Upon its release,
Cocked & Loaded debuted at number 89 on the US
Billboard 200. It spent a total of 56 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 38 in July 1990. 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. Outside of the US, the album reached number 23 on the
Japanese Albums Chart, and number 38 on the
UK Albums Chart. 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.
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". 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". 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". ==Track listing==