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| album = [[Foreigner (Foreigner album)|Foreigner]]
| B-side = I Need You
| released = {{Start date|1977|07|23}}
| recorded = 1976
| studio =
| genre = [[Synth-rock]]<ref name="Classic Tracks">{{cite book|display-authors=etal|chapter=Cold as Ice - Foreigner|editor-last=Bacon|editor-first=Tony|date=March 28, 2008|title=Classic Tracks Back to Back|publisher=[[Thunder Bay Press]]|location=San Diego|pages=174}}</ref>
| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length = 3:18 (single)<br/>3:19 (album)
| label = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| writer = [[Lou Gramm]], [[Mick Jones (Foreigner guitarist)|Mick Jones]]
| producer = Gary Lyons, John Sinclair
| prev_title = [[Feels Like the First Time (Foreigner song)|Feels Like the First Time]]
| prev_year = 1977
| next_title = [[Long, Long Way from Home]]
| next_year = 19781977
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|ySb1f9zWJkQ|"Cold as Ice"}}}}
}}
 
"'''Cold as Ice'''" is a 1977 song written by [[Lou Gramm]] and [[Mick Jones (Foreigner guitarist)|Mick Jones]] that was first released by British-American [[rock music|rock]] band [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] from their [[Foreigner (Foreigner album)|eponymous debut album]]. It became one of the best -known songs of the band in the US, peaking at #No. 6 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]].<ref name=billboard/> It was initially the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] of some versions of the "[[Feels Like the First Time]]" 45 rpm single.<ref name=ultimate>{{cite web|title=Top 10 Foreigner Songs|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-10-foreigner-songs/|author=Wardlaw, Matt|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|access-date=2020-06-08}}</ref>
 
"Cold as Ice" was used as the soundtrack for a skit on the March 25, 1978 broadcast of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' that showed a man being attacked by a woman in a number of grisly ways. Host [[Christopher Lee]] introduced the segment as being "not for the squeamish".<ref> [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/77o.phtml SNL transcripts] Retrieved 28 Jan 2015. </ref>
 
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 (music)|producer]] Gary Lyons didn't feel fit the album ([[Ian McDonald (musician)|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 (music)|riff]] 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]] 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.”<ref>{{cite web|title=The real story behind Foreigner's first album|author=Dome, Malcolm|accessdate=2022-06-17|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock|date=March 13, 2014|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/foreigner-first-time-around}}</ref>
 
Jones has also said of the subject:
{{quote|Lyrically, the subject was based on the idea of the stereotypical cold-hearted, bad girl – the sort of woman [[Joan Crawford]] would play in a film – but it wasn’t aimed at anyone specific. Well, there was one girl at school that dumped me, so maybe that trauma stayed with me over the years and subconsciously filtered in! The other contributing factor was that it was about minus 20 degrees in New York at the time we were writing it, which may have fed into the atmosphere.<ref>{{cite web|title=How I wrote Cold As Ice, by Foreigner's Mick Jones|author=Brannigan, Paul|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock|accessdate=2022-06-17|date=July 14, 2021|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/how-i-wrote-cold-as-ice-by-foreigners-mick-jones}}</ref>}}
 
''Salt Lake Tribune'' staff writer Terry Orme identified the message of "Cold as Ice" to be "a banal, sleazy claim of unrequited love".<ref>{{cite news|via=newspapers.com|accessdate=2022-06-18|newspaper=Salt Lake Tribune|author=Orme, Terry|title=It's True, Salt Lake City Loves Rock 'n Roll|date=January 9, 1980|page=B3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104010511/the-salt-lake-tribune/}}</ref>
 
==Reception==
''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' described "Cold as Ice" as having a "haunting feel" and a "surrealistic chilling effect" produced by its "richly textured instrumentals and gutsy vocals.".<ref name=bb>{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard Magazine|access-date=2020-06-11|date=July 23, 1977|page=58|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1977/Billboard%201977-07-23.pdf|title=Top Single Picks}}</ref> ''Billboard'' also praised how the song maintains its momentum and intensity.<ref name=bb/> ''[[Cash Box]]'' 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.".<ref name=cb>{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=July 23, 1977|page=18|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2021-12-26|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1977/CB-1977-07-23.pdf}}</ref> In a contemporary review, music critic [[Dave Marsh]] said that Jones' songwriting on this song and its predecessor single "[[Feels Like the First Time]]" "places him among the better English hard-rock writers."<ref>{{cite news|via=newspapers.com|accessdate=2022-06-20|author=Marsh, Dave|newspaper=The Charlotte News|title=Reviewing Records|date=May 28, 1977|page=4C|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104098538/the-charlotte-news/}}</ref> 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 [[Dennis Elliott|[Dennis] Elliott]]'s drums – they carry the song in the best rock manner – but the interplay between [[Lou Gramm|[Lou] Gramm]]'s lead vocal and [[Al Greenwood|[Al] Greenwood]]'s electronic keyboard is what raises this from the rock pile."<ref>{{cite news|via=newspapers.com|accessdate=2022-06-20|newspaper=Hartford Courant|author=McNulty, Henry|date=April 3, 1977|title=Fine Foreigner Arrives|page=24F|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104104050/hartford-courant/}}</ref>
 
