Dicken - From Mr Big To Broken Home & Back 1977-2007

The original Mr Big’s vocalist looks back

This set chronicles 30 years of recordings made despite frustrating near-success, fluctuating record company interest and the fickleness of fashion, but what’s clear throughout is Dicken’s commitment to crafting songs packed with hooks and emotion. In the early-to-mid-70s, Mr Big were a promising rock/pop band with lots of media interest and an identity problem. (They briefly cultivated a cockney ‘pearly kings’ image, a period dismissed by Dicken in the excellent booklet and disappointingly not covered here, despite several strong singles.) After surprise hit Romeo (1977), an unrepresentative ballad, Mr Big faltered and split in the wake of punk. The Broken Home (1979/80) and recent solo work is mostly the strongest: polished rock with Dicken’s distinctive soaring voice at its best. However, giving the rockier and softer material a disc each was perhaps a mistake, as Disc Two especially suffers from a samey quality, making the whole less than its parts. Streamlined, this could have been a first-class overview of an underrated talent. As it is, it remains a very worthwhile selection.

Angel Air | SJPCD 247

Reviewed by William Pinfold
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