Mr. Big - Defying Gravity (2017) [Official Digital Download]

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Mr. Big - Defying Gravity (2017) [Official Digital Download]

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Mr. Big - Defying Gravity (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/44,1 kHz | Time - 48:04 minutes | 584 MB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Mr Big waste no time providing chunky riffs, strong grooves and melodic choruses, rich with backing vocal harmonies. The first track ‘Open Your Eyes’ rips into a gloriously heavy opening riff, followed by some synchronised guitar and bass acrobatics. The verse is groovy as hell, and the whole thing belongs on my iPhone yesterday. The drums drives hard and the chorus is uplifting.

The title track simultaneously reminds me of Moving Pictures-era Rush and somehow ‘Learn To Fly’ by the Foo Fighters (fitting given the title). There’s plenty of momentum. ‘Everybody Needs A Little Trouble’ has a dirty back-alley groove. “Can I get a witness?” Eric Martin asks, before declaring himself as, “Wild as I wanna be.”

Not that this isn’t a great album. Every single song has something going for it. ‘She’s All Coming Back To Me’ and ‘Mean To Me’ both being well-written songs. It’s accessible. It’s memorable. It sounds damn good. The vocals are fantastic throughout, the guitar leads enhance everything, the rhythm section is tight. It just somehow feels more like just another collection of songs than an album; than a genuine Event. It feels almost lacking in dimensions, atmosphere and sonic depth. They stripped it down and let the songwriting do the talking when there was so much here to shout about. Something about it just feels a little like Defying Gravity should have been a bigger deal. Which, given the band’s name, is more than a little ironic.