Mr. Big - The Albums 1976-78 is a long overdue 3CD 44-track box-set rounding up the mid-70s recordings by Mr Big (the British version, not to be confused with the American band of the same name!).

Disc 1 is debut album ‘Sweet Silence’ which now comes with six previously non-LP, non-CD bonus tracks having been added, including the singles ‘Eee I’m Alright’, ‘Christmas With Dicken’ and ‘Lucky Man’.

The second disc is the ‘Mr Big’ album, making its debut on CD and features the international chart hits ‘Romeo’ (No.3 in the UK) and ‘Feel Like Calling Home’ (No.35 in the UK).

The final disc is the ‘Seppuku’ album. Produced by Mott The Hoople’s Ian Hunter it was supposed to have been released in 1978 but never saw the light of day until 2001.

It also comes with a colorful, and informative booklet containing in-depth liner notes by Phil Hendriks in conversation with vocalist / songwriter Dicken and drummer John Burnip.

CD 1: Sweet Silence
1. Time Base
2. Wonderful Creation
3. Golden Lights
4. Uncle John ‘B’
5. I Ain’t Bin A Man
6. Sweet Silence
7. Zambia
8. Enjoy It
9. Violet May
10. For The Fun To Find
11. Appeared A Shining Throne
12. Throne Second Amendment [Bonus Track]
13. Eee I’m Alright [Bonus Track]
14. I Ain’t Bin A Man (Single Version) [Bonus Track]
15. Christmas With Dicken [Bonus Track]
16. Time For A Laugh [Bonus Track]
17. Lucky Man [Bonus Track]
18. Josephine [Bonus Track]

Taking Queen and Mott the Hoople as the prime influences, Mr. Big’s 1975 debut Sweet Silence fully deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as these name bands. Led by wannabe guitar extraordinaire (Jeff) Dicken, and on the showing of this almost classic set of pop/rock, Mr. Big were one of the ones that got away.

Produced by early Queen maverick Roy Thomas Baker, all the signs are here of a band that was on the road to major stardom. With tracks as powerful as Wonderful Creation, the bombastic melodrama of Throne Second Amendment, and as cockney rock of Violet May (think Heavy Metal Kids), Sweet Silence bears all the hallmarks of a lost great rock gem.

I personally saw this band live supporting Queen in 1975 at the Rainbow Theatre and loved them from first blush. I loved them then and having listened to them again now on this re-release, well, I think I love them even more now!

Incidentally, the great Ian Hunter was quoted in Melody Maker in 1979 as follows about lead singer Dicken: Dicken is England’s Bruce Springsteen, if he can only get himself together. But not only was Dicken not remotely in the same league as Springsteen artistically, he (unlike, say, John Cafferty) did not sound remotely like him either!

CD 2: Mr. Big
1. Photographic Smile
2. Romeo
3. What Colour Is The Wind
4. Louisiana Street
5. Feel Like Calling Home
6. Goodbye World
7. Vampire
8. Hold Me
9. Can We Live / Angel Of My Life
10. Easy
11. Wonderful Creation (USA LP Remix) [Bonus Track]
12. I Ain’t Bin A Man (USA LP Remix) [Bonus Track]
13. Sweet Silence (USA LP Remix) [Bonus Track]
14. Zambia (USA LP Remix) [Bonus Track]

The eclectic quintet, who, at times, melded their arrangements based on an odd mix of Queen, Yes, Abba and folk music for this album, released their self-titled sophomore album in 1977 and boy, what a great album it was.

The first single Photographic Smile, with its Yes-inspired melodies and rhytms leads the way neatly and then things get turned up a notch for the excellent Romeo, Vampire, Hold Me, and one of my own personal favorites, the veritably shimmering rock of Feel Like Calling Home (which is actually noteworthy as Fleming Rasmussen assisted Dicken in creating the song).

CD 3: Seppuku
1. Senora
2. Woman
3. Place Your Bets
4. Here It Comes Again
5. Tonight
6. Lucy
7. Goosestep
8. You Won’t See Me
9. Behind Enemy Lines
10. Come Rock With Me
11. Seppuku
12. Death Boy

Having already issued two albums and a bunch of singles before hooking up with producer Ian Hunter to record Seppuku in 1978, the album was always projected as the band’s third album, but although two songs from the sessions (Senora, which Hunter co-wrote, and Death Boy, both included here) were released as singles, EMI did not release it after all.

Having finally made its belated appearance on CD in 2001, the band were sounding more like an earthier Styx than anything else, and Dicken’s high-pitched voice also bears some resemblance to Jon Anderson of Yes, which is never a bad thing, I guess.

But, as with a lot of bands fighting against the musical tide at that time, the failure of this undistinguished mainstream arena prog-tinged ’70s rock effort to reach the racks should not be bemoaned. For, and with all that said, the album still manages to pull of some great cuts, such as the aforementioned Senora, the excellent Behind Enemy Lines and the titular Seppuku (which itself means hara-kiri).

Official 3CD Purchase Link