Few folks are on the fence about
Kid Rock protégé
Uncle Kracker. People either love him or hate him. With
Seventy Two & Sunny, his third solo disc, the latter rule most often applies, as
Kracker blatantly pilfers from the likes of
Bob Seger,
the Eagles, and others on tracks like "Further Down the Road." Largely absent of originality,
Kracker brews up airwave-ripe albeit sugary lovelorn dreck like "Rescue" and the doo wop novelty "Please Come Home." That's not to say
Seventy Two & Sunny is all annoyingly tepid, as the alluringly sunny "This Time" fuses country and classic rock with inexplicably pleasant results. Elsewhere,
Uncle Kracker delivers "Writing It Down," an uplifting piano ballad that is too good to dismiss. He also teams up with hit country musician
Kenny Chesney to reprise the, ahem, magic of that artist's "When the Sun Goes Down." ~ John D. Luerssen