Mr. Big aren’t quite done yet. As they take a last trip around the world on a tour dubbed The BIG Finish, singer Eric Martin has clarified the band’s position very simply: “No more Mr. Big, touring-wise.” But he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of the band playing live again in some limited capacity.
And having talked about the good vibes during the making of this new album, he remains optimistic that they could do more. As he said of a recent band meeting: “Everybody was saying: ‘Hey, we could still continue to make records.’ I’m like: ‘Yeah, that would be fun.’”
If the energy in this album is anything to go by, there’s still plenty of gas left in the tank. The band sounds as tight as ever with the addition of drummer Nick D’Virgilio, famed in prog circles for his work with Spock’s Beard, Big Big Train and, briefly, Genesis, when Phil Collins was off doing his own thing. Alongside Paul Gilbert and Billy Sheehan, Mr. Big’s virtuosos of guitar and bass, D’Virgilio plays with all the power and finesse of the band’s original drummer, the late, great Pat Torpey. And if Martin’s voice is somewhat worn down after all these years, a little rough around the edges, it’s still rich in character.
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Martin describes Ten as “raw, unadulterated riff rock and blues”. A large measure of that riff rock is served up in the first track, Good Luck Trying, a throwback to the late 60s that moves like Jimi Hendrix’s Manic Depression and lifts off with a searing guitar solo from Gilbert. The blues flavour comes with Who We Are, on which Martin sings beautifully, channelling the soul music legends that first inspired him.
But the band’s range is still as broad as it was when they first started out in the late 80s. I Am You could pass for a modern-day Bon Jovi song. Sunday Morning Kinda Girl and As Good As It Gets have the pop sensibility of their early-90s classic Green Tinted Sixties Mind. And echoing their biggest hit, the US No.1 smash To Be With You, the album ends with an acoustic ballad, The Frame.
What happens next with Mr. Big is anyone’s guess. But the way Eric Martin talks about the band, he doesn’t sound ready to give it up. And on this evidence there’s every reason to keep going.
