Review by Andy Hawes for MPM
US Rockers Mr Big are launching their tenth album – the imaginatively titled Ten – onto the eagerly awaiting public on 12th July, just ahead of the UK leg of their ‘The Big Finish’ farewell tour.
It’s been a long while since the release of the classic Lean Into It, an absolutely solid-gold classic album which proved that it is possible to weld awe-inspiring musicianship (who can forget the brilliant twin ‘electric drill as a plectrum’ solos?) with stunningly great songs and, despite a brief change when Richie Kotzen replaced guitarist Paul Gilbert in the late 90s/early 2000s,leading to a 7-year hiatus, Mr Big’s line-up remained stable until the sad demise of drummer Pat Torpey in 2018. Torpey’s place on Ten is taken by ex-Spock’s Beard drummer Nick D’Virgilio, a man possessed of insane talent behind a drum kit, so should be a good fit alongside guitarist extraordinaire Paul Gilbert, monster bassist Billy Sheehan and vocalist Eric Martin, a man whose voice is the perfect fit for the melodic Hard Rock that the band have graced us with since the late 1980s.
One might be forgiven for feeling that Mr Big’s albums since reforming after their hiatus have been slightly patchy affairs when compared to their late 80s/90s heyday, so it was with piqued interest that I pressed ‘play’ on the review stream for this album for the first time. What would the band sound like with the new drummer and what would the consistency of songwriting be like?
Well, I’m pleased to report that all seems well within the grooves of Ten. All the trademarks we’ve come to know and love are still present. Guitarist Paul Gilbert and bassist Billy Sheehan are still monster players who know when to rein it in for the song and when to kick in with the crazy stuff. Nick D’Virgilio powers a relentless groove on most songs, making his appointment to the ranks appear a very good decision indeed, and Eric Martin still has a pretty good voice: it’s not as relentlessly smooth as it used to be and has a different timbre to the glory days, but he can still belt out the melodies. Recent albums have also suffered from production and mix inconsistencies, as the band have tried to capture their live energy on record and while this album isn’t perfect on the production front, it’s certainly a very significant step in the right direction. I’m also very pleased to report that the songwriting has a pleasing consistency which, in my opinion, has not been present on all the recent albums, all of which, when put together, makes this a properly enjoyable album.
With Ten, it sounds as though Mr Big are making the album they really want to make. They have always loved a colossal and chunky Blues-Rock riff and that’s certainly what we get on the opening track ‘Good Luck Trying’ which harks back to the 1970s with its monumental – almost Progressive – riffing and wailing vocals. It’s a bold statement of intent, with some truly frenetic drumming punctuating the groovier sections of the tune. It’s not the most melodic of tracks but it is carried by the riffs and Martin certainly delivers the lyric like he means it. The guitar solo is not overly flashy, although the bass work beneath it certainly is, so much so that you don’t even notice at first that the rhythm guitar has dropped out of the mix in classic Mr Big fashion. It’s certainly a proper slice of Hard Rock to kick everything off.
‘I Am You’ is very much in contrast to the opener, with a very simple chordal riff and double-time drumming powering along a cracking little Pop-Rock ditty which ups the ante in the melody stakes quite considerably with some cool vocal harmonies emphasising the chorus hooks, before a very restrained slide-guitar led multi-layered instrumental section. It’s a cool song and the subtle changes in the drumming, moving from double-time to normal time to half-time are very effective.
‘Right Outta Here’ throws a proper curve-ball in with a very Arabic introductory riff before a quite swampy almost Southern Rock riff drives into the verses. It doesn’t really have a proper chorus as such and the vocal hooks are at best quite subtle, but somehow the shifting styles of the riffs and some clever chord changes carry the song. Gilbert pulls a cracker of a solo out of the bag on this one, with just the right amount of widdly shred amongst all the wonderful Classic Rock posturing. Decent enough track, but needs a better chorus hook in my opinion.