''Classic Rock History'' critic JaneyBrian RobertsKachejian 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."<ref>{{cite web|title=Top 10 Foreigner Songs|author=RobertsKachejian, JaneyBrian|date=13 January 2018|url=https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-foreigner-songs/|access-date=2020-06-10|publisher=Classic Rock History}}</ref> 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.".<ref>{{cite web|title=Top 10 Foreigner Songs|author=Wardlaw, Matt|date=May 2, 2015|access-date=2020-06-11|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-10-foreigner-songs/}}</ref> ''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 [[rap music|rappers]] proud."<ref name=graff>{{cite web|title=Foreigner’sForeigner's 10 Best Songs: Critic’sCritic's Picks|author=Graff, Gary|publisher=Billboard|accessdate=2022-06-17|date=October 11, 2017|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/foreigner-songs-best-hits-list-7997542/}}</ref>
 
Jones has rated it as one of his 11eleven favorite Foreigner songs, saying that it was the first song he wrote and recorded on the piano.<ref name=jones>{{cite web|title=Mick Jones' 11 Favourite Foreigner Songs|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock|date=April 26, 2017|accessdate=2022-06-17|url=https://www.loudersound.com/featuresfeatur–es/mick-jones-11-favourite-foreigner-songs}}</ref>
 
==Charts==
==Chart performance==
{{col-begin|width=65%}}
{{col-2}}
 
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| style="text-align:center;"|32
|-
| Belgium (Ultratop)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ultratop.be/nl/song/1991/Foreigner-Cold-As-Ice|title=Foreigner - Cold as Ice|website=[[Ultratop]] }}</ref>
|align="center"|20
|-
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|align="center"|9
|-
| [[Dutch Top 40]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radio538.nl/web/show/id=44685/chartid=6827 |title=De Nederlandse Top 40, week 42, 1977 |access-date=December 4, 2008 |archive-date=May 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517031332/http://www.radio538.nl/web/show/id=44685/chartid=6827 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|align="center"|13
|-
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| US [[Cashbox (magazine)|''Cash Box'']] Top 100<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19771015.html |title=CASH BOX Top 100 Singles - Week ending OCTOBER 15, 1977 |access-date=2016-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020124305/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19771015.html |archive-date=2018-10-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|align="center"|10
|-}
{|class="wikitable"
! Chart (1978)
! Peak<br />position
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| [[UK Singles Chart]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Foreigner singles|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28540/foreigner/|publisher=The Official Chart Company|access-date=2020-06-08}}</ref>
|align="center"|24
|- }
{|class="wikitable"
! Chart (1985)
! Peak<br />position
|-
| Irish Singles Chart<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishcharts.ie |title=irishcharts.ie search results for Foreigner |access-date=December 4, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5nE7hmwjG?url=web/20100126040745/http://www.irishcharts.ie/ |archive-date=FebruaryJanuary 126, 2010 }}</ref>
|align="center"|18
|-
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{{col-end}}
 
== Personnel Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Foreigner|title=Cold as Ice|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2022|id=13566-1236-1|access-date=September 2, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Foreigner|title=Cold as Ice|award=Gold|relyear=2003|certyear=2014|access-date=September 2, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
 
== Personnel ==
* [[Lou Gramm]] – [[Lead vocalist|lead vocals]]
* [[Mick Jones (Foreigner guitarist)|Mick Jones]] – [[lead guitar]], [[backing vocals]], [[piano]]
* [[Ian McDonald (musician)|Ian McDonald]] – [[rhythm guitar]], backing vocals, [[mellotronMellotron]]
* [[Al Greenwood]] – [[organ (music)|organ]], [[synthesizer]]
* [[Ed Gagliardi]] – [[bass guitar]], backing vocals
* [[Dennis Elliott]] – [[Drum kit|drums]], backing vocals
 
=== Guest musicians ===
 
* [[Ian Lloyd (musician)|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]]'' that showed a man being attacked by a woman in a number of grisly ways. Host [[Christopher Lee]] introduced the segment as being "not for the squeamish".<ref> [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/77o.phtml SNL transcripts] Retrieved 28 Jan 2015. </ref> [[Will Arnett]] plays the song on the piano in character as [[List of Arrested Development characters|G.O.B. Bluth]] on the show ''[[Arrested Development]]''. In 2002, an [[Revenge of the Mooninites|episode]] of the [[Adult Swim]] animated series ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' referenced the song, as well as other songs by Foreigner. Rapper [[B.o.B]] interpolated the song on a track also named "Cold as Ice" from his 2010 [[mixtape]], ''No Genre''. <ref>{{cite web |title=Cold as Ice by B.o.B |url=https://genius.com/Bob-cold-as-ice-lyrics |website=Genius |access-date=15 June 2023}}</ref> The song was also used in episode 2 of Stranger Things 3.
 
==References==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_as_Ice_(Foreigner_song)"