Mr Big - Bump ahead (full album) 1993

© TO THE OWNERS AND COPYRIGHT HOLDERS: I want to clarify that all the music used in the uploaded videos belongs to their respective owners: my channel does not monetize and it is not my intention to violate copyright, but if the copyright holders (label or musicians) want one of my videos to be removed, first to take any action, please contact me (via comments or personal messages) so that I can delete it immediately. ***** After two albums characterized by varied and hyper-technical hard rock, Mr. Big returned to the limelight in 1993 with “Bump Ahead“ and the recipe is the same as always: the music of the American quartet is elegant, refined, embellished with inflections jazz and funk more evident than in the past and by the frequent instrumental outbursts of Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey. The entire album is a succession of excellent pieces, played and arranged in a simply extraordinary way, with which the four Americans demonstrate, once again, great ability in juggling within a substantial number of genres and influences quite distant from one another. They. The famous “Colorado Bulldog“, placed at the beginning, seems to be the perfect example of what has been stated so far, a synthesis of rhythms on the border between rock and swing, jazzy interludes and an effective, albeit unusual, melodic theme, while hard rock returns as the protagonist on the excellent “Price You Gotta Pay”, in which the usual vocals as rough as sandpaper recur and a spectacular succession of solos based on harmonica and electric guitar. “Promise Her The Moon” seeks glory in the territories of the romantic ballad, reserving the lion’s share for Eric Martin, inspired interpreter of a dreamy melody, assisted by enveloping choruses and very refined arrangements based on keyboards, while the subsequent “What It’s Gonna Be”, with its fast-paced and dynamic rhythm and funk melodies, could be an outtake from the previous studio work. The first cover of the album is “Wild World“, a successful reinterpretation of the historic single by Cat Stevens which became popular in the charts all over the world in the early 70s: Mr. Big’s version keeps the grace of the acoustic instrumental side intact and gives greater incisiveness in the singing thanks to the excellent performance of Eric Martin. In rapid sequence, “Mr. Gone” (a small masterpiece of melody peppered with soulful choirs and meandering bass lines), the following “The Whole World Is Gonna Know” (pure concentrate of Van Halen sound) and finally “Nothing But Love”, a delicate ballad in which stands out for its new orchestral arrangement and Paul Gilbert’s beautiful solo. “Temperamental” returns to the rhythms and jazzy interludes of “Colorado Bulldog”, while the acoustic “Ain’t Seen Love Like That”, on the trail of the very successful “To Be With You”, manages to replicate its minimal elegance but , unfortunately for Mr. Big, certainly not the results in terms of sales. The closing is entrusted to the second cover in the lineup, the one “Mr. Big” taken from Free’s 1970 debut album and from which the quartet took inspiration for the choice of the monicker; the result is once again impressive: the way in which the mammoth riff created by Paul Kossoff’s pen is amplified and further strengthened by the work of Gilbert in the foreground and Sheehan in the background is textbook and Eric Martin himself holds its own impeccably with a giant like Paul Rodgers. “Bump Ahead” was quite successful, especially in Japan, and the status acquired with previous albums and singles allowed them to float until the mid-90s in a market less and less inclined to give space to groups dedicated to melodic hard rock. 00:00 Colorado bulldog 04:12 Price you gotta pay 08:08 Promise her the moon 12:13 What’s it gonna be 16:09 Wild world 19:37 Mr. Gone 24:10 The whole world’s gonna know 28:03 Nothing but love 31:49 Temperamental 36:43 Ain’t seen love like that 40:15 Mr. Big Eric Martin – lead vocals Paul Gilbert – guitar, backing vocals Billy Sheehan – bass guitar, backing vocals Pat Torpey – drums, backing vocals