Mr. Big and live albums are a synonymous pairing. The band after all has about ten live albums spanning their career. Which is appropriate as they are a live band. Their performances often times exceeding their studio counterparts. So it’s no surprise after nine years that Mr. Big would release another live outing. This time recorded in Milan, Italy. Which is one of the most ‘Mr. Big’ cities I can possibly think of. Recorded on the most recent tour in support of ‘Defying Gravity’, this live album packs a punch and is pure Mr. Big.
Now, if you’re looking for a Budokan sounding audience I’ll tell you right now it’s not there. The crowd simply isn’t that sizeable. That doesn’t mean it’s tiny and that they aren’t with the band the whole time. But it’s not 12,000 crazy fans screaming at the top of their lungs either. In some ways it benefits the recording. Because you still get a full sounding Mr. Big with all the live technical prowess and skill that we’ve all come to expect. The band sounds terrific as always. Full and heavy but always in control. Sheehan’s bass cuts through the production brilliantly. Paul Gilbert has certainly found his tone post band reunion. Mike Starr does a great, professional job filling in for the late Pat Torpey who passed away late last year. But Torpey does come out and play some percussion on certain tracks. The only weak point on the album is Eric Martin’s voice. And it really isn’t that big of a deal. It’s still mostly there. But there are some adjustments here and there that take away from the original energy of their earlier years. Of course, they’re getting older and the vocalist is usually the first to show age. But Martin adapts appropriately and uses is ear to provide alternative melodic moments that still work well with the songs.
The post reunion songs from ‘What if…’ onward are sprinkled flawlessly with the classic material. The band opens with the typical ‘Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy’ before storming into ‘American Beauty’. ‘Undertow’ is next followed by ‘Alive and Kickin’. Which provides a great example of how the new material mixes with the old. Mr. Big never let go of their vision of technical, melodic, hard rock. Even when their peers conformed or threw in the towel. ‘Temperamental’ is one of the fine points of the show. Martin’s stage banter is classic and the band grooves hard. Then the band slows down with a great rendition of ‘Just Take My Heart’. Gilbert providing a nice improvised intro. ‘Take Cover’ honors Torpey, followed by what else? ‘Green-Tinted Sixties Mind’. The songs are a pair. It’s hard to imagine a Mr. Big show without those two songs being performed consecutively. Then the band brings in the swing with ‘Everybody Needs a Little Trouble’ and ‘Price You Gotta Pay’. Paul’s solo fits well after ‘Price’ and is always one of the highlights of any Mr. Big show. And with all the solo’s that he’s played, this one actually stands out as one of his best.
‘Open Your Eyes’ opens the second half of the show before slowing down into ‘Wild World’ and ‘Damn I’m in Love Again’. The energy picks right back up with the classic ‘Rock and Roll Over’. ‘Around the World’ is monstrous jam that introduces Billy Sheehan on bass. Of course his solo is next and then the show finishes in typical fashion with ‘Addicted to that Rush’, ‘To Be With You’ and ‘Colorado Bulldog’. But there are some new tracks: ‘1992’, and the title track to the most recent album ‘Defying Gravity’ sprinkled in the finale. In fact, the closer is ‘Defying Gravity’ which I find interesting. It certainly works as a closer, it’s just interesting for a veteran band to close their set with a new song.
Overall it’s really good live album. Certainly worth the i-tunes price of 9.99$. It’s actually stronger than the return to Budokan which was recorded about nine years ago. While it might not be in league with the original ‘Live at Budokan’ it still proves that Mr. Big have many years left in them.
