Halestorm : "Everest"

 After Lzzy Hale's terrible performance at the Ozzy tribute show in Birmingham, I was reluctant to cover this album. On stage that day, she was shrieking and sharp, but in the studio, she is more restrained, though over-singing is a constant; the new album from her band is not reinventing the wheel but offering the kind of hard rock their fans seem to like. The riff to the opening track is interesting at first, then the song loses its momentum. The more deliberate title track is marginally darker and works better for me, thanks to its deliberate riffing. The need to constantly swing for the fences with these anthemic choruses gets old by the second song. This song was written by Amy Wage, who is an industry pitch hitter, so if you have ever doubted the legitimacy of this band, having outside songwriters like a pop act is a pretty fair indicator. 

Another "personal" song that is written by someone else is "Shiver' written by Dave Pittenger. It is the most bland thing you can imagine, despite her voice being the only redeeming aspect of it as she sounds great on it, though I suspect she is more of a studio singer now. To be called "Like a Woman Can," it's ironic that what a woman could not do is write this song as two men, including industry producer Nolan Sipe, might as well be on a Miley Cyrus album, which I think would do a better job with this. "Rain Your Blood On Me" is generic hard rock, with one cool riff as the bridge coming out of the chorus. Has a late '90s feel, riff-wise, before the gallop. 

I like the bleak theme of "Darkness Always Wins," but it wants to be Evanescence at the beginning before finding its feet to sound more like who they are as a band.  It also makes me think of something Pink would do. They are becoming a pop band for sure. "Gather the Lambs" feels like this asked AI to write a Halrstorm power ballad. "Watch Out' is their Jock Jam. It's actually one of the better songs on this album, perhaps the best so far.The band says they dug into '90s vibes for 'Broken Doll." is can hear if we are talking about Alanis Morrisette, which this is almost a rip off of.. "Killing" tries to be "Killing in the Name" riff-wise wise but is more of a mess. 

"I Gave You Everything" is generic rock, but it works better for them than most of these songs. They brought in a cog from the Nashiville Country machine in Natalie Hemby. Which makes for a song you might expect from Miranda Lambert.  This is a well-produced album that rolled off the assembly line to cater to a very gullible demographic, so I will give this album a 6, which is as good as a pre-fabricated rock album can get.

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