Brunner gave the album a B, writing, "Kid Rock's tear-down-the-walls ideal of a world where rappers can sip whiskey with rednecks is a compelling fiction, and if the cross-pollinated musical results aren't always as exciting as the conversation no doubt would be, you have to at least admire the breadth of his vision." Brunner felt that "Too much of Cocky meanders into boring stylistic experiments", calling "Picture" a "sappy duet". Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters gave Cocky three out of five stars, writing, "Rock self-consciously builds on his badass-hick-with-a-heart-of-gold image [...] [The execution] is really corn, [...] Rock's AC/DC, Run-D.M.C. and Lynyrd Skynyrd. tributes now come across as clunky imitation." 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 (it 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 released the 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 on Adult Contemporary 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