''Born Free'' is the eighth studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

musician Kid Rock. It was released on November 16, 2010 with the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

as its lead single. The country-oriented album was produced by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

featuring several high-profile artists such as T.I., Sheryl Crow, and Bob Seger. This is Kid Rock's first, and to date, only album not to feature a

Parental Advisory Advisory (abbreviated PAL) is a warning label introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1985 and adopted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. It is placed on audio recordings in recognition of profan ...

sticker and is his first all-country album. It is also the first album since 1993's ''

The Polyfuze Method ''The Polyfuze Method'' is the second studio album by American rapper Kid Rock. Released in 1993 by Continuum and Top Dog Records, the album marked the beginning of Kid Rock's shift from hip hop music to rap rock. ''The Polyfuze Method'' saw Kid ...

'' not to feature his backing band

Twisted Brown Trucker Twisted Brown Trucker is the backing band for American musician Kid Rock. Formed in 1994, the band has contributed to nine of his twelve studio albums, as well as Uncle Kracker's '' Double Wide'' album. History Formation and establishment (1 ...

. Marlon Young is the only member from Twisted Brown Trucker to perform on the album. Kid Rock describes it as "very organic blues-based rock and roll". Cable network TBS used the title track, "Born Free", for its coverage of the 2010 Major League Baseball postseason. As of June 16, 2011 ''Born Free'' is certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipments in excess of one million copies. This gave Kid Rock his sixth Platinum album certification in the US. A Michigan only promotion was released with the album. It was a 4-song EP called ''Racing Father Time''.

Release and promotion

The album's lead single was the title track. The songs promotional push included being the theme for the MLB Playoffs, European Music Awards and the CMA Festival. He also performed "Times Like These" at the American Music Awards and "Care" at the Rally for Sanity. This led to a debut of 189,000 copies sold and landing at number five on the billboard top 200. VH-1 aired the Isle of Malta concert special. The following single "God Bless Saturday" became the secondary theme song for ESPN's College Game Day. The third single "Collide" saw him reunite with Sheryl Crow with whom he previously recorded his 2002 single "

Picture An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

" and went on a joint tour with. "Purple Sky" failed to chart and the final single was "Care" with rapper T.I. and depending on the version,

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and reloc ...

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

Angaleena Presley Angaleena Loletta McCoy Presley (born September 1, 1976) is an American country music singer-songwriter. She is a member of the country trio Pistol Annies, which was formed in 2011 with Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe, and has released two sol ...

of the

Pistol Annies Pistol Annies are an American country music group composed of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley. The trio gave its debut performance on April 4, 2011, on the CBS special Academy of Country Music's ''Girls' Night Out: Supersta ...

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Born Free'' received mixed reviews from most music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 63, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

praised ''Born Free'', saying it "goes a long, long way toward keeping that heartland flame burning bright: it’s familiar yet fresh, and song for song it’s the best album Kid Rock has cut since ''

Devil Without a Cause ''Devil Without a Cause'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Kid Rock. Released on August 18, 1998, the album saw Kid Rock continuing to develop his sound, moving away from the predominantly hip hop sound of his previous albums to a l ...

''. This album was number 16 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''s list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010.The 30 Best Albums of 2010
. ''Rolling Stone'' (December 25, 2010). Retrieved January 18, 2011

Track listing

Target bonus tracks #

Rock N Roll Jesus ''Rock n Roll Jesus'' is the seventh studio album by Kid Rock, released on October 9, 2007. Rob Cavallo co-produced the album with Rock. The album was not available at the iTunes Store in an act of protest by Kid Rock regarding a royalties disp ...

" (live) # "Lowlife/Keep Your Hands To Yourself" (live) # "Care" (Demo Version with

)

''Racing Father Time'' EP

# "The Midwest Fall" # "Lonely Road of Faith" (Alt. version) # "Slow My Roll" (Porch version) # "Forty" Sample credits *"Born Free" - "

I Feel Fine "I Feel Fine" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in November 1964 as the A-side of their eighth single. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The recording includes one o ...

" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

(Guitar) *"God Bless Saturday" -

Get Back "Get Back" is a song recorded by the British rock band the Beatles and Billy Preston, and written by Paul McCartney though credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to ...

by The Beatles ( Guitar) *"Times Like These" - " Learn To Be Still" by

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

(Acoustic Guitar)

Personnel

* Kid Rock - lead vocals, guitar *Marlon Young - lead guitar *

David Hidalgo David Kent Hidalgo (born October 6, 1954, in Los Angeles.) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requ ...

- guitar *

Matt Sweeney Matt Sweeney (born July 2, 1969) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist of Skunk, Chavez, and supergroup Zwan. Early life and education Sweeney was born in New Jersey. His father was John D. Sweeney, a professo ...

- guitar *

Justin Meldal-Johnsen Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, and St. Vincent. Meldal-Johns ...

- bass * Lenny Castro - percussion *

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the ...

- drums, percussion *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

- keyboards, piano *

Blake Mills Blake Mills (born September 21, 1986) is an American songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer based in California. Biography Blake Mills was born in Santa Monica, California, United States, and grew up in Malibu, where he attended Malibu ...

- banjo, guitar Additional personnel * Bob Seger - piano on "Collide" * Sheryl Crow - vocals on "Collide" *

Zac Brown Zachry Alexander Brown (born July 31, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and co-founder and lead singer of the country–rock Zac Brown Band, as well as electronic dance music group Sir Rosevelt. In 2019, Brown released a pop su ...

- vocals on "Flying High" * T.I. - vocals on "Care" *

- vocals on "Care" *

- vocals on " Care ( Demo Version)" *

Trace Adkins Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace' ...

- background vocals on "Rock Bottom Blues"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Country albums by American artists Heartland rock albums Rock-and-roll albums Kid Rock albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Rick Rubin Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio)