"Cold as Ice" is a 1977 song written by

Lou Gramm Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; 2 May 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and 1992 to 2003 during which time the band had numerous successful albu ...

and Mick Jones that was first released by British-American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Foreigner from their eponymous debut album. It became one of the best known songs of the band in the US, peaking at #6 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. It was initially the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of some versions of the "

Feels Like the First Time "Feels Like the First Time" is the debut single by British-American rock band Foreigner. It was written by Mick Jones and released in 1977 from the band's eponymous debut album. It reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Background Jones ...

" 45 rpm single. The single version is a second shorter than the album version, but adds an orchestra track.

Background

"Cold as Ice" was a replacement for a song that was intended for ''Foreigner'' but which producer Gary Lyons didn't feel fit the album ( Ian McDonald believes the replaced song may have been "Take Me to Your Leader"). According to Jones "I went home after Gary said this, sat down at my piano and out came the

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

for Cold As Ice. And the rest of the song flowed from there.” Lyons said that “When I got back, they played me Cold As Ice and it worked for me. So we went into

Atlantic Studios Atlantic Studios was the recording studio of Atlantic Records. Although this recording studio was located at 1841 Broadway (at the corner of 60th Street), in New York City, Atlantic Recording Studios was initially located at 234 West 56th Street ...

one night to cut it.” According to McDonald, “Gary and I were in there all night working on the vocals. And when we got out of the studio we discovered that a blizzard had been raging. Everywhere was covered in snow, and we heard on the radio that it had been coldest night in New York on record! Somehow that seemed to be a good omen for the song.” Jones has also said of the subject: ''Salt Lake Tribune'' staff writer Terry Orme identified the message of "Cold as Ice" to be "a banal, sleazy claim of unrequited love."

Reception

'' described "Cold as Ice" as having a "haunting feel" and a "surrealistic chilling effect" produced by its "richly textured instrumentals and gutsy vocals." ''Billboard'' also praised how the song maintains its momentum and intensity. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "listeners will recognize the controlled fury of Lou Gramm's lead vocal as well as the finely textured harmonies" and that "the orchestra lends an expansive effect." In a contemporary review, music critic

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...

said that Jones' songwriting on this song and its predecessor single "

" "places him among the better English hard-rock writers." Henry McNulty's contemporary review of ''Foreigner'' in the ''Hartford Courant'' called "Cold as Ice" his favorite song on the album, saying it "is propelled by ennisElliott's drums – they carry the song in the best rock manner – but the interplay between ouGramm's lead vocal and lGreenwood's electronic keyboard is what raises this from the rock pile." ''Classic Rock History'' critic Janey Roberts ranked "Cold as Ice" as Foreigner's 4th greatest song, stating that the piano hook that opens the song "will always go down as one of the signature riffs in classic rock history." Similarly, ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Matt Wardlaw ranked it as Foreigner's 5th greatest song, wondering about how it could have been used as a b-side in some countries given its "famous piano beginning." ''Billboard'' reviewer Gary Graff rated "Cold as Ice" to be Foreigner's 6th greatest song, praising the "insistent, pounding piano," the "full-bodied verses," and "faux operatic backing vocals," and calling the song "a rock-cum-pop classic and a diss track with enough lyrical bite to make most

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

proud." Jones has rated it as one his 11 favorite Foreigner songs, saying that it was the first song he wrote and recorded on the piano.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Mick Jones –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Ian McDonald –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, backing vocals,

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

Al Greenwood Alan Greenwood (born October 20, 1951) is an American rock musician who was a founding member and keyboardist of the rock band Foreigner from 1976 to 1980. He performed on the albums '' Foreigner'' (1977), ''Double Vision'' (1978) and '' Head ...

–

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Ed Gagliardi Edward John Gagliardi (February 13, 1952 – May 11, 2014) was an American bass guitarist, best known as the original bass player for the 1970s rock band Foreigner. He was a member of Foreigner from the beginning in 1976. Gagliardi, most notably ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *

Dennis Elliott Dennis Leslie Elliott (born 18 August 1950, in Peckham, London) is a British musician and artist, who was the original drummer for the rock band, Foreigner. He played with the band from 1976 until leaving between 1991 and 1993. He went on to ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backing vocals

Guest musicians

* Ian Lloyd – backing vocals

In popular culture

"Cold as Ice" was used as the soundtrack for a skit on the March 25, 1978 broadcast of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' that showed a man being attacked by a woman in a number of grisly ways. Host

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

introduced the segment as being "not for the squeamish".SNL transcripts
Retrieved 28 Jan 2015.

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular charact ...

plays the song on the piano in character as G.O.B. Bluth on the show

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

. In 2002, an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

of the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' referenced the song, as well as other songs by Foreigner.

References

External links

Foreigner Official Website
{{Authority control 1977 singles Foreigner (band) songs Songs written by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Songs written by Lou Gramm 1976 songs Atlantic Records singles