First Kiss (Kid Rock album)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.1[8]
Metacritic	61/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Billboard	3.5[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B[4]
The Guardian	[10]
New York Daily News	[11]
Rolling Stone	[3]

First Kiss received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 61, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 9 reviews.[9] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said, "It's a bit bumpy and sometimes sleepy but it finds old Bob Ritchie settling into his comfort zone, knowing that he's in it for the long haul."[1] Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone said, "First Kiss presents few surprises, mostly because Kid Rock's journey from abrasive rap metal to unreconstructed heartland rock has landed him in a sweet spot: big guitars, big drums, big choruses and gravelly vocals."[3] Richard Bienstock of Billboard said, "First Kiss is hardly his most adventurous project, but it is perhaps his most easygoing, tuneful one. The production is crisp and clean, the guitars are sparkling, the vibe is rollicking but relaxed. He sounds better here than he has in a long time."[2]

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, with sales of 137,000 copies in the United States.[12] As of December 2015, First Kiss has sold more than 354,000 copies in the United States.[13] The album also debuted at number two in Canada on the Canadian Albums Chart, with sales of 8,000.[14]

All songs were produced by Kid Rock, except "First Kiss" and "Drinking Beer With Dad" were produced by Kid Rock and Dan Huff.