Unlike most of the band's previous efforts, most of the album was not composed by lead singer/guitarist Steve Miller.

Drummer Gary Mallaber had brought in a handful of demos from another band he was in called Tracker (which other Steve Miller Band members John Massaro and Byron Allred were also a part of, along with ex-members Lonnie Turner and Greg Douglass) in hopes that one of them would be used for the album.

Miller ultimately opted to use all of the demos, resulting in Mallaber receiving an impressive eight co-writing credits.

Billboard said of "Cool Magic" that it's a "catchy midtempo pop tune that takes dead aim at car radios everywhere.

[12] Cash Box called it "a light, straightahead pop/rocker that, in places, brings to mind the Beach Boys or the Beatles.