Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

All the pins at the end of the alley are primed and ready for the polished ball that is on its way to display on the electronic board the continuing running total of the players involved, the opportunity for line full of flawlessness always at the back of the mind, ready to be celebrated, prepared to be praised for the gameplay of the acclaimed and the sense of the perfect Ten.

Seven years on from the previous outing by Mr. Big, Defying Gravity, the band have perhaps found a way to challenge more than the feeling of resistance and instead dare to see the world with dignity, the passing of age and time a sense of sombre thought, but woven in between the magnitude enormous pleasure of seeing their work, their ideas and innate professionalism continue to engage the listener; that ball bowled down the alleyway is going to blow every pin apart.

Ten is dignified, earnest, full of solemnity, but also the undercurrent of optimism, the sense of joy that can be found within the lyrics as a bliss of near rapture, of a resumption of occupation in the space and mindset of those who have either been along for the journey since the 80s or have gathered along the way the cool and accessibility of the music.

The music inside Ten is compelling, it is equipped with the resonating insistence and absolute majority of maturity, and through tracks such as I Am You, Sunday Morning Kinda Girl, Courageous, What Were You Thinking, and the closing crescendo of The Frame what transpires is a recognition of the time shared by all, from 80s supposed excess and through a period brought on by the destruction of the lack of inspiration which pushes humanity along consciously, and now the hope in rebalance.

We aim for the strike of the pins at the other end of the lane, we knock them down without a split, our goal is win, to be brave, and even if we lose the perfect game, we know we have given our upmost as we hit the targets shown. A ten across the board with magnitude of aspiration…Mr. Big at their absolute solemnity.

Ian D. Hall