Halestorm – Into the Wild Life (2015)
Into the Wild Life was released on April 10, 2015, in Europe and is the third album by American rock band Halestorm.
I don’t know much about Halestorm, except that I enjoyed their 2012 album release The Strange Case Of…, because of its smart songwriting and production. Their new album Into the Wild Life radiates a more mainstream sound and song-choice. It starts relatively slow in regard to tempo, whereas I expected a faster-paced album opener. I the end I had to wait until track 7 for a more uptempo song. Even though songs like Amen, Mayhem, and Gonna Get Mine could become rock anthems and live-classics, I feel the songs of the album don’t follow a clear concept in regard to songwriting or production.
All songs can be considered their own islands and work perfectly as stand-alone songs, which of course reflects today’s music-consumption patterns. However, I would enjoy the album more, if the songs would share a common production context. That can be fixed by sticking to similar sounds for the individual instruments. Especially guitar and drum sounds change too often for my taste. In addition, the chosen guitar and drum sounds are often not heavy enough for the spirit of the songs and, especially, for Lzzy Hale’s singing style. The track I Like It Heady is a good example of thin guitars and drums that do not make justice to the song. Gonna Get Mine is another song I feel that way. Keep in mind this is very subjective. I just wished Halestorm would sound heavier in general on this record. But maybe producer Jay Joice thought it wouldn’t match with the many ballads on the album. Again, a subjective matter here.
The lyrics are well written and only sound cliché in a few instances. However, again, a clear concept is missing, as it is in the case of the sound production.
My favourite songs on the album are:
4. Amen
7. Mayhem
9. Gonna Get Mine
11. Apocalyptic
Don’t get me wrong, the album per se is a solid rock album, but is not able to hold my attention for too long. I have it in my rock playlist that shuffles good songs for easy listening, but it’s no classic that I can put on, start listening from track 1 all the way through to the last beat. Maybe you like it more than me. So, let me know what you think about it.
Album grades:
Lyrics 6/10
Musicianship 7/10
Production 4/10
Concept 4/10
Total grade: 5.25/10