Following the success of their self-titled debut album the previous year, L.A. Guns quickly set about recording the follow-up in 1989. Writing for all tracks were credited to all five members of the band, while "Never Enough" was co-written by Gregg Tripp and Phil Roy. Four tracks were re-recorded by the reunited classic lineup of the band in 1999 for the compilation Greatest Hits and Black Beauties, and the whole album was re-recorded for the release Cocked & Re-Loaded.
Upon its release, Cocked & Loaded peaked at number 38 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1990. Both "Rip and Tear" and "The Ballad of Jayne" reached the top 50 of the BillboardMainstream Rock chart, while the latter registered at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. Media response to the album was positive, with critics praising the band's development of their sound from their debut album the previous year.
Upon its release, Cocked & Loaded debuted at number 89 on the US Billboard 200.[12] It spent a total of 56 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 38 in July 1990.[13] In the same month, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for domestic sales in excess of 500,000 certified units.[14] Outside of the US, the album reached number 23 on the Japanese Albums Chart,[15] and number 38 on the UK Albums Chart.[16]
Media response to Cocked & Loaded was generally positive. Cash Box magazine claimed that the band had "grown by leaps and bounds" since the release of their self-titled debut the previous year, praising the performance of lead guitarist Tracii Guns in particular.[17]Billboard magazine's review was more mixed, as they described the album as "a spotty affair" and added that the band "has a sound that verges on the metal generic at times, but when the members click ... they can run with the best of the pack".[18] The opinion of Los Angeles Times writer Janiss Garza was similar, who claimed that "The L.A.-based quintet's blatant disregard for subtlety works, as long as you don't think too deeply" and praised "Magdalaine" and "Give a Little" in particular as "a few interesting turns".[11]
Retrospectively, the album has received widespread critical acclaim. Steve Huey of music website AllMusic dubbed it "L.A. Guns' most consistent and effective album", claiming that it "manages to balance the underlying darkness of Guns N' Roses' urban outlook with Mötley Crüe's party-anthem glam metal".[3] In particular, Huey praised the songwriting as "among [the band's] best", highlighting the tracks "Never Enough" and "The Ballad of Jayne".[3]Rolling Stone magazine named Cocked & Loaded the 27th best "hair metal" album of all-time, praising the variety of material on the release including "bullet-belt bravado" on "Rip and Tear", "17 Crash" and "Give a Little", the "hard-living knowledge" on display on "Sleazy Come Easy Go", and the "proggier side" shown on "Magdalaine" and "Malaria".[4] In his review for The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal, Martin Popoff described the music of the album as rock "with a Crüe-style inebriation here, yet with a strange, almost indiscernible cloak of mystery" and remarked the "intensity applied to the basic party metal format".[10]
