Kid Rock's 'First Kiss' feels like more of the same

For a First Kiss, Kid Rock's new album lights off very few fireworks.

For more than a decade now, the onetime rap-rocker has been drawing fans as a carefree, whiskey-swilling country star. Rock paired with Sheryl Crow on 2001 hit Picture, and his last Billboard Hot 100 hit came in 2008 with the Sweet Home Alabama-sampling All Summer Long. More recently, he found great success with his $20 Best Night Ever Tour in 2013, and has plotted yet another budget-friendly U.S. trek this summer (joined by Foreigner).

But for a guy who's stirred his fair share of controversy outside the studio — expressing mixed feelings on gay marriage in a Guardian piece last month, and posing with a dead cougar in a hunting photo weeks later — Rock couldn't play it safer on his 10th full-length album, officially out Feb. 24, but now streaming on First Play on iTunes Radio.

First Kiss (** out of four) gets off to a rollicking enough start with the title track: a swelling, guitar-fueled anthem that harks back to classic rock and becomes less grating with repeat listens, despite its cliché-ridden lyrics (the album's chief offense). On it, the 44-year-old Rock sings of more carefree days with his grade-school crush having "no money, just time to spend / an old Chevy, and a couple of friends" — continuing to reflect on the good ol' days hangin' with Pops (Drinking Beer with Dad) and falling head-over-heels in love with the June Carter to his Johnny Cash (complete with a cloying Walk the Line nod in the chorus).

While he spends plenty of time reveling in the past, Rock doesn't seem to do much growing up himself. Phoning in what vaguely sounds like yet another Lynyrd Skynyrd redux on Johnny Cash, and using thin instrumentals and backup vocals more suited for a karaoke bar, songs that should pack a wallop lack oomph, as is the case with Ain't Enough Whiskey: Rock's call-to-arms against politicians, war and the NSA.

If you manage to stick with it, First Kiss does plant a few smooches with its more down-tempo tracks: from the bluesy, fiddle-assisted Good Time Lookin' For Me, to the piano- and strings-laden Say Goodbye, a ballad about parting ways included as a bonus track on the "clean" version of the album.

Overall, it seems safe to assume that if you weren't already a fan of Rock's accessible, backwoods-barbecue brand of country rock, there's a good chance this new album won't be the one to launch a love affair. Which is probably more than fine with Rock and his many fans, who have flocked to his shows to get rowdy or kick back with their $4 beers in hand.

In fact, his same old shtick is the subject of one of First Kiss' unexpected highlights, Good Times, Cheap Wine, which might as well be Rock's unofficial theme song. Admitting that he's not one for skinny jeans, social media or Coldplay, Rock brightly sings that he's like "fine wine, sunshine, baby, I never get old," before offering this ultimatum: "Hey, you can try to change me, or love me just the way I am."

Your choice.

Download:Good Time Lookin' For Me; First Kiss; Good Times, Cheap Wine