As its title suggests, this balls-to-the-wall album finds Kid Rock latching onto the verities of sex, drugs and rock & roll as a path to redemption — both his and the country’s. He’d never admit it, but hurt over losing Pamela Anderson fuels his appetite for salvation. She’s the target of the hilarious country romp “Half Your Age,” which proclaims Rock’s new girlfriend to be “half your age and twice as hot.”

Rock shows his wistful side, too. “All Summer Long” takes its inspiration from “Night Moves,” by Bob Seger (Kid’s Michigan idol), mashing up the piano lick from “Werewolves of London” with bits of “Sweet Home Alabama” for a story of sexual awakening. It’s stirring stuff. And “Amen” imports a gospel choir to denounce religious hypocrisy, racism and pointless soldiers’ deaths in Iraq. There’s straight country, hard-edged rock, big soul balladry and rhymes declaimed over metal guitar. Throughout, Kid Rock extends the Seger-Mellencamp tradition of heartland rock — its swagger as well as its vulnerability — into a new era.

Kid Rock is the first to admit that he’s “no saint” — his immortal couplet (from “So Hott”), “I don’t want to be your friend/ I want to fuck you like I’m never gonna see you again,” amply makes that point. But his good-hearted faith in rock & roll delivers a powerful kick. As he well knows — and Rock N Roll Jesus proves — roaring guitars, truckloads of attitude and an unquenchable lust for life make up for a multitude of sins.

Kid Rock has one regret about his fight with Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards last month – he wishes he’d punched the Motley Crue star a few more times. So look what he has to say, these days a good album doesn’t not sell itself until you have a controversy riding behind that album’s back. This man’s so stupid it’s a miracle he can walk upright. I won’t support this man’s brand of stupidity, what a LOSER. Kid rock need to shut up his album going go flat regardless. This is the only publicity he is getting the story is getting old. But guys doesn’t this highlight the fact that most of our artist feel the need to cook up some controversy just before their albums hit the market so as to generate some interest in their albums. This shows that there exist an attitude where the artist things he has do something to be in the news/stoplight so the fans keep talking about them and somehow those gossips turn into album sales for them and business is good keeping them alive in the business, all wrecked up stuff – forgetful tactics.

Kid Rock has appeared on morning radio talking about the major stories from Sunday’s MTV’s Video Music Awards, including Britney Spears, Kanye West, and of course his brawl with Tommy Lee.

Perezhilton.com reports that Rock appeared on San Diego radio station Rock 105.3 this morning and responded to Tommy Lee’s Internet post about the tussle at Sunday night’s awards in which he called Kid Rock “Kid Pebble” and says Rock “bitch-slapped” him.

Pointing out that he did not respond online to Lee, Rock said “I don’t talk. And he’s doing what he does best, he’s talking. And I really can’t say a lot about it–my attorneys told me not to, obviously–but I think there’s enough eyewitnesses there to say what happened. And of course he has a different story, which makes perfect sense.”

He then reportedly questioned why Lee was even at the ceremony.

“I was trying to figure out why is this whatever, 45-year-old man, who’s not involved with the show, who doesn’t have an album coming out, who has nothing to promote, even sitting through this garbage? I go to those things because I have my album coming out October 9th, and I think it’s the best record I’ve done so I’m trying to promote that. Other than that I don’t want to go sit through Britney Spears lip-synching and some kid dancing.”

Rock commented on Britney’s now-infamous failed comeback and her appearance, saying:

“How does MTV do that, with like, is there some sort of special editing or camera filters they use, how do they make like Britney Spears look overweight and like she’s lip-synching like that? That was incredible.”

And despite accusing MTV of racism against Kayne West, Rock also suggested that West’s outburst was unnecessary.

“Obviously with Kanye West not winning the award, we know Bush doesn’t like black people–apparently MTV doesn’t, either. I was walking through the press line you know and he came storming through like Norman, like it was D-Day or something. I’m like, ‘Calm down, man, it’s just a kind of corny award show.’”