If you are one of the ten people out there who have been waiting for a Mr. Big Vol. 2 reunion, then this is as good as it gets. Ah, that's not fair, really, because this is more a "supergroup" now and Richie Kotzen was only with Mr. Big after Paul Gilbert bowed out. Bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan is still one of the best out there in rock land and he and RK are joined here by drummer Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater fame. Correct are you to guess this is a stereotypical classic rock ripper. Kotzen sings like Chris Cornell at times (and there are plenty of comparisons of this album to Soundgarden all over the blogosphere) and then comes off like David Coverdale on others. BKP opined that it sounded like a matured Van Halen (makes sense as Sheehan played with DL Roth) but it struck me more as a Van Hagar brand. I remembered seeing the lead video months ago and liked it...
...but from this point on, I labeled it "too serious," whatever that means. Probably because I had noted Chickenfoot as a contemporary, a band that always seem to be having fun. I only found one more track to keep after the requisite three spins, so I searched for it to add here and found this Chicago radio station's segment containing an acoustic version (cool!) with a short interview at the outset...
The album landed high on all the various Rock charts and inside the Top 30 of the overall big boy. Saw several live videos from their tour in Brazil. That proves these guys are veterans as that market is sure to love what they do. The record is five months old (I know, I'm
soooooooooooo behind), but if you've got an old metalhead on your Christmas gift list, this would be perfect.
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