Big Ball – Hotter Than Hell

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Just when it looked like Airbourne and Bonafide had the AC/DC tribute band market all but sewn up along come Big Ball from Germany who rock just as hard as their mentors, but without any ideas of their own at all. Everything here is borrowed from AC/DC, from the guitar tone, the simple but catchy riffs, and the backing vocals to the permanently sexual lyrics. The only minor difference is vocalist sounds a little more like Jesse James Dupree than either Bon Scott or Brian Johnson. Some riffs are fresher than others, but there’s no avoiding the feeling it’s all been heard before. The danger here is that the execution and production of these songs are so good, just like a new AC/DC album, the album is still immensely enjoyable and the plagiarism almost gets forgotten. This is a far better album than either Bonefide’s or Airbourne’s latest efforts, but it’s hard to see where the market is beyond AC/DC fans who don’t mind a string of well-done tribute albums in the half-decade gaps between proper albums. Big Ball know where they stand, and perhaps there’s room to get a little more original on the second album once this one has won some listeners, but there isn’t a single glimpse of that potential here and as fun as the disc is to listen to, its musical merit is really non-existent. It’s very difficult to escape how just plain rocking the album is though. It’s better than it has any right to be.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2010, Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, Big Ball