ERIC MARTIN – Pure

Punk. Big band. Rock. Swing. Disco. Speed metal. Jazz. Psychedelic funk. Country. Western.

Eric Martin’s Pure is none of the above. The former lead singer of Mr. Big comes through with a largely acoustic solo effort, save for a new version of “Fly.” Warning: This Is Not A Heavy Metal Album. Nor Is This A Hard Rock Album. Or Really A Rock Album. Not that any Mr. Big fan would really expect anything remotely akin to Slayer or Testament. But this is even a bit sweeter than most of the “rock” music out there. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I don’t think Eric Martin makes any apologies, nor should he, because this is a nice album. And I mean that in a good way. Really.

(Quick plug for one of my all-time favorite songs, “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind,” from Mr. Big’s Lean Into It. The song makes the whole album. OK, “Road To Ruin” is pretty good, too.)

Oh yeah, I’m supposed to be talking about Pure.

In a nutshell, the record consists of stripped-down versions of: “Bigger Man,” “There Goes The Neighborhood,” “Kisses Stain,” and “Pictures” from Martin’s solo albums; “Sucker For A Pretty Face” from the Eric Martin Band album of the same name; and “Big Love” and “Promise Her The Moon” from Martin’s days in Mr. Big. “Fly” is a new version from Martin’s last solo album, I’m Goin’ Sane. There’s also a multimedia video for “Fly” included on the CD. In addition to handling the vocals, Martin works the acoustic guitar and keyboards. There are only eight songs, and nothing is really groundbreaking. But Martin really does have an easy-to-listen-to voice that lends itself well to this collection of songs. Every Eric Martin/Mr. Big fan will be pleased with this record.

All told, Pure was meant to be listened to from beginning to end at one sitting. This is a good disc to pop in on a cool Sunday morning while you read the newspaper with a cup or two of strong, steaming coffee. Or whatever the hell you like to do to pleasure yourself in the morning.