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Halestorm
It's always impressive when a band's debut full-length album lands on the Billboard Album Chart's Top 40. That happened to the Pennsylvania band Halestorm. But Halestorm had been issuing self-released EPs for a number of years before "One And Done," a five-track live CD, was released on Atlantic in '05.
Halestorm also logged a lot of road time. There was the '06 Winterfresh Sno-Core Tour with Seether, Shinedown and Flyleaf. That was followed by the Equinox Tour headlined by Shinedown (again) and Trapt. The Shinedown connection led to a Lizzy Hale/Shinedown version "Shed Some Light" (originally on the group's "Us & Them"). But the effort was shelved though it was played on a few Pennsylvania radio stations.
The work paid off. Featuring the lead single, "I Get Off," Halestorm's self-titled debut arrived in '09 and out of the box took possession of the #40 slot of the album chart.
"As a kid, when a lot of my friends were into Backstreet Boys, I attached myself to Alice Cooper, Cinderella, and Van Halen," Lizzy Hale said in an interview. Those influences show up in Halestorm's debut. They are essentially a melodic Metal outfit. The opening track, "It's Not You," revolves around a brutal punchline ("I'm in love with somebody - but it's not you") while lead single, "I Get Off," is all hot and lusty - just as a song with that title should be. So the first two tracks live up to the stereotypical expectations of a band fronted by a woman.
Halestorm also nail the power-ballad "Bet U Wish U Had Me Back" and the mid-tempo "Better Safe Than Sorry." But it's the uptempo "Dirty Work" and "What Were You Expecting" that really provide the goods.