First Kiss (Kid Rock album)

First Kiss is the tenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Kid Rock. The album was released on February 24, 2015, through Warner Bros. Records and Top Dog Records, and is his first and only with Warner Bros. after leaving sister label Atlantic Records in 2014.

Critical reception
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. 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." 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." 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."

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

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

Kid Rock

 * Robert James Ritchie Sr. - drum programming, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, percussion, piano, shaker, synthesizer, tambourine, turntables, background vocals, wah wah guitar

Hornists

 * Rayse Biggs - horns
 * Dave McMurray - horns

Backing vocalists

 * Barabara Payton - background vocals
 * Herschel Boone - background vocals
 * Jessica Wagner-Cowan - background vocals
 * Laura Creamer - background vocals
 * Russell Terrell - background vocals
 * Shannon Curfman - background vocals
 * Shawn Murphy - background vocals
 * Stacy Michelle - background vocals

Drummers

 * Dorian Crozier
 * Richard Millsap

Others

 * Jimmie Bones - piano, background vocals
 * Rob Mathes - conductor, string arrangements
 * Larry Franklin - fiddle
 * David Huff - drum programming
 * Marlon Young - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar

Guitarists

 * Dan Dugmore - steel guitar
 * Dann Huff - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
 * Ed Jurdi - electric guitar, slide guitar
 * Gordy Quist - electric guitar
 * Adam Shoenfeld - electric guitar
 * Nathan Young - electric guitar

Pianists

 * Charlie Judge - accordion, organ, piano
 * Trevor Nealon - organ, piano, electric piano

Violists

 * Vivek Kamath - viola
 * Shmuel Katz
 * Remi Pelletier

Violinists

 * Larry Frautchi - violin
 * Lisa Kim - violin
 * Hyunju Lee - violin
 * Liz Kim - violin
 * Joanna Maurer - violin
 * Annaliesa Place - violin
 * Sharon Yamada - violin
 * Jung Sun Yoo - violin
 * Suzanne Ornstein - violin
 * David Southern - violin

Cellists

 * Mihai Marica - cello
 * Alan Stepansky - cello
 * Wendy Sutter - cello

Bassists

 * Jimmie Lee Sloas - bass guitar
 * Darrel "Peanut" Smith - bass guitar