Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Gravity is an illusion, or at least when it comes to art, for we are told in our infancy not to spread our wings too far, to be content with who we are, keep thoughts of imagination and fancy down and locked away because being six inches of the ground, of wanting to touch the moon is not for the likes of just anyone.
Defying Gravity, the mind must be allowed to soar and experiment with its environment, for gravity is nothing but significant when it is breached, the scale of the achievement, continued or one off, is never finer when the force of nature smiles through its earnest solemnity
MR. BIG have openly defied the sensation for years, whereas at one time the so called forward thinkers and critics would have tried at first to shoehorn them into a tight fitting box and then dismissed them for outstaying their welcome when other acts came along; it is the way of the world, let somebody have a sniff at the very top and then cast them aside, thrown hard against the spectre of unrelenting gravity.
However to appreciate a band for what they constantly bring to the table is to elevate them, even if they don’t realise it, you are adding to the ability to defy the pointed fingers of those who feel it is their sacred duty to condemn without listening, to tether the hopes and secure them with a vast array of knots to the ground, in hope that they lose the will to escape. MR. BIG has refused and in the last few years has released albums of great warmth, sincerity and blinding good lyrics; Defying Gravity is no different.
In tracks such as Open Your Eyes, the packed Damn I’m In Love Again, Nothin’ Bad ‘Bout Feelin’ Good and the epic nature of memory in 1992, the band have risen once more, one foot off the ground and ready to jump into the unknown, but loving arms of those who praise an artist, a fellow human being willing to truly be the one to be seen as Defying Gravity.
A wonderful album by MR. BIG, meaningful, full of dignity and alluring; a call out to all those who are sick of being tethered by all those around them who express nothing but treat with contempt their dreams, defy gravity, it is the best way to live.
Ian D. Hall