Customer Reviews

Big Hit

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

'Big Hit' is the less representative album of Nitzer Ebb, a very interesting EBM band which are next to Front 242 as the best in their style. It's not a bad album, it starts really good: 'Cherry blossom' is a very interesting song which presented us the new Ebb sound: distorted guitars which sound as electronics. 'Kick It' is more rock but really catchy song; 'I Thought' is a quiet ballad ending with explossive rock guitars; 'Floodwater' is also quite interesting and very catchy. BUT there're 2 things i dont like about this album. 1: it sounds as if Nitzer ebb wanted to follow NIN or 242's Up Evil style, and that, while not being necessarily bad in itself, it is when it sounds much too similar; some of the songs remind me too much of some 242 songs in 'Up Evil', such as 'Melt' or 'Fuel'; 2: while there's a bunch of really good songs, there're others quite mediocre, especially the second half of the album. Douglas's voice is very good anyway, and Nitzer Ebb are not to blame for trying to change their typical EBM-industrial rigid beat. But the album sounds as if it was half-finished; and the worst and strange of it is that in b-sides there're some songs ('Friend', 'Beats Me') which are quite good and superior to the mediocre songs of the album.

After "Ebbhead", the stunning leap forward which made NE the kings of progressive industrial-rock, "Big hit" met with mixed reviews and was generally considered as a misstep. This album features a more traditional rock approach, but since NE are a band that relies heavily on electronics, it doesn't work well. Though this album comes up with lots of good ideas, there are too many redundant sound effects and it's overproduced. Besides, it seems to me as if some songs are only half-way developed. As the reviewer below said, the lyrics are better and more personal than on all previous albums. For example, "Floodwater" deals with Douglas' divorce. Well, the music is rather confused and dissonant, there's a lack of concise song structures and memorable melodies. Since NIN have done this kind of electro-rock much better with "Broken" and "Downward spiral", I have to wonder where NE's raison d'etre has gone. I found out that the CD-single releases "Kick it" and "I thought" are much more rewarding, containing some interesting remixes and previously unreleased material. "Big hit", however, is not a complete failure, but a disappointing final album from a once great band.

Here we have our boys making the record they have been wanting to make for a long time: A "ROCK" record. It seems to me that good "rock" records require a few key ingredients: Strong steady beat, catchy guitar riffs, catchy lyrics, and a good voice.
Unfortunately, Harris/McCarthy fall flat on all these things. Doug is trying to sing, but he can't. The beats are nothing but sampled acoustic drum loops (and obviously so). The lyrics are abismal, excluding some of the lyrics from "Cherry Blossom", and "kick it"- the album's best song. A few times throughout the album I can hear the fat synth lines and bass notes that give me reason to keep coming back to Nitzer Ebb. Here, though they mainly act as drizzle on a scone. Its a uncomfortable mix that few artist seem to do well, i.e. NIN, late Ministry.
But tour boys have always loved American rock music, as exemplified in "Showtime". Though they got the parts together, it does not hold together. Finally, the boys have nothing to say after all these years.

I loved "Big Hit" instantly, and the louder the better. The music is much more complex than earlier work but it still preserves that raw, abrasive aggression. Listen to any Nitzer Ebb music loudly and you will understand why it is called EBM (Electro Body Music). Standing still is nearly impossible.
Many Nitzer Ebb followers were disillusioned with this album. For me, however. it was my 1st experience with Nitzer and when I eventually listend to Nitzer's previous albums, I found them initially far less accessible. They were more chaotic and unstructured, but to many of those early fans, that was the appeal.
IMHO "Big Hit" is much more accessible to most listeners. This one is also much more akin to their latest album "Industrial Complex", than any of the early works. My experience is that "Big Hit" was a huge hit.

Sadly, their final album and I consider it one of their best. It is true that each NE album seems to show them evolving. By this time many hardcore NE fans had lost interest because they had abandoned their original trademark sound, which consisted of repetitive industrial clanging and shouting. But how can you expand on that? I had heard that the band wrote this entire album on guitar and then transfered it to electronica. Whether or not this is true, the songwriting here is more mature compared to earlier installments. (It is worthy to mention that there is a very interesting acoustic version of 'Cherry Blossom' on one of the UK cd singles of 'I Thought'.) The album starts off in a very arresting manner with the assaulting 'Cherry Blossom', 'Hear Me Say' and 'Kick It' and then breaking up the momentum with the esoteric 'I Thought'. From there the album tends to stay rather melancholy, with highlights being 'Floodwater' and 'In Decline'. Unfortunately, Nitzer Ebb is no longer together. If you want to hear Doug McCarty's voice you'd have to check out recent Recoil releases where he appears as a guest vocalist. As for NE's other half, Bon Harris has just created a new band in LA called Maven.

I was a huge Nitzer Ebb fan at one time. This album almost made me cry. They are not a good acoustic band. They are not a cerebral band. I think that they tried too hard to be something that they weren't.
This album should have been called "Big Sh#t", because that's exactly what it was.

I know little of the history of this band, let alone their personal lives, but I know that this is some really good electronica.

The lyrics are angry and embittered. The music is catchy and there is lots of fun keyboard ear candy. Great production. I own this album and "Showtime" and have listened to "Ebbhead" some, and this one has the most staying value in my opinion. It is inventive enough to stay interesting for repeated listening, and I have not gotten tired of it.

One of my favorite albums to listen to when I'm in a crunch at work and plowing onwards into the night. If you want something loud but not distractingly grating, then get this.

A different sound than the other NE albums. More personal