Cocky (album)

Cocky
Studio album by Kid Rock
Released November 20, 2001
Recorded 1999–2001
Genre Southern rock, rap rock, blues rock, country rock
Length 63:36
Label Lava/Atlantic
Producer Kid Rock
Kid Rock chronology

The History of Rock
(2000)		 Cocky
(2001)		 Kid Rock
(2003)
Singles from Cocky
  1. "Forever"
    Released: 2001
  2. "Lonely Road of Faith"
    Released: February 2002
  3. "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me"
    Released: March 7, 2002
  4. "Picture"
    Released: November 12, 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]
Entertainment Weekly (B)[2]
Robert Christgau [3]
Rolling Stone [4]
Blender
Rock Hard (de) 7/10[5]

Cocky is Kid Rock's fifth album released with Atlantic Records, his fifth studio album overall, released in 2001. This is Kid Rock's first album on country music. The release of "Picture" featuring Sheryl Crow revived the struggling album in 2003, and in May 2011 it was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA. It has sold 5,344,000 copies in the US as of December 2013.[6]

The album was dedicated to Joe C who died the year before. 75 songs written for the album, but only 30 of them were recorded as a song for the album. One of the recorded songs that did not make the album was "If I Was President", a standard blues song that Rock plays frequently in concert. Another song left off the album was "In Your Lifetime", which was a eulogy to Joe C. "Picture" received a CMA nomination in 2003 for Vocal Event of the Year and would go on to be Rock's first gold single.

Release and Promotion

The album's first single was the rap rock track "Forever". The song charted at number 18 on Mainstream Rock and number 21 on Modern Rock.He performed the song on TRL and The Late Show with David Letterman,leading to a number 8 debut ( would climb to number 3 after release of Picture). He and Hank Williams Jr would perform on CMT Crossroads in late 2001. The second single was the ballad "Lonely Road of Faith", released in January 2002. The song was heavily promoted by WWE in the video tribute to the History of WWE. The song was also heard on WB's Smallville and MTV's Real World. Kid Rock would go on "The Cocky Tour" then join Aerosmith and Run DMC on the "Girls Of Summer Tour".The song would peak at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. In July 2002, a censored version of "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me" was released to radio and peaked at number 32 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. Kid Rock would test out "Picture" at CMT's Farm Aid with Allison Moorer filling in for Sheryl Crow. When Sheryl Crow's label butted heads with Rock he releasedthe song in November 2002 with Allison Moorer. As the Allison Moorer version began climbing the country charts, Sheryl Crow's people changed their minds. The Sheryl Crow version was released in January 2003. It would become Kid Rock's first crossover hit charting at number 4 on the Hot 100, number 5 on the Top 40, number 2 at AC and number 17 on country radio. The single would be certified gold and spend 52 weeks on top the Country Singles Sales chart; it also peaked at number 1 on the US Singles Sales charts and number 2 on the Canadian Singles Sales chart. The song would be Sheryl Crow's second most successful single after "All I Wanna Do". The album climbed all the way back to number three. The song would be his first gold single and push the album from 1.8 million sold to 4.7 million sold ( Cocky since has sold about 5.4 million). The song was nominated for CMA Vocal Event of The Year.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Trucker Anthem"  M. O'Brien, D. Reeves, R.J. Ritchie, M. Shaffer, H. Stothart, D. McDaniels, R. Simmons, J. Simmons 4:39
2. "Forever"  F. Beauregard, Ritchie, Shaffer 3:46
3. "Lay It on Me"  Ritchie, Shaffer 4:56
4. "Cocky"  Beauregard, Ritchie, Shaffer 3:57
5. "What I Learned Out on the Road"  Ritchie, Shaffer 4:58
6. "I'm Wrong, But You Ain't Right"  Ritchie 4:56
7. "Lonely Road of Faith"  Ritchie 5:28
8. "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me"  Ritchie, R. Van Zant, A. Collins 4:53
9. "Picture" (featuring Sheryl Crow)Ritchie, Sheryl Crow 4:58
10. "I'm a Dog"  Ritchie, K. Olson 3:36
11. "Midnight Train to Memphis"  Ritchie, Shaffer 4:44
12. "Baby Come Home"  Ritchie 3:08
13. "Drunk in the Morning"  Ritchie 5:31
14. "WCSR" (featuring Snoop Dogg)Ritchie, Broadus 4:44

A clean version is also available, removing most vulgarity, as well as the song "WCSR". The clean version of the disc also features a picture of Kid Rock's face on the disc, while the unedited version has an image of two hands with raised middle fingers (a reference to Devil Without a Cause which featured a single hand making the same gesture); both feature Kid Rock's name. The edited version of Cocky also renames track 8 "You Never Met a White Boy Quite Like Me".

Notes

Samples

  1. "Trucker Anthem" – "Beats to the Rhyme" by Run–D.M.C. and "March of the Winkies" from The Wizard of Oz 1987 musical version (both used turning long intro)
  2. "Forever" – "Trampled Under Foot" by Led Zeppelin (riff but heavied and slowed down)
  3. "Lay It on Me" – "Who Are You" by The Who (the breakdown in middle of the song)
  4. "Cocky" – "Tom Sawyer" by Rush (organ) and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes (disco sound effect)
  5. "I'm Wrong, But You Ain't Right" – "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath (start of the duel guitar solos)
  6. "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me" – "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd (pays homage in mid-song) and "Bloody Well Right" by Supertramp
  7. "I'm a Dog" – "Born on the Bayou" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (sound effect)
  8. "Baby Come Home" – "Brown-Baggin'" by 24-Carat Black (lead in guitar part)
  9. "Drunk in the Morning" – "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent (guitar riff before bass solo at end of song)

Demos

Musicians

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "AllMusic review". Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Brunner, Rob (19 November 2001). "EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Kid Rock reviews". Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Walters, Barry. "Rolling Stone review". Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  5. ↑ Rensen, Michael. "Rock Hard review". issue 176. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Paul Grein (December 11, 2013). "A Britney Spears Bummer: New Album Fizzles". Yahoo Music.