''Taking a Cold Look'' is the sole

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by i-Ten, a short-lived project formed of the

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

duo Tom Kelly and

Billy Steinberg William Endfield Steinberg (born February 26, 1950) is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits " Like a Virgin" by Madonna (1984), ...

, released in 1983. The album is typical of

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...

and the duo worked with a number of famous rock musicians:

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

and

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

from Toto,

Richard Page Richard Lewis Page (born 22 February 1941) is a former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and from December 1979 to 2005. Early life Born the son of Victor Charles Page, he went to the independent Hu ...

(who later formed

Mr. Mister Mr. Mister was an American rock band from Phoenix, Arizona, active from 1982 until 1990. The band consisted of Richard Page (musician), Richard Page on lead vocals and bass guitar, Steve George (keyboardist), Steve George on keyboards/backing v ...

) and

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...

from

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

. The album was reissued on CD in June 2000 by Rewind Records and then in February 2009 by Rock Candy.

Reception

The album was reviewed in ''

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 ...

'': "With such credentials f Steinberg and Kellyand with Fleetwood Mac's producer and members of Toto helping out, the musical direction of i-TEN can be easily discerned. And, of course, the level of professionalism here cannot be surpassed. But is this a good album? AC programmers would say, yes." The title track, released as a single, was reviewed in ''

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 ...

'' and was described as having "stand-out production from pro Olsen and Toto-er Lukather. The side's dramatic reading and impressive guitar work give the group an edge in the late summer’s pop/rock derby." The album has since been described as a "prime example of early '80s AOR, one needs look no further. Featuring trademark ’80s polish and sheen with catchy hooks that would not have sounded out of place on an album by Survivor, REO or even

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

, I-Ten’s ''Taking a Cold Look'' isn’t merely a time capsule of that era. It’s a clinic on why music of that era was so popular."

Covers

The most-known cover is the 1987 version of " Alone" by

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

for their album ''

Bad Animals ''Bad Animals'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band Heart, released on June 6, 1987, by Capitol Records. The album continues the mainstream hard rock style from the band's 1985 self-titled release, all while enjoying similar succ ...

'', which topped the ''Billboard'' charts. A cover by

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

in 2008 from her album ''

Taking Chances ''Taking Chances'' is the tenth English-language and twenty-third studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records on 7 November 2007. Dion returned to the music scene after almost five years of performing ''A New Day...' ...

'' also achieved chart success. The title track was covered by

Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was originally formed ...

, titled "Cold Look", for their 1988 album '' Racing After Midnight''. "The Easy Way Out" was covered by

Juice Newton Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...

in 1984 and by Jack Wagner in 1987. "I Don't Wanna Lose You" was covered by

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The ...

in 1988 for their compilation album ''

The Hits The Hits was a music video channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music. Overview and availability The channel showcased a range of pop centred on chart hits and curr ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Tom Kelly – vocals, guitar, keyboards *

– vocals, guitar *

– guitar, keyboards, synthesizer *

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a ...

– keyboards, synthesizer *

– backing vocals *

– keyboards, synthesizer *

– synthesizer *

– drums * Dennis Belfield – bass *

Lenny Castro Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ''L ...

– percussion (track 5) * Chas Sandford – rhythm guitar * Peggy Sandvig – synthesizer (track 7) Production and design *

John Kosh John Kosh, known simply as Kosh, is an English art director, album cover designer, graphic artist, and documentary producer/director. He was born in London, England and rose to prominence in the mid-1960s while designing for the Royal Ballet a ...

– art direction *

Ron Larson Roland "Ron" Edwin Larson (born October 31, 1941) is a professor of mathematics at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Pennsylvania. He is best known for being the author of a series of widely used mathematics textbooks ranging from middle sch ...

– design * Andy Engel – Illustrations *

Keith Olsen Keith Alan Olsen (May 12, 1945 – March 9, 2020) was an American record producer and sound engineer, who worked with Magnum, Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne, the Grateful Dead, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Heart, Santana, Saga, ...

– engineer * Dennis Sager – engineer *

Greg Fulginiti Gregory Fulginiti (born February 13, 1951 in Cape May Court House section of Middle Township, New Jersey) is an American recording and mastering engineer. Fulginiti grew up in Wildwood, New Jersey and graduated from Wildwood High School in 1969 ...

– mastering *

– programming 2000 CD reissue: * Jeff Willens – remastering * Tom Laskey – reissue producer * Dane Spencer – reissue preparation

References

{{Authority control 1983 debut albums Steve Lukather albums Rock albums by American artists