During an interview about his new Christmas solo album, 'TWAS, Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert looked back on the making and success of the band's second album, Lean Into It, which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: Overall, what's your favorite memory from making that record?

Gilbert: "I had a really horrible car. Herbie Herbert, who passed away recently, he had come down. He owned the production company that was doing the video screens for Michael Jackson. So Herbie came down to see Michael Jackson. Billy had a Corvette and you know, a Corvette only holds two people and the three of us wanted to go. So that left us with my horrible car. We’re driving down the 405 and it’s a pretty long drive, because it was in Irvine Meadows or some venue in Orange County and we’re coming from Hollywood.

We get about 20 minutes into the drive and steam starts coming out of my front end, because I didn’t know about maintenance. I remember looking at it going, “Is that me?” And Billy’s going, “Yeah, uh-huh, that’s you.” We pulled over and somehow managed to get the car fixed at the gas station and kept on going. After that, Herbie was like, "I’ve gotta get this kid a publishing deal." So Herbie got me a publishing deal and as soon as the money came in, he’s like, “Go buy a car!” I didn’t know how to buy a car.

Because when I was a kid, all I did was play guitar. So I went out on my balcony and started watching the road. I thought “Well, this is how you learn what kind of car you want.” You just watch the road until something drives by that you like. I liked all of the old cars with fins. So I ended up buying a ‘62 Thunderbird. Which was like the most dangerous [car]. The brakes never worked. It’s a miracle that I’m alive, because I ran so many stoplights, [because I was] pumping the brakes and nothing was happening.

But it looked cool and had a great stereo. I just remember riding in that ‘62 T-Bird to the studio every day and just thinking that life was grand, because I was excited about the songs. It really felt like something was going to happen with the record. And I’m thinking, “Man, someday, I might even have a girlfriend after this record comes out.” If my brakes will work, everything is solved."

Q: Herbie Herbert was a character. What's your favorite Herbie story?

Gilbert: "While 'To Be With You' was a hit, he flew out to have a meeting with us, because we were on tour. He sat us all down and he said, 'Guys, this is amazing. This is wonderful. Let’s celebrate. By the way, this is never, ever, going to happen to you again.' He said, 'The industry is changing. The problem is that you guys don’t dance and you’re not women and that’s the future. None of you are Janet Jackson. You’re screwed. That’s what MTV is going to play from now on. They don’t want a bunch of guitar playing skinny guys. So go play in Japan, they’ll still like you there for a couple of years, probably. Make the most of it.' But basically, he said, 'You’re on top of the world, you’re over.' [Laughs]

And of course, he was right. But the other thing that he said was, 'Don’t complain about all of the work. This is your chance to be on David Letterman, The Tonight Show and it’s not going to happen again, so quit your whining. You’ll sleep next year. Right now, you’re busy, so take advantage of it, because this is it.'"

Read the complete interview here.

Mr. Big, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their chart-topping Lean Into It album with a remastered and expanded anniversary edition reissue, available digitally, on CD and as a highly collectible limited edition box set made up of five individual colored 7” singles via evoXS.

The 30th anniversary release of Lean Into it includes the previously unreleased track, "Stop Messing Around", fully produced by Kevin Elson, from Mr. Big’s 1990 Lean Into It studio session. Check out the just released official lyric video below.

First released in 1991, Lean Into It is the second studio album by the group, consisting of Paul Gilbert, Eric Martin, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey. This is the band's breakthrough album, with Lean Into It peaking at #15 on the Billboard 200 charts, while the single “To Be With You” hit and remained number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. The follow-up single, “Just Take My Heart,” was a Top 20 hit, peaking at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The million-selling album also contains the popular tracks “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy,” “Alive and Kickin” and “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind.” Lean Into It shows that Mr. Big could also strip away all the flash and 7-minute solos and simply create well-written songs with rhythm, groove and good melodies, making the band one of the iconic new wave of progressive “musician’s bands” who could play mind-blowing complicated riffs on their instruments at lightning speeds.

evoXS has remastered the album using the hi-resolution digital transfers from the original analogue master tapes for MQA-CD (2 CD), hybrid SACD, 180g Vinyl LP and Hi-Res digital. The hybrid multi-channel SACD plays on both SACD and regular CD players. MQA is an award-winning technology that delivers the sound of the studio. MQA-CD plays on all CD players. When a conventional CD player is connected to an MQA-enabled device, the CD will reveal the original master quality. The SACD has a new multi-track mix in 5.1 surround sound which provides the ultimate sound quality experience. The MQA-CD (2 CD) - Disc 1 contains the remastered tracks from the original album and Disc 2 contains the previously unreleased Kevin Elson produced tracks, “Stop Messing Around” and “Wild Wild Women,” hard to find bonus tracks and versions minus bass and guitar tracks, specially made for musicians to jam with.

Lean Into It MQA-CD tracklisting:

Disc 1

"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" (2021 Remastered)
"Alive and Kickin’" (2021 Remastered)
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (2021 Remastered)
"CDFF-Lucky This Time" (2021 Remastered)
"Voodoo Kiss" (2021 Remastered)
"Never Say Never" (2021 Remastered)
"Just Take My Heart" (2021 Remastered)
"My Kinda Woman" (2021 Remastered)
"A Little Too Loose" (2021 Remastered)
"Road to Ruin" (2021 Remastered)
"To Be With You" (2021 Remastered)

Disc 2
"Stop Messing Around"
"Wild Wild Women"
"Just Take My Heart" (acoustic)
"Shadows" (2021 Remastered)
"Strike Like Lighting" (2021 Remastered)
"Love Makes You Strong" (2021 Remastered)
"Alive and Kickin’" (early version)
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mindv (early version)
"To Be With You" (reggae version)
"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" (minus guitar version)
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (minus guitar version)
"Love Makes You Strong" (minus bass version)
"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)" (minus bass version)

Lean Into It SACD tracklisting:

"Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)"
"Alive and Kickin'"
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
"CDFF-Lucky This Time"
"Voodoo Kiss"
"Never Say Never"
"Just Take My Heart"
"My Kinda Woman"
"A Little Too Loose"
"Road to Ruin"
"To Be With You"
"Love Makes You Strong" (Original Japan Bonus Track)

The Lean Into It - The Singles 7” box set contains four 7” colored vinyl singles with their European picture sleeves: “Just Take My Heart (edit),” “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song),” “To Be With You” and “Green Tinted Sixties Mind,” plus the bonus single “Strike Like Lightning” from the movie Navy Seals, which has never been released on 7” vinyl. The B-sides include the original hard to find tracks “To Be With You (live at NHK Hall Tokyo 1991)” and “Just Take My Heart (acoustic).”

The box set, which also includes a guitar pick and poster, is limited to 2,000 numbered copies.

Lean Into It - The Singles tracklisting:

Single 1

Side A: "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)"
Side B: "Road to Ruin"

Single 2

Side A: "To Be With You" (Single Version)
Side B: "Baba O' Riley" (Live at NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan, September 26, 1991)

Single 3

Side A: "Just Take My Heart" (edit)
Side B: "To Be With You" (Live at NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan, September 26, 1991)

Single 4

Side A: "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
Side B: "Just Take My Heart" (Acoustic)

Single 5

Side A: "Strike Like Lightning"
Side B: "Shadows"