The great vocalist Russell Allen and mega-guitar god Magnus Karlsson are back - joined not by Jorn Lande on this occasion - but rather Annette Olzon (Alyson Avenue, ex-Nightwish).

The vocals may be shared with a female voice for the first time, but the music is everything you’ve come to love from Karlsson. Big, bombastic and brilliantly produced and mixed.

The songs are superb, the vocals a delight. More please!

Such is the love of Mr. Big in Japan, that in the absence of new material, the label must conjure up a fill-in release. Given that the recording history of the band going forward is under a very big cloud, I'm not sure what the labels will do. Surely with the Big Box, the band's archives and live tapes have been well and truly tapped out.

On 'Songs 2010-2017', the label covers material from the band's post-reunion era - taking a selction of songs from the trio of albums What If… (2010), …The Stories We Could Tell (2014) and Defying Gravity (2017).

Nothing really there for the die-hards, but the limited edition version of this compilation comes with a bonus live CD, taking the 16 studio cuts from the A-disc and replicating them in a live format.

That's obviously a more appealing premise, but here's where the bad news arrives. The cuts are "official bootleg" quality at best. This is going to be for real die-hards only. Coming from various sources and hell-bent on matching the A-disc sequence, the live versions are wildly differing in quality, from below average to barely listenable.

Another one for the die-hard Mr. Big collector (that's me), and while it is cool to get a snapshot of the band's live gigs in Japan over this time, its not a disc you are going to crank to soak up the best of these awesome musicians.

Its a shame this and the 2018 'Live In Milan' release are both struck by such poor live sound. The band (and the fans) deserve better.

Most should be aware of my admiration for all-star melodic rockers Alliance. The pitch perfect AOR vocals of Robert Berry are always welcome, but when he teams with David Lauser (Sammy Hagar) and class guitarist Gary Pihl (Boston, Sammy Hagar), there’s no stopping the flow of intelligent, well-crafted and challenging melodic rock music. Fire And Grace is no different.

Although a little rougher around the edges this time around, the album (minus past member Alan Fitzgerald) delivers the same classic sounding album you might expect. Berry provides all keyboard parts this time. While the album is melodic rock and AOR with a prog twist at its best and harkens back to a simpler era of the early 80s, the sound isn’t dated – its just classic. There are some stupidly good songs here.

The driving opener Don’t Stop The Wheel Turning; the feel good anthemic 80s buzz of Good Life and the epic, mood driven dramatic ballad Uncertain all give the album a flying start. Elsewhere the rhythmic free flowing Fire And Grace; hands in the air Raise Your Glass and the AOR perfection of Reason To Walk Away are all standouts amongst an album lacking any sign of filler.

Alliance have delivered one of the best AOR albums of the year so far, with track after track of engaging, intelligent songwriting here. No Alliance album has ever been a one-play and understand affair. They require a little effort and a little time, with the listening richly rewarded with layers upon layers of musical melody and brilliance. (93%)

It's nothing like the previous Hart solo albums and its nothing like the Bad Company record Robert recorded in the 90s.

However, it is a very fine piece of music - both in terms of production and performance. Its also far more direct in its musical vision than past Hart projects.

This is a pure 80s pop/AOR album with a very sound specific feel, driven by catchy songs and a very strong vocal performance.

ESCAPE MUSIC http://www.escape-music.com