FUEL
"Natural
Selection" (Sony; 2003)
Reviewed by Jeff Rogers
"Natural Selection" is the third album from this tight rocking quartet. Unfortunately,
this will be the last release with Brett Scallions. It's too bad because the voice of Fuel is Brett.
On "Natural Selection," Brett still has the voice that sneers each
song. He can really sing and, although he wouldn't rank as one of the best singers in rock,
he doesn't disappoint those who long for the Fuel sound. He's got a certain delivery to his voice and that makes each song his own.
With songwriting credits going to Carl Bell, the guitar player, each track contains his trademark short solo
bursts. Bell has great rhythm and great tone. This CD has more of a slick sound than their other
releases; it's not overproduced by any means, it just sounds good -- so they got it right. This release even
features a "Bring You Hell" remix of "Won't Back Down."
Bell delivers some of his best work in the riff
department. He is down tuned and crunches those strings like a man with a mission. There are some acoustic moments all through "Natural
Selection," but they're mixed with Bell's rude guitar. It’s a nice balance that
could easily have been a disaster. "These Things" features some of Bell's best guitar
work yet.
"Falls On Me" is the single that garnered the most airplay and helped to chart these guys once again.
The best tracks are "Quarter," "Million Miles," "Falls On Me," and "Getting Through."
Fuel: Brett Scallions - vocals; Carl Bell - guitar; Jeff Abercrombie - bass; Kevin Miller - drums.
For more information, check out www.fuelweb.com.
"Something
Like Human" (Epic; 2000)
Reviewed by Jeff Rogers
Fuel is a hard rock band out of Pennsylvania that has
an excellent vocalist in Brett Scallions. The guitar is heavy and flows along well with Brett’s
singing and the band is tight and knows how to rock. Right out of the gate they start with
power and Brett's attitude fits nicely with each song.
Sometimes an album has a title that makes you wonder where it came from when none of the songs match it. “Prove” has the line,
"Prove to me you're something like human." Mystery solved.
This CD is just as good as their debut, entitled "Sunburn." In fact, "Something Like Human" may even be better because of the tightness of the songs. This is also an enhanced CD containing some bonus video footage (I think in the future all CDs should be enhanced with a video or two).
By the way, I've seen this band live and they shook the rafters!
The best songs on the album are, “Hemorrhage (In My Hands), “Scar,” “Down,” and “Solace.”
“Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” was the single brought listeners to the CD.
Fuel: Brett Scallions - vocals; Carl Bell - guitar; Jeff Abercrombie - bass; Kevin Miller - drums.
For more information, check out http://www.fuelweb.com.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2006 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
