The Big Deal is a new combo from the Frontiers band factory. The Italian label has chosen here to propel two unknown singers to the front of the stage by associating them with three guys, only one of whom knows a certain notoriety: Allessandro Del Vecchio. Apart from the local multi-instrumentalist, the other members of the combo are Serbian. "First Bite" is the name given to their first try.
The first thing that jumps to the eyes is that the two female singers are charming. Obviously, considering the clothes and the wiggles, the charm asset is widely put forward. On the music side, we have to deal with a basic melodic hard rock/metal with strong 80's overtones. The major efforts made on this "First Bite" concern the riffs of Srdjan Brankovic (Ronnie Romero) which, on the most heavy tracks, are correctly calibrated, and the very radio-friendly melodies which can sometimes catch on. Sprinkled, in classical or symphonic mode, with some interventions on the keyboard, the eleven scores display a disconcerting simplicity. If some refrains attract the attention at the first listening ('Never Say Never', 'Sensational'), they don't give an irrepressible desire to come back to them. When they fall flat, which is frequent, one borders on the insipid. Stuck between the ghosts of Lita Ford and Pat Benatar (in metal mode), the compositions often exhale over-aged perfumes of Eurovision.
This first try of The Big Deal is not really a good pick for the Italian label. By trying too hard to play the card of the feminine seduction and the easy melody, the band fails to convince. This is probably a pity for its guitarist, considering the creative ideas that sometimes come out of his six-string.