Cool (Gwen Stefani Song) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

"Cool" received generally positive reviews by music critics. Yahoo! Music's Jennifer Nine referred to the song as "a liltingly sweet paean to post-break-up friendships", while Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic called it a "high school anthem-in-waiting" theme; it also was selected as one of the album's highlights. Richard Smirke of Playlouder commented that the song successfully used the same production formula as fellow album tracks "Serious" and "What You Waiting For?", and described it as a "crisp blend of edgy 21C production and early 80s Madonna-esque pop". Jason Damas, in a review for PopMatters, characterized it as "a slippery slice of keyboard" New Wave song referring to it as a "pitched halfway between The Go-Go's and Cyndi Lauper". Bill Lamb of About.com gave the song four out of five stars, stating that it "sounds like the lost Cyndi Lauper tune. That's a good thing, reminding listeners of the mid-tempo reflective classics 'Time After Time' and 'All Through the Night'", but he added that the song does not draw attention like her previous singles.

Eric Greenwood for Drawer B wrote it is "a retrofitted with stale synths and chugging guitars" with "dorkier lyrics than even Cyndi Lauper would dare", Sandy Cohen from Toronto Star called it "the year's love anthem". Entertainment Weekly reviewer David Browne described Stefani, in "Cool" and in another song ("The Real Thing"), as "a glacial '80s synthpop zombie". Krissi Murison from the NME viewed the track as a "Madonna's breathless purr". John Murphy wrote for musicOMH that "Cool" would remind No Doubt fans of "Don't Speak". Blender magazine editors ranked "Cool" at number forty-five on its list of "The 100 Greatest Songs of 2005".