Review Summary: Much more organic and genuine, Lzzy Hale and her boys have never been sexier.
Ever since appearing on the hard rock scene, Halestorm has been taken as synonymous with frontwoman guitarist and vocalist Elizabeth Hale, or more accurately, Lzzy Hale, her self-styled and abrasive sex goddess persona. Sure, Joe Hottinger has thrown in the occasional guitar solo to break up the fairly pedestrian metal-tinged, Southern hard rock background fare that has accompanied Hale as she has lyrically seduced many a testosterone-addled male. Yet, from “I Get Off” to “I Miss the Misery,” it’s been Hale’s bad girl, screw-like-a-man moxie we always associate with the quartet. And she knows it too.
She is also aware that she has
stuff to strut; I’m not referring to feminine allure, but that purring tigress of a voice that barbs meh lines: “
And do you close your eyes with her and pretend I'm doing you again like only I can.” Hale boasts arguably the strongest and most versatile delivery in the modern genre, blending Pat Benatar’s smoothness with Melissa Etheridge’s grit to intone anything from soft cries to rasping growls. Hence, the band’s breakthrough with
The Strange Case Of… in 2012 and rising from the pack is very much indebted to her vocal prowess behind the conceited rumblings about raunchy, dysfunctional relationships.
The Pennsylvanian rockers’ third LP,
Into the Wild Life, is intriguingly different. It’s a welcome change in course, venturing out into slightly deeper and unexplored waters from the safety of hard rock’s streamlined shore and the lifeguarding of record company execs. Here be some actual monsters.
For example, Hale actually lowers her guard and takes time to expose herself as opposed to the cocky carapace fortified by flippant braggadocio heard frequently prior to
Into the Wild Life. For the first time, she truly shows some prolonged vulnerability. Ballad “Dear Daughter” appears almost like a letter Hale received from one of her own parents to remain strong in spite of life’s growing pains. “New Modern Love” is a defiant but never petulant defense of one’s sexual orientation. The emphasis lyrically on tracks like these demonstrates a belief in inner resilience over the urge to merely brandish the middle finger.
Furthermore, abetting this evolution is Halestorm’s willingness to depart from slick radio rock to experiment with chain-gang blues (“Gonna Get Mine”), call-and-response gospel (“Amen”), a culturally Southern religious motif throughout and other ideas with their songwriting. There is also more cohesion between Hale and other members of the group than in any of their previous efforts. For much of the record, the band takes a wise, subdued step back to diligently support Hale’s more than capable voice to do much of the heavy lifting in both the windup verses and choruses. It enables her to give her most sublime performance yet. Oddly enough, the receding trio of Hollinger, Hale’s drummer brother, RJ, and bassist Josh Smith excels in this complementary role and is given enough reign to impress in the instrumental transitions between tracks.
Highlights include the swooning “Bad Girl’s World,” which sounds as if Hale was singing on a dimly lit stage inside a hazy, smoke-swirling burlesque club as she repeatedly croons, “a bad girl’s world,” with Hollinger cutting in with fizzing guitar licks. Closer “I Like It Heavy” plays like a more raucous version of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s classic “Takin’ Care of Business.” It resolves the album in the best manner possible with a little more than a minute of purely Hale’s voice serenading to conclusion: “
…If there is a church, it’s rock ‘n roll/If there’s a devil, I sold my soul/It’s alright whatever we do tonight/If there’s a god, she won’t mind/If there’s a god, she won’t mind.” And for those who prefer hedonist Lzzy to the more introspective and poignant Lzzy, there’s a couple solid romps in singles about taking someone to bed with “nine-inch heels” on in “Apocalyptic” and breaking boredom with “bedlam” in “Mayhem.” These songs, however, are more the exceptions to the rule on
Into the Wild Life.
Rather, Halestorm illustrate it’s not just the crazed “Lzzy Hale Show” anymore. It veers away from comfortable and displays a decent amount of guts and growth here. There is a surprising intimacy within this effort thanks both to Hale and her partners’ synergistic work. Most of the memorable moments come from the soulful and reflective numbers, not the proverbial loud thrashers. The album, which gets progressively superior further in, should incite new consideration about how we look at the outfit. Previously, one could do a lot worse than Halestorm in mainstream hard rock. Now, good luck finding a popular contemporary on par or capable of mustering a better record.
Recommended Tracks:
"Bad Girl's World"
"Apocalyptic"
"What Sober Couldn't Say"
"I Like it Heavy"
