Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

You can ask many things in life but asking the impossible is exactly that, something in which just you may as well lay down all your arguments and say, “Yes, just carry on and be magnificent, nobody will stop you telling your empowering and delicious tales.”

For detractors of Mr. Big, the small sound of dissention will be noted and batted away as easy as Ty Cobb taking on all comers during his illustrious career and laughing at the thought of suggested retirement several seasons early. For American music legends Mr. Big to even consider walking away completely from their huge fan base is a non-starter, despite everything that seems to be thrown against them, they still continue to make albums that just kick at the heart and massage the brain whilst carefully making sure they whip each song into shape.

The latest album,…The Stories We Could Tell, is exactly that, a collection of songs from four of the finest musicians to have crossed The Atlantic which punch out, which spill more beans than a clumsy and gossiping waiter charged with keeping state secrets. For Eric Martin the vocals shine like a set of accounts in which J.R.R. Tolkien would have been proud to place into the mouth of any wizard taking on Gandalf and which play right into the hands of Paul Gilbert’s, Billy Sheehan’s and the tremendous Pat Torpey’s arsenal. For Paul Gilbert the sound of his guitar throughout the album is of one in which if his guitar somehow turned into a classic type-writer, it couldn’t have written a finer novel if it tried. At times, as his want, the music from his guitar is as edgy as a hard boiled Noir detective falling for the charms of the murderess holding the pistol at the heart whilst kissing gently the neck and the perfume intoxicating the blood.

Stories are something in which humanity lives to hear or be part of, whether the hero of the heroine, the villain or the reason in which all hinges upon, for Mr. Big they are the heroes of their own creation and in songs such as the album opener Gotta Love The Ride, The Man Who Has Everything, Just Let Your Heart Decide, the fantastic and piece of future classic American music Cinderella Smiled and the charming but ultimately factual in many cases, It’s Always About That Girl, the heroes share the limelight and top billing but they also set the pace and style of the narrative.

There is no hearsay, no need for bitter and twisted rumours, Mr. Big are still one of the finest acts in music, the best of page tuners and …The Stories We Could Tell shouts loudly and firmly that there are still many more tales to come from Mr. Big.

Ian D. Hall