Vik Iyengar retrospectively claimed that "Cool the Engines" is one of the songs on which Third Stage "works on all cylinders" and "sounds great." Miles praises it as a "steamroller rave-up" that's "another guaranteed radio conquest." Scott Mervis of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls it a "powerful rocker" and a highlight of Third Stage. Daily Press contributor Billy Warden states that the song "sounds like 'Born to Be Wild' bucked off a Harley-Davidson and onto a Saturn-scraping space scooter." Philip Booth of the Lakeland Ledger called it a "recent hit single that sounds more 80-ish than anything else from the hopelessly derivative new album." But Dean Johnson of the Boston Herald claims that it doesn't "hit the peaks of [Boston's] early discs. Jerry Spangler of the Deseret News claimed that examples of Boston's rock 'n' roll style "don't come any better." Classic Rock critic Paul Elliott described it as a "blazing hard rock number." Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Boston's 10th best song, saying that it's "easily the standout rocking track on [Third Stage], and in our opinion the last great original rock and roll Boston song." "Cool the Engines" was featured in a 1999 episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast during a scene in which one of the characters flew the Boston spaceship. Charts References 1981 songs 1986 singles Boston (band) songs MCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Tom Scholz Songs written by Brad Delp Songs written by Tom Scholz