In the last few years, female-fronted hard rock bands have been staging quite a comeback. From gothic-metal bands like Nightwish and Lacuna Coil to more mainstream bands like Evanescence and Paramore, these frontwomen are building on the legacies of Pat Benatar, Lita Ford, and Doro Pesch.
A recent addition to the pantheon, Halestorm, has been making serious waves. Their self-titled debut CD landed at #40 on the Billboard® charts bringing press coverage and visibility that bands with this sound don’t always get in this day and age of manufactured filler material masquerading as music.
The CD is something more than your typical hard rock-fest. Things start off slow, though. Opener “Bet U Wish U Had Me Back” sounds like a Kelly Clarkson song, especially the chorus and the stupid “U” instead of “You” in the title. Not necessarily bad in the context of the modern radio environment, but definitely a somewhat ominous sign for originality. Fortunately things start to turn by track 2, “Better Sorry Than Safe,” another slow-tempo chugger with a decently filling chorus.
The band’s first single is “I Get Off,” a mid-range rocker that slinks through an atmospheric intro into a bombastic and heavily memorable chorus. And what is that I hear? Can it be a tried and true guitar solo? This is borderline AOR music that just doesn’t show up on mainstream rock radio anymore, relegated to niche markets. But Halestorm has found a way to break through.
“Dirty Work” is straight ahead hard rock, punctuated by nice vocal interplay with the guitars. Singer Lizzy Hale has a strong middle-of-the-road vocal sound that is more Lita than Tarja. “I’m Not An Angel” has the potential to be little more than a weepy power ballad, but a fresh melodic line gives it some weight and enough gravitas to stand out.
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