| Big as Life | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Hamell on Trial |
| Cover: | Big as Life.jpg |
| Released: | 1994 |
| Genre: | Anti-folk |
| Label: | Doolittle Mercury |
| Producer: | Jeff Cole |
| Prev Title: | Conviction |
| Prev Year: | 1989 |
| Next Title: | The Chord Is Mightier Than the Sword |
| Next Year: | 1997 |
Big as Life is an album by the American musician Hamell on Trial, released in 1994.[1] [2] It was put out by Doolittle Records, and picked up by Mercury the following year.[3] [4] "Sugarfree" was released as a single.[5] Hamell on Trial promoted the album by touring with Syd Straw.[6]
Produced by Jeff Cole, Big as Life was recorded in Austin, Texas, in a warehouse room above the Electric Lounge club.[7] [8] [9] Alejandro Escovedo helped Hamell with the demos. Hamell played a 1937 Gibson on the album.[10] The instrumentation consists of guitar, sometimes accompanied by violin or bass.[11] "Blood of the Wolf" is about a childhood friend who attempted to rob a Kentucky Fried Chicken with a fork.[12] A cover of "Folsom Prison Blues" appears as an unlisted track.
The Tulsa World wrote that Hamell's voice "is militaristic, clipped, strident; his guitar—a 1937 small-body Gibson—is wired, alive, wincing to hold up to Hamell's infernal strumming."[13] Robert Christgau praised "Z-Roxx" and the title track. The Dallas Observer stated that Hamell "destroys the perception of the self-serious acoustic folkie who believes wisdom lies in glib aphorism and weepy revelation."[14]
Entertainment Weekly determined that "what sounds thrilling on stage comes off as rushed and overbaked on record."[15] The Indianapolis Star commended the "intriguing if creepy stories."[16] The Record concluded that "Hamell combines explosive punk-edged fury and a scathing acoustic guitar style ... with poetic lyrics that are sometimes humorous, sometimes upsetting, sometimes poignant but always edged with a razor-sharp honesty."[17]
AllMusic wrote that Hamell "combined the best elements of the one-man-band storytelling tradition with an aggressive, hyper-rhythmic acoustic guitar attack that absolutely demanded attention." In 1997, The Austin Chronicle deemed the album "six cups of coffee and two hits of crystal meth—frenzied."[18]