timstar78 wrote:Yeah, I do Deb. I really like "Actual Size," and prefer it to "Get Over It." It's probably my favorite MB album after the S/T and "Lean Into It." I prefer Paul Gilbert, but I thought Richie Kotzen was a good fit for the band, and especially liked his and Eric's blend on the vocals. If you have to replace a player of Paul's caliber, Richie is certainly not a bad choice. The guy is a sick guitarist, a good singer in his own right, and a capable writer (he wrote "Shine" with Richie Zito.)
Couldn't agree more with that! Especially on their vocal blend. And I know nothing about guitars except for what I like to hear, Paul is a genius. Technically he is better than Richie, but I absolutely love Kotzen's playing. IMO, he is more of a feeling player (like Schon).
Love this.......RK - Remember ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou_b8mjOVUsThat's from the tour RK and EM did together in '07, one dvd is RK's set and one is EM's set. EM and RK also do a few songs together like Shine, 30 days, etc. LOL can't even bearly hear them with everybody singing along.

Shine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqHBSlm5oxktimstar78 wrote:The first four songs are excellent. Love the 7/4 bits on "Lost In America"; "Wake Up" has killer playing from Torpey/Sheehan and some stellar guitar work from Richie. As far as "Shine," it's one of my favorite MB songs, and Eric's vocal is up there with his best. Funny story, I played it for a friend who had never heard Mr. Big, and he flipped over the song. He swore that it would have been a huge hit had a popular artist at the time recorded it. "Arrow" is an excellent ballad. As for the rest of the tunes, "Suffocation" is a nice jam, and I think "Nothing Like It In The World" is a gem of a track. (On a related note, though not the best circumstances, the 2002 Farewell DVD/CD is a nicely captured recording of this lineup.)
To be fair, I may not have given
Actual Size as much of a chance. I'm going to pull it out again and have another listen or two. A couple of those songs I can't even recall?

The
Hey Man album still takes over my listening a fair bit.

Although I listen to Shine on my ipod ALOT. I have the 2002 Farewell dvd but not the cd, I still have to get it. I've got at least 2 or 3 dvds of that line up....the 2002 Farewell, and one from The Roxy and another one from I think Korea. Might even have a 4th, Japan.
timstar78 wrote:btw - Deb, I've got my ticket to the show in April. Should be a great concert. In the meantime, the new album has been growing on me. "Undertow," "I Get The Feeling" and "All The Way Up" are my favorites.
I was excited enough that they even re-united, let alone getting new music and tours out of them. Couldn't be more thrilled to finally be seeing them LIVE. The show is going to totally kick ass! No matter what the setlist is, I have soooooo many favorites !
Looking forward to hearing some of the new stuff live too. I like the ones you mentioned, and really like the Japan bonus track
Kill Me With A Kiss too and
I Won't get In My Way. The only one I can't seem to get into is
Still Ain't Enough For Me, little to heavy for me and I don't like what KS did with EM's voice on that one (all echoey, sounds like he put him through some kind of rock autotune or something

).