Halestorm – Reanimate 3.0

Reanimate 3.0 is the third covers EP from Halestorm.  As with the previous ones which have covered bands such as Skid Row, Marilyn Manson, Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar and Judas Priest, this EP covers an interesting mix of artists.  You’ve got Whitesnake, Metallica, Joan Jett, Sophie B Hawkins, Twenty One Pilots and Soundgarden.  Joan Jett seems an obvious choice for Halestorm to cover, but the others arent such obvious choices.

I’ve heard some truly awful covers of Whitesnake’s “Still of the night”, so I was a little wary before hitting play.  Right from the start though I was happy – Lzzy Hale’s vocals are spot on – she’s got it just right and does what very few singers could pull off, replacing some of David Coverdale’s best vocals and not sounding inferior.  It sticks close to the original, and the result is an absolutely superb cover.

The Sophie B Hawkins cover, “Damn I wish I was your lover” is transformed from a soft song to a much rockier one.  It’s still not as heavy as some of the other songs here but it’s definitely got far more punch than the original.

The cover of “I hate myself for loving you” isn’t quite as close to the original as “Still of the night”, but it’s still unmistakeable as a Joan Jett song, and is another highlight of the EP.

“Heathens” by Twenty One Pilots was part of the soundtrack of the recent Suicide Squad film, and isn’t a song I’d ever have imagined hearing Halestorm cover.  While I prefer the Halestorm version to the original, I’d rate it as by far the weakest track on the EP – it lacks any real punch and I just can’t warm to it I’m afraid.

Next up is “Fell on black days”.  It’s another cover that’s fairly faithful to the original.  It’s interesting to hear them doing Grunge, and is a good cover but just doesnt quite meet the level set by some of the others here.

The EP closes with the cover of Metallica’s “Ride the lightning”.  It’s another fairly faithful cover although it’s slower than the original and Lzzy gets to unleash some of that the vocal power she has.  I’d love to hear them play this one live as I think it’ll sound pretty epic

The choice of covers not only lets the band play songs that they like or that influenced them, but the selection shows off different aspects of Lzzy’s vocals in particular and the band’s versatility in general.
It’s also nice to see that this time the EP is being released worldwide whereas the last one was only released in the US originally and was belatedly released outside the US a year later.  This EP is also available on CD as well as download, which is also an improvement.

Some great covers – some obvious choices and some far less obvious.  An excellent EP.

Track listing:

1. Still of the night
2. Damn I wish I was your lover
3. I hate myself for loving you
4. Heathens
5. Fell on black days
6. Ride the lightning