What happens when two siblings with the last name of Hale decide to make a band at the ages of ten and thirteen? You get Halestorm- A hard rock band with female lead vocals hailing from Red Lion, PA. In case you have no clue where Red Lion is on the map, don’t worry. No one does. Stick your finger somewhere in the vast wasteland between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and by all accounts that’s close enough. Now Halestorm has been active since 1998 as a local band and with the addition of Joe Hottinger and Josh Smith in 2003 and 2004 respectively they released their self-titled album Halestorm in 2009.

Now there’s something I have to get off my chest about this album pertaining to its theme before going any further. Halestorm is about what every nerd playing Dungeons and Dragons in his mother’s basement wishes he can get- Sex. Other times it’s about relationships, but mostly the sex. In fact sometimes I swear Lzzy Hale herself comes out of my cd and lets me tend to her royal garden so to speak. Maybe there is something to be said about Lzzy trying to be a strong female lead in a hard rock band singing about sex, but that’s not for me to decide. Now since that is off my chest, I can say that this is a very safe album. It’s the usual vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass and drums. Every song in general follows the same typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, and then chorus pattern. Not to say that it’s a bad thing because for a band trying to make it big releasing a highly experimental album is probably not a good idea.

The first single from Halestorm is “I Get Off” and topped the charts at sixth place. You’ve probably heard this song on the radio before with the heavy coverage it received. Right away this single does two very important things. First, it accurately depicts the entire theme of the album and what to expect. There is no bait and switch going on here. Secondly, it showcases Lzzy Hale’s powerful vocals. Establishing a good basis for Lzzy’s voice is possibly the greatest use for this single because the entire album is carried by them. This girl can rock- Hard. I saw them live twice and the vocal range you hear in the album is maybe half of what she can really do. This is a shame really because hearing her live was possibly the greatest female voice to ever grace my ears. I would willingly buy and listen to Summa Theologica: The Audiobook, Tagalog Edition if Lzzy narrated it for me.

I could spend all day praising Lzzy’s vocals, but let’s get down to business. Halestorm gives you an excellent taste of them, but at the same time doesn’t make use of her full potential. The closest you will get to the full Lzzy experience is from “Familiar Taste of Poison”. This song is a bit of an oddball in the album and I’ll admit it took some time to grow on me. You have to understand that out of 11 fast paced songs with heavy guitar riffs, this is the only one that hit the brakes. It starts off as a slower song before speeding up halfway through. Again what really shines in this song are the vocals. Lzzy absolutely nailed them and as soon as you begin to appreciate her voice is when you begin to appreciate this song.

Now there’s a reason here why I’ve spent most of my time on the vocals and not much describing the musical structure of the songs themselves. To put it bluntly, most of the songs are constructed the same and sound similar. It’s very much the standard guitar, guitar, bass, drums sound- But don’t take this as a bad thing. What they do, they do extremely well and the songs such as “Familiar Taste of Poison” and “I’m Not An Angel” switch it up enough to keep the album from being one thirty minute song. Bottom line is this: Each song has a new and interesting riff, but it’s all the same type of hard rock sound and similar lyrical themes.

Coincidentally that also means that the songs flow well together. I mentioned that this album is a few steps away from being a thirty minute song about sex and love, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. I wouldn’t mind thirty minutes of Lzzy gracing my ears non-stop. This is the kind of album you can listen to or have as background noise. Play it in your car or with friends or by the poolside, maybe slip it in during a friend’s wedding. This is perhaps the strongest point of the album. It’s short and sweet and easily listenable over and over again. I literally never tire of hearing these songs and would certainly put “Innocence” and its brilliant bridge section on repeat for hours if it didn’t make my neighbors submit noise complaints. “Dirty Work” also deserves a mention for its rhythmic and catchy feel and hilarious lyrics which I won’t spoil here. If you want to observe the full glory of these songs and Halestorm then go grab a copy of the album and support an emerging band. That means don’t pirate it you computer wizards.

6/7