Recorded in January 2011, whilst the band were playing promotional dates in Japan in support of their recent “What If...” album,  Mr Big are about to release new album “Live From The Living Room”.  Recorded in front of an intimate audience at Tokyo’s WOWOW TV studio, the set features stripped down acoustic renditions of ten tracks, nine of which are taken from “What If..”, the newer tracks fitting perfectly with the more established material .

An acoustic set will catch out any band that is not on form and luckily for Mr Big they are in great form, although Eric Martin’s vocals do appear a little strained at times. The trademark backing vocals, virtuoso levels of musicianship and a highly enthusiastic audience all add to the album and when listening you can hear the energy that the band still has live. “To Be With You”, complete here with strings, is simply awesome - and surprisingly fresh sounding for a song that is over 20 years old.

Opening track “Undertow” is a good choice of opener and is as powerful acoustically as the original version, “Take Cover” has always been my favourite Mr Big song and still sounds great, the frantic guitar parts of newer tracks “Still Ain’t Enough For Me” and “Around The World” have translated well to this style of playing, whilst “Stranger In My Life” is a song dedicated to US troops overseas and has a great vocal performance.  Rounding off the album is the heavier “Nobody Left to Blame” which verges on full electric band.

“Live From The Living Room” is a great addition to the Mr Big catalogue and one which will appeal to fans of the band.