Halestorm - The Strange Case Of... Review

The follow up to 2009’s Self-titled debut, “The Strange Case Of…” is somewhat peculiar as a full album, it has a feeling of being two albums joined into one, one album consisting of entirely hard rock songs and heavy hitters, the second of soft ballad type songs.

The album kicks off in high spirits with “Love Bites (So Do I)”, this hard hitter is unrelenting, the band show their influences in classic rock instantaneously, it’s obvious to see that this is one band that are determined to be merited for their music and not their looks, and it could be argued that whilst sex sells, fantastic songs sell better.

“Mz. Hyde” and “Miss The Misery” maintain the high octane, powerhouse style of rock that kicked the album off before we are presented with “Freak Like Me” which acts as a call to arms to any rock fan who has ever felt like the outsider, and in the music we love we are unified by this feeling and I for one have no issue in raising my fist and roaring “I’m a freak!” if only for that sense of unity through individuality.

However it’s at this point the album takes a turn, not for the worst but to a much softer style that is maintained few the next few songs. The softer tone starts with “Beautiful with you” the albums initial dark and gritty tone is lost in this poppy upbeat track. “In Your Room” and “Break In” uphold this softer side of the band and it’s hard to believe the same band is performing these tracks.

“Rock Show is a mild return to form, as though the band want to ease the listener back into the darkness, the epic feel and energy of the track is more than perfect to guide us into “Daughters Of Darkness” possibly the grittiest track on the record which is written for the live environment not just the studio.

The remaining 3 tracks of the album are each very different, “You Call Me A Bitch (Like It’s a Bad Thing)” is a straight up hard rock song with attitude that may as well smash you in the face with a sledgehammer whilst “American Boys” has that Rock feel, but the lyrical content is questionable, the album ends with a fitting ballad that draws the album to a close in the most appropriate way possible.

In Short, this is one hell of a hard rock album, even with its softer points, but this only shows the diversity of the band in question and I hope Halestorm go on to greater things and continue making great records.