Review by Andy Hawes for MPM
I reviewed The Big Deal’s debut album, First Bite, back in May 2022 and vividly recall it being a highly enjoyable romp through a range of European AOR/Melodic Hard Rock styles.
Fast forward two and a half years and we have the second album, Electrified, and I’m pleased to report that it’s business as usual in The Big Deal camp.
Once again The Big Deal present us with a gloriously melodic slice of European AOR/,Melodic Hard Rock, with massive vocals from Ana Nikolic and the incredibly talented Nevena Brankovic, who also provides some utterly stunning keyboard work including plenty of mesmerising solos.
My one minor criticism of the debut was that the two female lead vocalists sound rather too alike. They can’t help that I suppose, but it really isn’t easy to tell them apart unless you’re watching the videos from the various single releases. The positive side of this is that both have fabulously powerful voices that are tailor-made for this kind of thing, so it doesn’t really matter that you can’t tell who is singing what.
Musically, there are all sorts of influences in here: pretty much every European Melodic Hard Rock act of the past 30 or so years can probably be found within these tracks if one delves deep enough. However, that shouldn’t be taken as a negative thing because there are also a few other rather more unexpected influences cropping up in here too. For example, along with some very Conception-esque riffing, recent single ‘Fairy of White’ also has a stunning keyboard solo that could have come straight off Rainbow’s lutra –classic Rising album. In fact, it’s the plethora of keyboard solos that actually means that The Big Deal are providing something a little out of the ordinary in the world of European AOR/melodic Hard Rock. The interplay between Nevena Brankovic’s keyboards and the guitars of Srdjan Brankovic is breathtakingly good.
On this album, the songwriting has been bolstered by Treat’s Anders Wikstrom and H.E.A.T.’s Jona Tee and they have certainly helped the band to add some extra layers to their writing. Of particular interest is the addition of some slightly more Progressive elements into the band’s AOR/Melodic Hard Rock sound. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a few extremely cheesy (in a VERY good way!) Euro Rock anthems here (the quite brilliant first single ‘Survivor’, ‘Like a Fire [Electrified]’ and ‘Don’t Talk About Love’ being prime examples), but other tracks, such as the afore-mentioned ‘Fairy in White’ and ‘Broken Wings’ have a bit more chordal complexity in the structures and that, along with the fabulously fluid lead guitar and keyboard interplay lifts the quality of this album and gives it a bit of an edge in the crowded Melodic Rock marketplace.
We certainly can’t complain about the melodic content: the whole album is chock-full of magnificent vocal and instrumental hooks that have just enough immediacy to grab the attention, but also have the potential for longevity – not always something that can be said of this kind of music where the initial joy of the hookline wears off after a few listens.
The other thing that I really like about this album is that the band really are not afraid to put the pedal to the metal on some proper banging uptempo tracks such as the frantic ‘Burning Up’ which has a thunderous guitar riff that alternates between furious chugging and mighty power chords, accompanied by swirling keys and absolutely colossal vocal hooks. Top that off with more of that classy guitar and keyboard interplay (more shades of Rising-era Rainbow here) and you have a sure-fire winner!
Even the more overtly AOR tracks such as ‘Coming Along’ and ‘They Defied’ are pretty uptempo – none of the mid-tempo snoozefests that some AOR acts pepper their albums with here, no siree! I’d imagine that these songs would be awesome live as the energy level is pretty full-on throughout, with drummer Marko Milojevic and bassist Nikola Mijic driving things along in quite spectacular fashion and providing the perfect bedrock for the Brankovics and Ana Nikolic to work their magic over.
Talking of ‘They Defied’, although much of the track is proper banging AOR, at the end, it throws in a proper curveball with a Progressive Metal style riff, odd time signature and some very cool drumming! Very nice indeed!
It’s difficult to pick a favourite track off the album such is the quality of what’s on offer here, so I’m not going to even bother trying. In fact, after listening to Electrified a couple of times, I went back to the debut album to compare it and I also read back my review of that album in which I stated the view that I was looking forward to hearing a second album and to seeing how the band evolve.
Well, the band have certainly evolved! I think that Electrified is a better album on all levels than the debut. The Big Deal are definitely developing their own sound and are using their influences quite brilliantly in order to do so. Fans of female-fronted European Melodic Hard Rock should absolutely check this album out on its release on 17th January. It’s an absolute cracker. Uptempo, high-energy, Progressive-tinged, extremely melodic, anthemic, with excellent vocals, keys and guitars, there’s pretty much nothing here to dislike! What better way to start off a new hard-rocking year in 2025?! Awesome stuff!
“Electrified” Tracklist:
1. Survivor
2. Like A Fire (Electrified)
3. Fairy Of White
4. Better Than Hell
5. Broken Wings
6. Don’t Talk About Love
7. Burning Up
8. Coming Along
9. They Defied
10. More Than A Man
11. Break Down The Walls
12. Dare To Dream
Pre-Order “Electrified” HERE
Line Up:
Srdjan Brankovic – guitars, bass
Nevena Brankovic – vocals, keyboards
Ana Nikolic – vocals
Marko Milojevic – drums
Nikola Mijic – bass
