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Most will know Eric Martin as the singer of Mr. Big who had in 1991 a big hit with To Be With You. After Mr. Big broke up Mr. Martin continued as a solo artist like he did in the pre-Mr. Big era. The new album is in the vain of I'm Goin' Sane (2002), but it's a little rougher. The sound haven't been polished as much as on AOR and hard rock releases in the late 80's / early 90's. The more natural rough sound make this album more interesting and deeper. Still Eric Martin is presenting enchanting AOR songs like What's The Worst That Can Happen and Where Are You. On What If there is a latent punk attitude... quite interesting. Sometimes the songs are a little poppy, but the guitars make them to rough / heavy for radio airplay. Guitarist Jeff Watson (Nightranger) shows perfectly that a heavy guitar and a charismatic voice can make an average song better. Sure, this is not the big hit and you won't find another To Be With You, but this album is better then the last Mr. Big album! Even if he continues what Mr. Big had started with Actual Size. Mr. Big was an all-star band and so there always been there high expectations to meet. Eric Martin has not to fight this high expectations and so is more free to do what he wants to do. No egos fighting to show off. It's fun to listen to then album and you won't get tired of it after a few spins.
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