Fuel
Sunburn


5.0
classic

Review

by CaliggyJack USER (99 Reviews)
July 29th, 2016 | 24 replies


Release Date: 1998 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Where Nickleback is everything wrong with Post-Grunge, Fuel is everything right.

Post-Grunge Gods Fuel were once one of the pinnacles of Hard Rock and PG in the late 90's and early 2000's. Their erratic blend of hard guitar riffs, stylish percussion, and Brett Scallions powerful howl of a voice; enraptured the minds of Hard Rock and Alt Rock junkies from Kansas to Mississippi.

Originally founded as "Wanted", a young college group consisting of friends Carl Bell and Jeff Abercrombie; this young band underwent many name transitions over the course of their tenure before becoming Fuel. They changed their name to "Phoenix" during the later years of their college time, then changed it to "Real Too Real" as a cover band along the Tennessee Rock circuit. It was during this time Jeff heard a young Brett Scallions sing at a local bar, and he then joined the band. By this time they moved to Harrisburg, and Real Too Real became popular in many clubs around Pennsylvania. They then changed their name to "Small The Joy" as they released their debut EP. This name didn't last very long, as the band changed their name again to "Fuel" during the release of their second EP.

After the release of their fourth EP, Fuel signed to Epic Records and they began recording for their debut studio album. At the time, Post-Grunge had been achieving massive popularity since Foo Fighter's unleashed the PG floodgates in '95. It comes as no surprise that Fuel would want to capitalize on the general style of PG which they had done for their previous two EP's. This time, however, the band opted to introduce more Hard Rock ballads (which they started during their fourth EP) into their tracklist; adding a more technically proficient instrumentation and sophisticated lyrical quality. The result of these blueprints was Sunburn.

One of the biggest strengths of Sunburn is that the first half of the album is stunning. Songs like Bittersweet and New Thing contain usual PG attributes like meshed guitar sounds mixed together, vague lyrics, and damning percussion sequences. This is the opposite of tracks like Sunburn and Song For You, in which the instruments are easily differentiated from each other while the vocals become more soft in their tone. One of the more standout tracks is in the Hard Rock single Jesus Or A Gun, featuring pounding percussion beats and brilliant guitar playing. The key here though is in Brett Scallions voice, an unfiltered roar that crashes through the instrumentals to create this pounding sensation of power and force.

Truly the greatest of all the tracks is int he PG track Shimmer. Besides being one of my personal favorite Fuel tracks, Shimmer is one of the most perfect examples of the talent in Fuel as a collective. It features amazing string sections along with stellar guitar work, and subtle drums. Of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention Brett's amazing vocals in this song. I have always referred to Brett as "Wolf", not just because it sounds cool, but because Scallions doesn't sing, he fucking howls. His vocals are something no other vocalist in the business has done (or done properly) making him one of a kind.

As a debut album, Sunburn excelled beyond any expectations, and provided some of the best competition for PG heroes at the time, Foo Fighters. It was a massive commercial success and propelled Fuel to Post-Grunge stardom, and there was nowhere to go but up in the near future.



Recent reviews by this author
Mammoth WVH Mammoth WVHSugar Ray Little Yachty
Jaz-O The WarmupEcho Tail A Brief Escape From Life
Go Shiina Code Vein: Official SoundtrackCaliggy Jack Passover
user ratings (207)
3.6
great
other reviews of this album
riobravo1023 (4)
...

Trisonic (4.5)
The band's first full length album that showcases Brett’s vocals, Carl’s guitar work and their m...



Comments:Add a Comment 
Conmaniac
July 29th 2016


27704 Comments


good review, Shimmer is a fucking C L A S S I C

TOO FAR AWAY FOR ME TO HOLD, TOO FAR AWAYYYYY

CaliggyJack
July 29th 2016


10185 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

^THIIIIIIIIIIIIIS

Conmaniac
July 29th 2016


27704 Comments


havent listened to anything else off of this tho but I know their one song Hemorrhage (In My Hands)

CaliggyJack
July 29th 2016


10185 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Hemorrhage is actually on their second album, not this one.

Conmaniac
July 29th 2016


27704 Comments


I know which is why I said I havent listened to anything else off of this

CaliggyJack
July 29th 2016


10185 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

I urge you to listen to almost all of the tracks I mentioned if you ever get the chance. They're all pretty fucking gold

CaliggyJack
July 29th 2016


10185 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Except maybe "New Thing", but that's stretching it a bit.

Conmaniac
July 29th 2016


27704 Comments


cool man thanks

CaliggyJack
July 29th 2016


10185 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

No problem. Fuel fucking rules.

Drifter
February 20th 2017


21008 Comments


Fuel does fucking rule

bach
September 4th 2017


16342 Comments


IT'S TOO FAAAAAAAAAAR
AWAAAAAAAAAAY
FOR ME TO HOLD

Drifter
September 13th 2017


21008 Comments


U N D E R R A T E D

Conmaniac
September 13th 2017


27704 Comments


she dreams in champagne drinks

Drifter
September 13th 2017


21008 Comments


Classic song. Classic 90s album. Classic everything.

Drifter
September 13th 2017


21008 Comments


Oh my goddd Mary Pretends is so damn good. You gotta check Con

bananatossing
April 6th 2020


2453 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

listening to the expanded edition right now and still loving this album just as I did so many years ago. severely underrated.

ShadowRemains
July 12th 2020


28058 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

too faaaaarrrrr awaaaaaaayyy for me to hold too far awaaaaaaayyyy

ratcatbaby
May 17th 2021


136 Comments


shimmer is a really good song

CaliggyJack
July 4th 2021


10185 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

FUEEEEEEEL

hena123
May 3rd 2023


2 Comments


This spunk rocked my socks off! garten of banban 2



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy