Mr. Big
...The Stories We Could Tell
Frontiers Records
2014
Mr. Big hardly needs an introduction, being a classic hard rock band that’s been around since forever and released a bunch of classic albums before going their separate ways in the early 00s following well documented times of turmoil and a couple of albums without Paul Gilbert. They reunited towards the end of the same decade with their original line-up and released a pretty cool reunion album in the form of “What If...”
It’s really pointless to try and printout the musical pedigree of each of every of the separate members of the bands, after all their highly successful solo careers, or session work and guest spots, easily would go to prove that point, but it was always their collaborative efforts that wielded the best results and gave us, all those memorable songs that they still often air in their live performances like : “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy”, “Addicted to that Rush”, “Colorado Bulldog”, and “Take Cover” among many others...
But what about “The Stories We Could Tell”?! Is it on par with the band’s past efforts, or has time finally taken its toll on our heroes? (unfortunately – it seems that Parkinson’s disease has stricken Pat Torpey, who like a trooper is doing his best trying to stay positive about the condition!) The album is surprisingly good, actually!!
Opener “Gotta Love the Ride” is a spirited number, with beautiful melodies and some great singing by Eric Martin… that has classic Mr Big, written all over it.
“I Forget to Breathe” begins all thumbing and vibey with this very Hendrix riff, and it’s very groovy baby! While it sounds like it would be like something super derivative, it’s actually something very enjoyable as a matter of fact!
“Fragile”, I was almost not getting it, until its chorus, where it all made perfect sense... and it’s a beautiful melodic love song...
In “Satisfied” it's Gilbert’s time to shine as he opens the song with a nice lead in and he keeps on making a lot of noise throughout... great rhythm invention and a very smart and cool chorus stuck in there somewhere!
“The Man Who Has Everything” is a bit of a shoe-gazin ballad, that ain’t got some amazing melody going on, but just because Martin’s such a great singer, he manages to carry most of it, by his performance alone. There’s a nice solo that’s quite reminiscent of Brian May”, I’d dare say in a way… too...
And talking about Queen, “The Monster in Me” reminded me a bit of “Dragon Attack” with it’s very persistent rhythmical attack… well at least the vocals weren’t as wacky... but then again Gilbert gets a little wild and it goes a little cooky and all over the place from the middle onwards. Rather “bizarre”, I guess, would be a good description for this one!
“What If We Were New” keeps the slightly funky and suggestive rhythm and the overall sexiness and gets to make a proper song out of them… It’s pretty good, but makes you hope the next one’s a pure rocker!
And I couldn’t be further off the mark as “East/West” starts off as a ballad has a pseudo release where it get a bit more electric and louder and it continues as a ballad. At least it’s a real good composition.
Hmm... finally “The Light of Day” that I’d have Swapped around places with “East/West” has a much faster tempo and is a tune that will make you tap your foot... it’s far from being one of the band’s best rockers but at least gets things going on again…
And with a title like “Just Let Your Heart Decide”, I’d be surprised if this was a double bass number… it’s a ballad and a pretty damn good one at that. Obviously you should be able to trace some origins if you’re a little older, but it’s still a great effort.
“It’s Always About That Girl” is confusing... it has you expecting it will be a fast rocker and then the tempo which is very measured, is consistent, but the band always has you thinking they’ll break into a faster part, keeping you at the edge of you seat…
“Cinderella Smile” is quite the cautionary tale about the Hollywood lifestyle and those who desire it, with a bit of a cringe at what it entails if you want to get it… Brilliant solo and song in general, in a world that is so fascinated with all these stars and their “fappening”!
Last but not least, the title song “The Stories We Could Tell” is a slower, melodic, but in no-way a ballad. It’s too loud guitar wise to be one and also ironic song about, how the lives and things musicians say are being idealized, blown out of proportion, or twisted around, by others… so this is a song, playing a joke around that premise… and a catchy one at that.
Overall, I must say, I enjoyed Mr. Big’s eighth full-length album more than I would have expected, and certainly a bit more than I did enjoy what if – for some reason, which I also didn’t find bad at all. If you take as a given that the band would go for a couple of extra ballads and as such the cohesion of the album at a couple of points suffers because of that, it’s otherwise a very enjoyable affair overall, that longtime fans should have no problem tuning into and fans of quality hard rock, should check out pronto as well.
