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The CD starts with the sound of a needle dropping on a record, and the gutbucket-style blues track that kicks off the album promises great things for Mick Fleetwood’s new band. “Bitter End” (the leadoff track) and the following title track imply everything that the most recent Fleetwood Mac disk was not; where “Say You Will” was shrill, “Bitter End” and “Something Big” are warm. Where “Say You Will” was pedantic, these tracks are inviting, and where Lindsay Buckingham’s guitar histrionics verged on unhinged egotism, singer/guitarist Todd Smallwood is the ultimate team player…which begs the rather obvious question. Smallwood wrote virtually every track on this CD (excepting a Jackson Browne cover), sharing credits only once with Fleetwood. He sings lead on every track, and plays nearly every instrument except for drums, so it’s a bit of a misnomer to label this outfit as the ‘Mick Fleetwood’ band. The reason is obvious enough, though. If this CD was marketed as the Todd Smallwood Project, it would sell 1/10th as many copies. An unfortunate but fundamental rule of marketing is name recognition, and besides his drum playing, this is what Mick Fleetwood offers.
That aside, “Something Big” is a mixed affair, short on risks but pleasant in an MOR sort of way. Smallwood is a good vocalist, although his timbre occasionally resembles that of Don Henley, particularly on “These Walls” and “It’s Only Money,” which could have been an outtake from Henley’s solo debut. More interesting is the Celtic-flavored “Where the Wind Blows” and the title track, which has all the markings of classic rock staple. More songs like this, and the title might have been a prophetic statement regarding the band’s future, but the disk grows generic as it progresses. A few new lyrical ideas would have been nice, but no such luck. On “Walking With the Angels”, Smallwood actually sings “Walking with the angels to the sweet bye and bye, Climbing up that stairway to the sky.” He also borrows liberally from the John Lennon songbook; “Making Other Plans” paraphrases Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy” while “No Borders” is a transparent simplification of “Imagine.”
A surprise arises with the cover of Jackson Browne’s “Looking Into You,” one of the better songs from his debut record. Browne even makes a guest appearance here, crooning harmony over the final lyric. Throughout the disk, emphasis is on the song, which renders Fleetwood’s role to that of an accomplished sideman. Many songs barely feature percussion at all until the third verse roles around, and although deceptively simple, he still manages to create a musical ‘pocket’ the size of a suitcase. It may lack a grandiose statement, but it’s still pleasant, which is to say that “Something Big” is the sum product of many small things.
Grade: 
 
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