EP REVIEW: Reimagined – Halestorm

The practice of rock bands taking and reworking their own back catalogue into a more stripped-down format is by now practically a long-running tradition. Be it the likes of NIRVANA, ALICE IN CHAINS, KISS, BIFFY CLYRO and countless others partaking in the seminal MTV Unplugged series, or bands simply looking to augment various limited editions of their albums with bonus tracks, the whole process can sometimes breathe new life into songs, reworking them for sometimes entirely new audiences, or other times simply provide throwaway filler to be skipped over in today’s ever-growing playlist culture. The latest big-name act to try their hand at this trend are Pennsylvanian hard-rockers HALESTORM, who bring to the table an EP comprised of old songs and a surprise cover, appropriately entitled Reimagined.

In reality, stripping back the Marshall-amps-up-to-eleven feel of what HALESTORM usually do ultimately leaves the listener in the main with precisely one thing – a more focused encapsulation of the sheer prowess of vocalist/guitarist Lzzy Hale. Opening somewhat fittingly, where it arguably all began, the band’s 2009 debut single I Get Off here opens not with a chugging riff, but an electronic pulse carrying its opening verse in a definitely more left-field manner than the original, before launching off into a slightly more subdued than usual (but no less effective) version of the track’s chorus propelled ably by the fuzzed-up funk of bassist Josh Smith. Instantly setting out the band’s intention with this release, the new arrangement succeeds by managing to retain the inherent catchiness of HALESTORM‘s original work, whilst giving Hale’s vocals much more room to breathe in the mix.

Both I Miss The Misery and I Am The Fire from 2012’s The Strange Case Of… and 2015’s Into The Wild Life respectively, receive similar treatments in this vein too – the arena-conquering hard-rock bombast of their original forms taken almost entirely away; though the latter sees Lzzy apparently unable to resist absolutely going for it at least once, stretching the limits of the acoustic format with some well-placed powerful wails that serve to demonstrate why she’s such a revered presence within the sphere of modern rock music.

It’s not all just fairly straight down the line acoustic-guitars-around-a-campfire type reworking on offer here though luckily. Easily the most talked-about moment ahead of Reimagined’s release though comes in the form of Break In – another cut from The Strange Case Of… which, whilst remaining much the same musically as it was eight years ago, here sees Hale join up with one of 21st century alternative music’s other most beloved figures – Amy Lee of EVANESCENCE. Of course, it goes completely without saying that the combined level of vocal ability here is practically off the scale; the two women taking the already-impressive piano-balladry of the original to new heights thanks to some beautifully soaring vocal harmonising that prove the definitive highlight of Reimagined’s entire runtime as they perform atop a slow-burning musical canvas of piano that builds and builds across nearly five minutes before hitting a peak and suddenly slowing back to just piano and vocals in a stunningly effective conclusion.

Of course, HALESTORM by now also have a long history of using their between-album releases to throw out cover songs; most notably via their ReAniMate series of EPs, and Reimagined is certainly no exemption to this tendency. Here they go for the big guns, throwing in a cover of DOLLY PARTON’s legendary ballad I Will Always Love You. It’s this original that HALESTORM seem to pull more in the direction of rather than the all-out bombast of the WHITNEY HOUSTON cover – the band opting for an almost-entirely piano-centric affair that trades in almost any kind of real explosive moment for sheer spine-tingling emotion throughout thanks to Lzzy’s incredible vocals (seriously – just try listening to THAT iconic chorus towards the end without getting goosebumps), despite remaining a fairly standard cover faithful to PARTON’s original on a musical level.

Finally, to close things off the band return one more time to The Strange Case Of… and another of that record’s most beloved songs, Mz. Hyde. Again led by a funky electronic-esque bassline instead of, the usually hard-rocking track retains its’ trademark anthemic quality but musically goes with a more slinky, seductive feel in lieu of crunching guitars. Like a lot of what comes before it, it’s hardly an essential listen for newbies, but diehard fans are sure to more than appreciate a slightly alternate take on a song nearing a decade old now.

Whilst it’s extremely unlikely that the vast majority of Reimagined’s tracklist will ever supersede the original versions of the songs for most listeners, there’s certainly enough on offer across its’ relatively brief runtime to justify checking out. Hale and Lee’s duet on Break In finally provides HALESTORM fans with a studio take on a collaboration they’ve been clamouring for for years now, whilst their take on I Will Always Love You adds yet another notch to their ever-growing tally of enjoyable cover versions. With the world where it is right now at the time of writing, it’s unclear as to how long it’ll be before fans of HALESTORM actually get to see a follow-up to 2018’s Vicious, but in the meantime, Reimagined serves as a solid stopgap to keep them satiated and ready for more whenever the time comes.

Rating: 7/10

Reimagined is set for release on August 14th via Atlantic Records. 

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