Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 08/07/2007
A few years after the 2003 release of their third album,
Natural Selection,
Fuel parted ways with lead vocalist
Brett Scallions, which turned out to be a bit of fortuitous timing. Because
Fuel were without a singer, they received a huge publicity boost in early 2006 when
Chris Daughtry, resident rocker of the fifth season of
American Idol, plugged them relentlessly, singing their songs and citing them as an influence. Since the band was down a singer, guitarist/songwriter
Carl Bell and bassist
Jeff Abercrombie (drummer
Kevin Miller had left in 2004) decided to pursue
Daughtry publicly, only to have the newly ascendant star turn them down. Undaunted, the pair hired
Toryn Green as their new singer (and
Godsmack skinman
Tommy Stewart as their new drummer) and set out to make their own version of
Daughtry's debut album with their fourth record, 2007's
Angels & Devils. Musically, this isn't much different than previous
Fuel albums, but they have followed their prodigy's lead, turning down the heaviness (not just in the guitars but the tone) and playing up the anthems and sentiment, leaving this as tortured-but-optimistic, tortured-but-earnest
post-grunge. The production is brighter and
Green is a more precise singer than
Scallions, but such professionalism winds up giving
Fuel a more generic feel than before -- indeed, they sound more generic than
Daughtry, who not only has a knack for
rock anthems but also benefited from some professional collaborators.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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