2013
Don't ask me to explain the rationale behind the title of this EP or the reason that it's spelled out like that. That's like asking me to come up with a list of all of the so-called "advantages" of our "You'll have to pass it first to see what's in it" (not so) Affordable Care Act. Your guess is as good as mine! But never mind that piece of the equation as here we have the second EP of cover's from Pennsylvania's Halestorm. The first one was released back in 2011 and featured an odd assortment of covers ranging from Skid Row ("Slave To The Grind") to Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance")! Other then maybe the weird choice of covering Daft Punk's "Get Lucky", which works fine as a hard rock number I suppose, this EP is a bit more logical. This time around the band's choices include Judas Priest ("Dissident Aggressor"), AC/DC ("‘Shoot to Thrill") and Pat Benatar ( "Hell Is for Children."). The band should get major props for covering a lesser-known Judas Priest song. As much as I love Rob Halford and his band, and they are every bit as good live as on disc, the last thing the world needs right now is another cover of "Living After Midnight" or "You've Got Another Thing Coming"! So it's cool that lead vocalist/occasional second guitarist Lzzy and the rest of the group at least try their hands at something different. Now, having said that, I am going to sound like a real hypocrite here but I loved their AC/DC cover. Sure, fire away at me about how this was one of those numbers where Halestorm didn't exactly dig that deep into AC/DC's back-catalog, but I've also loved the number and besides, having a female sing it sure as heck gives it a real "twist"! OK, the Pat Benatar cover was cool even if it didn't quite few as if Lzzy gives it the heart-wrenching ache that "Hell Is For Children" really deserves. Pat sang this one with hurt in her heart as she conveyed the horror of child abuse. Lzzy has the skills, but not the emotional dept needed for such a haunting number. Meanwhile we get a totally unnecessary cover of "Gold Dust Woman" by Fleetwood Mac. It sure seems as if the band didn't give a lot of thought to this one either as the song, while amazing when sung by Stevie Nicks, has been covered way too many times before and is just so-so. The last track on Halestorm's second collection of covers is one that I freely admit to not being at all familiar with. Lzzy and the guys take on Marilyn Manson’s "1996" and, having never heard the original (and having no desire to as, pardon my French, Marilyn Manson sucks big hairy monkey balls!), I can't say what (if anything) they add to the original. But, fair guess here, I have to imagine it's better then Manson's original cut if only for the reason that it's not Manson singing it! Overall that means that there are more good numbers then bad and, even if this pales in comparison to their last full-length studio album, "The Strange Case Of....", it's not a complete waste of time. My advice then? Sure, why not? You could do a lot worse then this EP that's for sure!
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