Ice on Fire is the nineteenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1985. It was recorded at Sol Studios and his first album since Blue Moves produced by his original long-time producer, Gus Dudgeon. David Paton and Charlie Morgan appear for the first time on bass and drums respectively, replacing original band members Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson. Fred Mandel, who had played with John during the Breaking Hearts tour, also contributed guitar and keyboards.
The album was met with little praise and only reached #48 on the US charts, although it reached #3 in the UK. "Nikita" and "Wrap Her Up" became top 20 hits. The latter reached #20 in the US, and the former reached #7 in the US and #3 in the UK. In the US, the album was certified gold in June 1986 by the RIAA.
Background
The title of the album contains a line from the lyrics of "Nikita".
According to Elizabeth Rosenthal in her book, His Songs: The Musical Journey of Elton John (p. 260; First edition), the LP's closing track, "Shoot Down the Moon", was considered for the James Bond film A View to a Kill, but the producers instead decided to go with the title track as performed by Duran Duran.[4]
The remastered 1999 version did not include "Act of War"; the 1999 remaster had a longer intro to "Satellite" than the LP and the 1985 CD issue, and has a slightly different vocal mix. The live version of "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is not the version found on the 12" single of "Nikita", but is an unreleased version from 1977 (Live at Rainbow Rock in May). It is unknown why the switch occurred. The other two live tracks were recorded at Wembley Stadium during the tour for the album Breaking Hearts.