Written: July 6th 2024
Formed over thirty-five years ago, Mr Big have long blended rock, glam metal and pop leaving them with a lasting legacy and a multitude of loyal fans. Since the release of their last album in 2017, long time drummer Pat Torpey succumbed to complications linked to Parkinson’s disease in 2018. Currently in the midst of a final tour, the band took the decision to say a final farewell with the release of a new album and as a tribute to Torpey. With seasoned drummer Nick D’Virgilio installed on the drum seat, Mr Big are set to release Ten on 12th July.
Opening the album, Good Luck Trying is a Paul Gilbert composed hard rocker that barrels along with a blues-tinged groove. Conveying the pressures of life, feelings of lack of direction and occasionally a sense of desperation, Good Luck Trying also aims, despite the chaos of society, to show defiant resilience in a world devoid of warmth and clarity. As if to counteract the expectations of listeners with a limited knowledge of the band or those who only know them for mega-hit To Be With You, there is seemingly a deliberate choice across the album for Mr Big to revisit their earliest influences and Good Luck Trying certainly succeeds in this.
Second track I Am You, although based around acoustic guitars, has a more straight-ahead feel and although catchy enough at the time, it does not live long in the memory and unusually, Gilbert’s guitar solo is lacklustre by his standards. Right Outta Here, at least in places, changes musical tack once again with oriental influenced embellishments blending with traditional rock tropes, displaying infinitely more bite than the slightly limp I Am You. It is in these more incisive moments that Ten is at its most successful.
Feelgood track Sunday Morning Kinda Girl harks back to the harmonies, handclaps and infectious rhythms of the Sixties and As Good As It Gets would be perfect with the roof down in the summer - both tracks providing the most upbeat moments of the album. In contrast, Who We Are is a relaxed bluesy ballad that brings the tempo down again. Although the musical tone is sombre, lyrically, it celebrates the enduring strength and transformative power of love and faith. Eric Martin delivers his vocal effortlessly, displaying just what a versatile singer he still is. Everybody stumbles and falls / But we were never out of love / We make it through the dark somehow / Forever could have come and gone / But we carried on / Connected by the heart / It’s the better part of who we are. Billy Sheenan’s bass work shines most brightly on rock ‘n’ roller What Were You Thinking. Rattling with pulsating agility and exuding the aura of a band having great fun, it is one of the best tracks on the album.
Following the somewhat forgettable Courageous and vastly superior fiery swagger of Up On You, final track of the album proper, The Frame is a slow ballad that finds Eric Martin looking back on his (and the band’s) past - exploring themes of lost identity, the inevitability of time and the quest for meaning and redemption amongst one’s decline. There’s trouble in the kingdom / For a king without a crown / I’ve been dearly departed / And nowhere to be found / My eyes could see for miles / But blind to the bullet coming / My brief and shining moment / Out of sight and out of sound. Slow paced and plaintive, some may expect the track to explode into a full-blown power ballad and it is for the better that it does not. Nevertheless, it is a somewhat downbeat ending. European bonus track 8 Days On The Road (the Japanese edition features the instrumental See No Okapi) refuses to leave it at that however, and as such, the overall experience ends with a more satisfying moody, raw and dynamic blues rock tune that is harder hitting, spirited and slightly unpolished.
Ten sees Mr Big embrace a range of musical influences, some with more success than others. The tracks that adopt a grittier approach endure as the most distinctive and memorable but while there are some excellent performances here, there is some lesser material that may not have made it on to albums they have released in the past. Ten is by no means a bad album but it is a patchy one. Nevertheless, it is good to hear the band produce something new one more time and they should be commended for making Ten on their own terms both in terms of timing and style.
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