Halestorm-ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs eP

Atlantic Recording Corporation
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!

Halestorm-The Strange Case Of…

Atlantic Records (US)/Roadrunner Records (UK)
2012

When the sophomore release from Pennsylvania hard rock outfit Halestorm came my way I didn't plan to review it. Like every other person in the world I heard their first single, “I Get Off”, and wasn't overly impressed. Without spending too much time on the subject I wrote them off as another post-grunge/hard rock/radio rock band. How many does the world really need? From the album art I thought this one would be lame. Maybe just maybe I'll have to pick up the band's debut CD after all just to see if it is any good. "The Strange Case Of..." album title is a reference to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Interesting for sure if one takes a look at this album as a whole. Siblings Arejay and Elizabeth "Lzzy" Hale (drums and vocals/guitars/keyboards respectively) are the main driving force behind Halestorm. Or rather they seem to be the mad scientists credited to this genre jumping affair. Now I like Lzzy Hale's voice. She has appeared on Shinedown, Black Stone Cherry and Adrenaline Mob's albums. I especially liked her on Adrenaline Mob's cover of "Come Undone" by Duran Duran. This woman can sing and on Halestorm's sophomore release she covers a lot of ground from the Skid Row inspired “Love Bites (So Do I)” to the country rocker "Here's To Us". Speaking of "Here's To Us" the track was on the sneak peak EP "Hello, It's Mz Hyde" and was covered by Glee (I know because I have a 13 year old daughter). Speaking of all things country/southern rock we have the track “American Boys”. Not quite my thing but thankfully the tracks “Mz. Hyde” and “I Miss The Misery” are both modern hard rock tracks and make up for some of the album's schizophrenic moments. “Freak Like Me” is a nasty slab of hard rock while we have the softer “Beautiful With You”. Again we see Lzzy stretch her vocals to fit both extremes remarkably well. “In Your Room” is aimed at teenagers as is "You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing" although they are at opposite sides of the spectrum. Special mention should be made of lead guitarist Joe Hottinger who has to cover all of this ground for Lzzy. He manages to make the softer tracks work quite well while truly shinning on the heavier tracks like arena rocker “Daughters Of Darkness”. Bassist Josh Smith sadly gets lost in the mix far too often though. Even though I knew there was bass on some of these tracks I really had to look hard to find it. As I wrap this review up I can't help but think that album number two is going to make Halestorm the next big thing. The songs have hooks to kill for and larger than life choruses. Lzzy's looks obviously helped get them some attention in the first place. The thing is she can sing and good looks will only get you so far of course. I would like to be honest and say how much I'd like to see the band move more towards a Sister Sin sound. I'd be lying of course to believe that would ever happen as Halestorm are more about mainstream success than truly hard hitting rock. Perhaps a better balance can be found down the line as the hard rock numbers I enjoyed immensely while the softer tracks just overwhelmed the whole affair.