Defying Gravity
Defying Gravity is the ninth studio album from the American hard rock band Mr. Big, released in July 2017 through Wowow Entertainment, Inc. It follows ...The Stories We Could Tell from 2014 and was the last record the band made before Ten in 2024.
The record carries real weight in the band's story. Founding drummer Pat Torpey had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and could not play on most of the songs, so Matt Starr, who had been filling in since 2014, handled the drumming. Torpey still contributed drums and backing vocals on selected tracks and is credited as "drum producer". It was his final studio appearance before his death on 7 February 2018, which makes it the last release to feature the original line-up, and a fitting one for fans who have followed the band since the late 1980s.
Defying Gravity: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 48:04Tracklist
- 1Open Your EyesMr. Big4:02
- 2Defying GravityMr. Big5:28
- 3Everybody Needs a Little TroubleMr. Big3:52
- 4Damn I’m in Love AgainMr. Big2:56
- 5Mean to MeMr. Big3:28
- 6Nothin’ Bad (’Bout Feelin’ Good)Mr. Big4:01
- 7Forever and BackMr. Big3:40
- 8She’s All Coming Back to Me NowMr. Big4:21
- 91992Mr. Big5:00
- 10Nothing at AllMr. Big4:13
- 11Be KindMr. Big7:03
- Produced by
- Kevin Elson, Chris Manning
- Recorded at
- Ocean Studios (Burbank, California), Assembly Room Studios (Los Angeles), Salamander Sound (Fairfax, California)
- Mixed by
- Ari Blitz, Kevin Elson, Giovanni Murrillo
- Engineered by
- Kevin Cofield, Kevin Elson, Chris Manning
- Labels
- Wowow Entertainment, Inc., Frontiers
- Length
- 48:04
Line-up
- Paul Gilbert · electric guitar, background vocals
- Billy Sheehan · bass guitar, background vocals
- Matt Starr · drums (drum set), background vocals
- Pat Torpey · drums (drum set), percussion, background vocals
- Eric Martin · lead vocals
Singles
- “Everybody Needs a Little Trouble” · 5 June 2017
- “Defying Gravity” · 14 July 2017
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2017 | 9 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2017 | 9 |
| Swiss Albums · 2017 | 32 |
| Scottish Albums · 2017 | 60 |
| German Albums · 2017 | 65 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2017 | 112 |
| Dutch Albums · 2017 | 125 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2017 | 157 |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 7 July
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More from Mr. Big
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The best of 2017
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More on Wowow Entertainment, Inc.
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2017-07-07 vs 2017-07-21 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 21 July 2017 | ignored lone early release dated 2017-06-21 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 7 July 2017 | |
| Wikidata | 2017 | |
| Deezer | 7 July 2017 |
3 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 June 2017 | JP | Wowow Entertainment, Inc. | 4582213918182 | original |
| 21 July 2017 | — | Frontiers Music Srl | 191773122690 | other |
| 21 July 2017 | XW | Frontiers Music Srl | 8024391080542 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 599×525 | rejected |