Halestorm Opinions?

[SteveSly]

Kind of curious about the more hard rock / metal members of this forum’s opinion on this band. I have been reading about them for several years where they are often talked about as the modern saviors of hard rock / metal. I decided to take the plunge and pick up their latest album and I am not sure how I feel about it. There is no doubt that Lizzy Hale has an incredible set of pipes and that the band is very talented musically, but the songwriting seems to be pretty inconsistent. While some of the tracks I really like, there are others that seem to stray into territory not unlike the rockier stuff artists like Pink do. In other words, pretty much put together to have maximum commercial potential with a more mainstream audience. I have to give this several more listens, but the jury is still out for me. Curious what anyone else here thinks of them?

[the ferret]

Hit the nail on the head!

There's definitely bags of talent in the band & they are very strong live. The teenage me would have been besotted by them. But therein lies the rub. There's not an over-abundance of depth in the music for a more, ahem, mature listener to get their teeth into.

Should they change? Well, I'd enjoy them more if they did & maybe their audience would grow with them but they're hugely successful as it is & many performers have lost fans as their music has matured. Rick Springfield comes to mind. As brilliant as he became, I still get snorts of derision when "serious" music friends learn that I like his stuff.

[Gruno]

I think they're on the edge of being a good band, but just haven't gotten there, for me.

[JKL2000]

I liked the song Bet U Wish U Had Me Back on their first album. The cover art on that album was fun too. But that's as far as I went.

[PeterG]

Sorry, haven't heard of them. They don't seem to have made it across the Pond yet.

[SteveSly]

Sorry, haven't heard of them. They don't seem to have made it across the Pond yet.

Mmmm......I originally found out about them from Classic Rock Magazine which is published in the UK. I know they have played Download and have done some level of touring in your neck of the woods, but have no clue how popular they are on your side of the pond. They are road dogs for sure here in the U.S. and play something like 200 gigs a year. Here is one of the videos from the album. Lizzy is an incredible vocalist. From what I have seen she can pull it off as good live as she can in the studio, but the songwriting is pretty average:

[glawster2002]

They certainly have made it this side of the pond, I've seen them at least half a dozen times in the last three or four years.

They are playing Download next month.

[Dana5140]

Chip and Agnes and their clan are cooler than cool.

Oh, wait, HaleSTORM, not Hailstone...

[spellbound]

I forked out 20 cents for a thrift store CD of their self-titled album. It's enjoyable, but has not thus far convinced me to buy any more of their albums. Competent band with top-notch vocals. Perhaps Halestorm is at a disadvantage sitting on the shelf next to my Halford albums...?

[glawster2002]

Mmmm......I originally found out about them from Classic Rock Magazine which is published in the UK. I know they have played Download and have done some level of touring in your neck of the woods, but have no clue how popular they are on your side of the pond. They are road dogs for sure here in the U.S. and play something like 200 gigs a year. Here is one of the videos from the album. Lizzy is an incredible vocalist. From what I have seen she can pull it off as good live as she can in the studio, but the songwriting is pretty average:

Their last album, Into the Wild Life, made the Top 10 in the UK album chart and #1 in the UK Rock Chart, so they have a reasonable fan base here in the UK.

As you say, their song-writing isn't necessarily they greatest buy Lzzy has a great voice and they are always worth seeing live.