It’s really pointless to try and printout the musical pedigree of each of every of the separate members of the bands, after all their highly successful solo careers, or session work and guest spots, easily would go to prove that point, but it was always their collaborative efforts that wielded the best results and gave us, all those memorable songs that they still often air in their live performances like : “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy”, “Addicted to that Rush”, “Colorado Bulldog”, and “Take Cover” among many others...
But what about “The Stories We Could Tell”?! Is it on par with the band’s past efforts, or has time finally taken its toll on our heroes? (unfortunately – it seems that Parkinson’s disease has stricken Pat Torpey, who like a trooper is doing his best trying to stay positive about the condition!) The album is surprisingly good, actually!!
Opener “Gotta Love the Ride” is a spirited number, with beautiful melodies and some great singing by Eric Martin… that has classic Mr Big, written all over it.
“I Forget to Breathe” begins all thumbing and vibey with this very Hendrix riff, and it’s very groovy baby! While it sounds like it would be like something super derivative, it’s actually something very enjoyable as a matter of fact!
“Fragile”, I was almost not getting it, until its chorus, where it all made perfect sense... and it’s a beautiful melodic love song...
In “Satisfied” it's Gilbert’s time to shine as he opens the song with a nice lead in and he keeps on making a lot of noise throughout... great rhythm invention and a very smart and cool chorus stuck in there somewhere!
“The Man Who Has Everything” is a bit of a shoe-gazin ballad, that ain’t got some amazing melody going on, but just because Martin’s such a great singer, he manages to carry most of it, by his performance alone. There’s a nice solo that’s quite reminiscent of Brian May”, I’d dare say in a way… too...
And talking about Queen, “The Monster in Me” reminded me a bit of “Dragon Attack” with it’s very persistent rhythmical attack… well at least the vocals weren’t as wacky... but then again Gilbert gets a little wild and it goes a little cooky and all over the place from the middle onwards. Rather “bizarre”, I guess, would be a good description for this one!
“What If We Were New” keeps the slightly funky and suggestive rhythm and the overall sexiness and gets to make a proper song out of them… It’s pretty good, but makes you hope the next one’s a pure rocker!
And I couldn’t be further off the mark as “East/West” starts off as a ballad has a pseudo release where it get a bit more electric and louder and it continues as a ballad. At least it’s a real good composition.
Hmm... finally “The Light of Day” that I’d have Swapped around places with “East/West” has a much faster tempo and is a tune that will make you tap your foot... it’s far from being one of the band’s best rockers but at least gets things going on again…
And with a title like “Just Let Your Heart Decide”, I’d be surprised if this was a double bass number… it’s a ballad and a pretty damn good one at that. Obviously you should be able to trace some origins if you’re a little older, but it’s still a great effort.
“It’s Always About That Girl” is confusing... it has you expecting it will be a fast rocker and then the tempo which is very measured, is consistent, but the band always has you thinking they’ll break into a faster part, keeping you at the edge of you seat…
“Cinderella Smile” is quite the cautionary tale about the Hollywood lifestyle and those who desire it, with a bit of a cringe at what it entails if you want to get it… Brilliant solo and song in general, in a world that is so fascinated with all these stars and their “fappening”!
Last but not least, the title song “The Stories We Could Tell” is a slower, melodic, but in no-way a ballad. It’s too loud guitar wise to be one and also ironic song about, how the lives and things musicians say are being idealized, blown out of proportion, or twisted around, by others… so this is a song, playing a joke around that premise… and a catchy one at that.
Overall, I must say, I enjoyed Mr. Big’s eighth full-length album more than I would have expected, and certainly a bit more than I did enjoy what if – for some reason, which I also didn’t find bad at all. If you take as a given that the band would go for a couple of extra ballads and as such the cohesion of the album at a couple of points suffers because of that, it’s otherwise a very enjoyable affair overall, that longtime fans should have no problem tuning into and fans of quality hard rock, should check out pronto as well.