Album review of “The Strange Case of…” by Halestorm
The album immediately sets the tone to having fun–and with nothing over-the-top to begin with–it has its moments of promise. There are a good number of rock-anthem songs and the typical love/hate references that are standard these days in each album release.
Despite these formulaic traits, the album itself is consistent of “quality tracks” and not mere fillers for the stand-out singles such as “I Miss the Misery”.
The vocal work of Lizzy Hale is the strongest quality that gives the album its distinct presence. In general, the music has enough commercial sensibilities that–if marketed right–can even become a big hit here. But the album of Halestorm has yet to even reach our shores.
It was only through YouTube that I was able to listen to all the tracks of the album and watch the music videos that came along with the singles.
Halestorm isn’t a new band. I have heard of their name before a number of times in the last couple of years. But the noise they have created with their hard-hitting pulse-driven music has finally grown enough that they are now getting noticed. Because their influences such as rock, metal and pop have worked well for them and this blending of genres not only adds layers to the band’s sound but balances out the other elements of each genre which has influenced the band– and it suits them well.
It would be easy to compare the band to other female-led bands in the past, such as Evanescence, Laguna Coil and Flyleaf because at first glance you might even dismiss them to be from that batch of bands. But the comparisons do end there.
In fact, there hasn’t even been a lot of new female fronted bands as of late that are really good aside from a select few that still remain in the mainstream rock scene. Hopefully, with the addition of Halestorm, this would help in getting back the interest of people to listen to this kind of bands. Now when it comes to their influences, it isn’t that overwhelming that you would think they are a mere imitation or a clone of other female-fronted bands–there is enough personal identity here for the band. The most obvious influence I can hear from the lead vocalist Lizzy is that of Joan Jett. She is almost–and I mean almost–like a modern day Joan Jett.
The music is rock-metal but with some of the sensibilities of what makes it a good pop-song. You got the catchy hooks, short verses, and several songs lasting less than the 3:30 minute mark. Plus the fact that they got some of the best producers to give each song its “treatment”, does help.
The questions, though, are: Does it make the music more accessible for different listeners? Yes. Does it make it mediocre? Definitely not! In fact, it is well above average and there is no reason why they can’t even improve further in their next album. There is so much growth that can happen for the band for the time being.
Despite this, the band’s sound can admittedly be deemed passé by some, because it can be mistaken that the band came from the early 2000’s–a time when rock and its various forms were a major force not only in the mainstream scene, but also in the music industry. Because it is clearly not dance or hip-hop and that is a good thing.
Not all music has to be from the same popular genres. Music like this–and this is my own opinion– would have been a bigger success and would have a made a bigger impact in the radio and charts if this album had been released a couple of years back—within the years (2003-2007).
Whether the timing was right or late for Halestorm, it leaves a bit to ponder about. By now, there should have been more talk and publicity about the band here. For a number of reasons, their music isn’t connecting to more people yet. Still, their music is worth checking out and to some, they can even be their next favorite band!
Best tracks: “I Miss the misery”, “Freak Like me” and “Love Bites (So Do I)”.
My Final Verdict: 7/10.