The riff that introduces ‘Sunday Morning Kinda Girl’ can either be described as ‘warmly familiar’ or ‘heard it all before’ depending on how generous you’re feeling. I personally was undecided until the song developed, but what quickly became clear is that this is a very cool combination of Hard Rock swagger, solid-gold melody and a glorious Pop-tinged chorus. Everything about this track just oozes class. Martin sounds great and the massed harmony vocals behind him on that chorus are quite superb – simple but very effective indeed and a great fun track. A standout thus far for me.
Mr Big have always been known for their big ballads and ‘Who We Are’ is the album’s first one. In contrast to the previous track which is bursting with multiple layers of instrumentation, this track is very restrained and ‘live’ sounding with just one guitar, bass and drums backing up the vocal melodies in much of the track. It’s a decent song – it’s no ‘To Be With You’, but nonetheless it is pretty cool. Paul Gilbert’s solo is very good indeed – perfectly structured for the song. A cool ballad and perfectly placed in the running order too.
‘As Good As It Gets’ is up next and sees a return to a multi-layered production sound on parts of the track. It’s another very melodic and well-written track, although the production is a little odd. Gilbert’s chiming clean guitars in the verses sound almost demo-quality, but still somehow those superb melodies make you forget about that and his solo has 80s shred arpeggios galore. D’Virgilio’s drumming is excellent here as well, with superb use of fills to add dynamic to the song and just listen to that bass outro! Very cool indeed!
Mr Big return to Bluesy Rock stylings on ‘What Were You Thinking’ which has an almost Status-Quo-esque verse and classy 70s styled Blues-Rock riffs. However, the track is not strong enough melodically in comparison to much of the rest of the album and, unlike the opening track, there isn’t enough in the instrumentation to hold the interest. Eric Martin’s voice doesn’t sound so great on this one either with an odd slapback echo or reverb on it that just makes it sound a little harsh to my ears.
‘Courageous’ is another sparsely produced affair with a range of influences from across the years. There is a quite beautifully chunky guitar tone on this one and Billy Sheehan plays yet more killer bass to back it up. There is a half-decent chorus hook hiding in the track but it could do with something more – perhaps harmony vocals – to bring it out to its full potential. Overall, this is a pretty typical mid-album filler track. It’s decent enough to avoid the skip button, but doesn’t stand out in any way.
‘Up On You’ sounds a bit like Mr Big are jamming with the Rolling Stones. It’s not as ridiculous as it sounds and there’s a wicked groove permeating this one with harmony vocals accenting the hooklines perfectly. It also has a very cool Blues-Rock style breakdown and another classy Paul Gilbert guitar solo. It’s a lot of fun and is a real return to form after two slightly weaker tracks. Grooving, melodic, Bluesy and rocking along very nicely, it’s just what the album needed.
Mr Big drag out the acoustic guitar for the slower-paced Pop-Rock of ‘The Frame.’ It’s beautifully written with some quite wonderful lyrics and the production, with acoustic and clean electric guitars front and centre, is perfect. The hookline is pure gold too. An absolutely fabulous track which would have made the perfect end to the album, but the UK version has a European bonus track entitled ‘8 Days On The Road’ tacked onto the end. This is a mid-paced slice of Bluesy Hard Rock that really is typical Mr Big with some awesome guitar and bass soloing to remind us just how brilliant they are as musicians.
So there you have it. Aside from a couple of slight mis-fires in the middle, Mr Big have given us an album that, if it is their last (and there is no guarantee that it will be, even though they are quitting touring), will be a fitting end to a great career. In my opinion, it’s the most consistent and most enjoyable album they have produced since they reformed and quite brilliantly demonstrates their many and varied influences. As I said earlier in the review, it feels like the album they really wanted to make and really is Mr Big doing what they love. Long-time fans of the band will absolutely love it, I’m sure (and rightly so) and there’s lot here for the casual listener as well. A very cool album indeed!
From the album “Ten” – Pre-order/pre-save here: https://ffm.to/mrbigten.OPR
The band continues its tour in the US throughout the month of May before wrapping up in Buffalo on June 6. Additional European dates kick off on July 13 in Bulgaria.
For a full list of tour dates visit HERE.
