Halestorm
Into the Wild Life
Reviewed by: Max Miller
When I agreed to review Into the Wild Life, the third full-length from Red Lion, PA hard rockers Halestorm, it was under the suspicion that their brand of no-frills, radio-friendly hard rawk would at least be as fun as listening to, say, Mötley Crüe or Lita Ford. As something of an ex-metalhead (and former Guitar World subscriber), I recall hearing rumblings surrounding their 2009 debut from the type of dudes who get excited about bands like Seether and Avenged Sevenfold. All I wanted out of Halestorm were some cheesy solos and stadium-ready hooks; by the end of opener “Scream”, I suspected I would be getting neither.
Halestorm’s greatest asset is vocalist/guitarist Lizzy Hale’s powerful, bluesy voice — a welcome reprieve from the sub-Scott-Stapps fronting most comparable modern hard rock groups. But Hale’s vocals are often heavily processed and otherwise compressed by Jay Joyce’s flat production, stripping the band of any potential potency. This leaves nothing to distract the listener from the bland swagger of tunes like “Amen” and “Sick Individual”. Where I expected “Mr. Brownstone”-esque party rockers, I found a band content to spin its wheels in the muck of mid-tempo fist-pumpers like lead single “Apocalyptic” or the self-explanatory, utterly stupid closer “I Like It Heavy”.
Among the only songs that stick out between the forgettable rockers are the de rigueur power ballads like “Dear Daughter” and “Bad Girls World”. Both offer messages of female empowerment that I can only hope hit their intended target of young female hard rock fans. I worry, however, that the only people who’ll be paying Halestorm much mind are dudes in their mid-40s who constantly complain about “real music” dying in the ‘80s.
Rating: No Comment
