On Rock and Roll Jesus

If you look at Kid Rock's albums chronologically, from Devil to Jesus, there is a natural progression from raprock to countryrock. And that progression is now complete; his style is no longer in transition - it is fully realized ROCK. However, this is not what I like about his music. He does write a good rock song - Amen, Low life, Rock and Roll (off the last album) - are fucking stunners, but they lack something. On Cocky, Kid was in full blown transition mode, letting his diverse influences push and pull all over his songs: he raps, sings, rapsings, piano solos, scratches, while referencing skynrd, foghat, and grandmasterflash. This eclecticism is what made Kid Rock so good. He is never as good as his influences, but in melding them together, becomes the true original. Now that he is a fully realized rock god, he is diminished because he is not as good as Seger or Hank Jr. or Skynrd, or whomever he is trying to emulate. Therefore, there is a watered down heard-it-before predictability to all Rock and Roll Jesus, whereas Cocky is a sonic collage of every kind of music he knows, and was incredibly exciting, if mostly misunderstood. Agree?