Continuing with our exploration into "whatever happened to (enter name of hairband here)"...we have here Mr. Big version 2.0. Richie Kotzen jumps on board for this one, replacing Paul Gilbert (Racer X). Richie played guitar for Poison on their release "Native Tongue," but was quickly ousted after fooling around with the drummer's girl...but that is another story.
"Get Over It" appeared in 2000 has all the distinctive sounds of Mr. Big - Eric Martin's signature rasp, Billy Sheehan's thumping bass lines, and some sizzling guitar riffs. Mr. Big always leaned much more to the AOR side than the metal side of the hairband spectrum, and this release does not change that proclivity.
The CD starts out kind of disappointing...hookless and rather forgettable, even with Kotzen's stunning guitar work and backing vocal contributions. I was about to write this one off, and then track 4 comes on, "Superfantastic." It's an acoustic-driven ballad reminiscent of their huge # 1 hit from 1991, "To Be With You," and just hits all the right AOR buttons. The disc then goes on a winning streak with about 5 consecutive tracks of pop rock goodness, with further highlights including the mid-tempo rocker "A Rose Alone" (some cool slide guitar in that one) and the funk rocker "How Does It Feel". After a couple dud tunes, another pleasant acoustic-driven track, "My New Religion," ends the record on a high note.
All in all, this is a solid release by Mr. Big that should not be overlooked by fans of AOR. I guess I now have to check out "Actual Size," the follow up (and final) 2001 release by this Mr. Big line-up.
iPOD-worthy: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11
Mr. Big - Official site.
Check out a live performance of the single "Superfantastic":
1 comment:
I bought this used shortly after it came out and I was disappointed with it. It's not that the songs were necessarily bad it was just that I was disinterested.
I remember that Metal Edge magazine and melodic rock websites were giving the band a ton of press. The band actually sold out something like 10 nights in a row in Japan at some big arena.....as they usually do. Mr. Big was always, for lack of a better word, BIG overseas.
Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
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