Mr. Big

Mr. Big was one of the few "shredder" heavy metal bands (translation: its members were very proficient at their instruments) that realized that songcraft was more important than just simply playing a thousand notes per minute. The seeds for the group were sown when bass player extraordinaire Billy Sheehan (often called the Eddie Van Halen of the bass) left David Lee Roth's solo band in 1988. Almost immediately after his exit, Sheehan began piecing together a new outfit comprised of former Racer X guitarist Paul Gilbert, drummer Pat Torpey, and singer Eric Martin (the latter had issued a pair of obscure solo releases in the mid-'80s). By 1989, the newly formed quartet had already inked a recording contract with Atlantic, resulting in the release of a self-titled debut the same year. Despite causing a buzz amongst musicians, the album failed to crossover to a mainstream rock audience stateside; however, Mr. Big was an immediate smash success overseas in Japan.

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