid Rock admits "we can't fight this getting older" and that weary yet warm acceptance of his middle age is why First Kiss works: it's a bit bumpy and sometimes sleepy but it finds old Bob Ritchie settling into his comfort zone, knowing that he's in it for the long haul".

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"Some might consider this a waste of a considerable quantum-mechanical gift. After all, he could try to prevent some of the world's greatest atrocities - ideally starting with the recording of this, his 10th album, which I am prevented from declaring the worst album ever made only by the fact that there are other Kid Rock albums I have yet to hear. Thus I don't know if those records feature as many torturous lyrical cliches as this one (whisky, Jesus, Johnny Cash and beers with the old man all feature, and that's just the track titles), or are sung with such constipated insincerity".

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"First Kiss presents few surprises, mostly because Kid Rock's journey from abrasive rap metal to unreconstructed heartland rock has landed him in a sweet spot: big guitars, big drums, big choruses and gravelly vocals. "I know what's right," he declares on the thumping "Ain't Enough Whiskey," and there's no arguing with music offered with this degree of energy, joy and conviction".

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