From the moment their second album, The Strange Case Of …, propelled them into the rock spotlight, Halestorm have looked every bit the arena-filling phenomenon in waiting. Singer Lizzy Hale’s powerful voice and a handful of radio-friendly anthems have certainly endeared them to a sizeable audience, and Into the Wild Life will doubtless sell in vast quantities, but the problem here is that all the intriguing rough edges they exhibited last time round have been scrubbed away. Jay Joyce’s heavy-handed production has transformed a likable hard rock band into a slick, mainstream pop act, albeit one with a penchant for power chords and blazing guitar solos. Hale’s voice is still impressive, but from Scream’s incongruous electronic pulse to Amen’s leaden Nickelback-isms, Into the Wild Life is as plastic and cynical as it gets. The best moment by far is Mayhem, a snotty rampage that bristles with something approaching punk attitude, but it’s followed by the hideous cornball balladry of Bad Girls World, upon which any semblance of rock’n’roll electricity is immediately killed stone dead.
