Reviews are back! And they’re staying back. With more than 200 albums to catch up on, the first on the block is the latest from one of my favourite groups ever – Mr. Big.
Let’s cut right to the chase. This is without doubt the worst sounding Mr. Big album ever. I’m not sure why this ultra-toned down bass heavy style was chosen – but with the combined talent of the 4 guys plus production genius Kevin Elson, it had to of been a conscious decision.
The sound gives the impression of a really muddy mix, but everything can be heard clear enough. This took a good while to appreciate, the nature of the music is quite different from the usual Mr. Big sound and quite diverse also. It reminds me of the raw energy and tempo of the debut, which I put a long way ahead of this album.
But there are some real gems here – even if the guys did seem to run short towards the end of the album.
The man in control of this album appears to be Paul Gilbert, as his guitar is truly the driving force, not just in the riffs, but also in the song melodies as best exemplified with the two best songs of the album, the title track Defying Gravity and also the head turning ripping flurry of notes driving Mean To Me.
The album sits in mid-tempo mode for the majority of it’s 11 songs. The groove is, as usual, one of the highlights of playback, I just love these guys when going at it on the opening Open Your Eyes, Everybody Needs A Little Trouble and the two aforementioned tracks.
Interspersed between the grooves is the glorious feel good acoustic rocker Damn I’m In Love Again and one of the band’s finest ballads ever in Forever & Back. It’s a real gem with a killer Eric Martin vocal.
Its followed immediately by another melodic track She’s All Coming Back To Me Now, before a trilogy of groovers. Sadly I could probably have stopped the album here as while 1992 is average, the next two are slow and dull, with only the last 90 seconds of Be Kind proving worthy. If only the instrumental flurry here was more prevalent throughout the album.
Well, there’s several typically fantastic tracks here, which I will add to my Mr. Big playlist, but also several fillers and that production sound.
So while there’s magic to be heard, it’s in the individual tracks rather than the album as a whole.
