Mr. Big

What the hell? These guys are kind of heavy? I kind of hated "To Be With You," wasn't a fan of "Wild World," so I just assumed they had no balls. Now I'm listening to songs from their albums and pretty much know I would have totally dug them.

Lame.

I actually adore 'To Be With You' (because I'm a massive pansy), but Mr. Big overall are a fantastic band. Their debut and Lean Into It are fantastic platters of bluesy, virtuoso-laced hard rock. You just can't argue with tracks like 'Addicted To That Rush', 'Daddy, Brother, Mother, Little Boy' and 'Road to Ruin'.

I still need to pick up their new one. I heard the single 'Undertow' and dug it, just haven't got around to grabbing the album yet.

Yeah, I caught the new video for "Undertow," which really surprised me by its heaviness. That's what made me start clicking other video links. I was pretty shocked. Haha.

Looks like I'll be hunting down their albums.



If anyone is curious...

I kinda had the same opinion but got their first two from SACD and they are good.

I used to think that Mr. Big was one of the most godawful abominations ever unleashed upon the music world due to "To Be With You." But y'know what? I picked up the LEAN INTO IT CD a year or so ago at a yard sale on a whim (thinking it might make decent trade bait) and dammit, other than "To Be With You" it was pretty good, catchy stuff. I still hate that song (and I'm glad it's the last track on the CD so I can just punch the "stop" button before it comes on) but I had to eat some crow on that one. Haha.

Still need to get me that Best Of i saw in a record store not nearby my place.

I refuse to drink the Mr. Big koolaid. I find their stuff to be contrived crap.....and I KNOW crap.

Mr. Big are a grossly overlooked Hard Rock band...I have and love every album...Eric Martin is a massive vocalist and it goes without saying that Torpey, Sheehan and Gilbert are insane.

I think any Rock fan that ignores them is doing themselves a disservice.

I love Paul Gilbert's guitar playing but Mr. Big is not really my thing... especially the singer's voice. It's too (made for radio) sounding.

Never got into them and only have a live bootleg from 1989 i think it is, live in the USA. I have to get some more because i like the songs on it.

After the S/T release and the huge "Addicted To The Rush" track, they kind of fell of my radar until I got the latest What If and let me tell you if you like Undertow you will dig the entire album. MOst of the cuts are really heavy and be damned if there isn't a Kings X vibe to the cd and of course the noodling between Gilbert and Sheehan is epic.

Oh and if Mr. Big was huge ala Bon Jovi or Crue orsomething, could you see Martin Short doing an Eric Martin bit?

Fat Freddy wrote:

I used to think that Mr. Big was one of the most godawful abominations ever unleashed upon the music world due to "To Be With You." But y'know what? I picked up the LEAN INTO IT CD a year or so ago at a yard sale on a whim (thinking it might make decent trade bait) and dammit, other than "To Be With You" it was pretty good, catchy stuff. I still hate that song (and I'm glad it's the last track on the CD so I can just punch the "stop" button before it comes on) but I had to eat some crow on that one. Haha.

That song was a big hit for them, but I'm thinking they weren't marketed well. I mean, I had no idea these cats played rock riffs...and I love that crap!

I had their debut and Lean Into It album a while ago, but I lost interest in them long ago and ditched them. I think Billy and Paul "dumbed down" their abilities in exchange for radio hits and massive popularity. 10 billion Japanese fans have proven me in the minority here, so good for them I guess.

I enjoy Gilbert's work in Racer X and his solo material is outstanding. Billy's talent is without question, but I never paid him much attention after he left DLR's band. I don't have any opinion on the drummer. I guess he's good at what he does. Eric Martin looks like Karen Carpenter.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I think Billy and Paul "dumbed down" their abilities in exchange for radio hits and massive popularity. 10 billion Japanese fans have proven me in the minority here, so good for them I guess.

There is a good amount of shredding/showing off and lots of technical nuance within all their albums...even the solo for "To Be With You" was a little left of center and not a typical acoustic solo. Songs like "Addicted To That Rush", "Colorado Bulldog", "Daddy, Brother...", "Take Cover", "Undertow", "Nobody Left To Blame", "Jane Doe", ""Suffocation", "Static"...all show what these guys can do...just because they are not going to extremes on every song doesn't mean there's nothing to sink one's teeth into.

Meh, I just never got into them.

The electric drill song was fun, but they were 2 albums that just collected dust on the shelf, whereas Paul Gilbert's solo albums still get regular rotation from me. And Paul's records are poppy & melodic as hell. So it's not like I can't enjoy a decent melodic rock song. I just didn't get that from Mr. Big.

I love Paul's solo stuff too...

Eyesore wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

I used to think that Mr. Big was one of the most godawful abominations ever unleashed upon the music world due to "To Be With You." But y'know what? I picked up the LEAN INTO IT CD a year or so ago at a yard sale on a whim (thinking it might make decent trade bait) and dammit, other than "To Be With You" it was pretty good, catchy stuff. I still hate that song (and I'm glad it's the last track on the CD so I can just punch the "stop" button before it comes on) but I had to eat some crow on that one. Haha.

That song was a big hit for them, but I'm thinking they weren't marketed well. I mean, I had no idea these cats played rock riffs...and I love that crap!

yeah - the marketing folks went straight for the ballads and left out all the good stuff..

Wasn't 'Green Tinted Sixties Mind' moderately big for them? I wouldn't call that a ballad as such, just quite psychedelia influenced rock.

Smindas wrote:

Wasn't 'Green Tinted Sixties Mind' moderately big for them? I wouldn't call that a ballad as such, just quite psychedelia influenced rock.

The only songs I ever heard were "To Be With You" and "Wild World." Even after checking them out on YouTube and sampling the albums on Amazon, I recognized no other.

Smindas wrote:

Wasn't 'Green Tinted Sixties Mind' moderately big for them? I wouldn't call that a ballad as such, just quite psychedelia influenced rock.

It was over here in Florida, are stations used to have that song in regualr rotation back when the album was first released.

Smindas wrote:

Wasn't 'Green Tinted Sixties Mind' moderately big for them? I wouldn't call that a ballad as such, just quite psychedelia influenced rock.

It was a minor hit...an early glimpse of Paul Gilbert's love of pop rock (he wrote the song)...

manny wrote:

Smindas wrote:

Wasn't 'Green Tinted Sixties Mind' moderately big for them? I wouldn't call that a ballad as such, just quite psychedelia influenced rock.

It was over here in Florida, are stations used to have that song in regualr rotation back when the album was first released.

I seem to recall them playing the electric drill song (whatever the real title is) on tv, like the Tonight Show or Late Night with David Letterman back in the day. I don't know if they ever put it out there as a radio single, but I know I've seen them playing it on tv. I wonder if it's on YouTube?

I being a fan of good AOR, enjoy all their music. However, the new album is a great piece of MHR and above their other albums IMO, so those not big on their older stuff but are fans of good MHR should give them another try.

A perfect example of the type of bands I truly despise. Assembly line corporate rock garbage.

New album I think is real good, and heavy. Impressive band and yes overlooked.