Fuel seems a bit like a different band. It still has the same elements I always liked about Fuel, but I’ve always found the voice to be an instrument. Scallions’s voice had been the unique instrument to Fuel for many years. Green sometimes sounds a bit like him. He is differently tuned though and thus why it really seems like a different band though it truly isn’t. A different voice is like installing a new component to a melody that was never there before while taking out a previous one. Now, this is a first true listening… but Green just doesn’t sound as passionate. He is more tuned, but his voice doesn’t seem to cry out passion like Scallions’s, which is something that gives a bit of loss for me. I’m sure Green is singing at his best and he is passionate when singing, as most are… but… it isn’t conveyed as strongly as I’d like. I need to get a good listening on headphones before this is truly decided though.
Even though it is nice that their voices both have a sort of gritty-smoothness to it, I sort of hope Green isn’t trying to do the same sort of singing as Scallions. While I love Scallions’ voice because it is a bit more unique and his style shows his energy, I still think one should not try to do the same. Hopefully Green is doing his own style of singing, but he really sounds like he is trying to sound like Scallions. Perhaps it is to play it safe and ease leery fans into accepting him. Sure, Scallions’s doesn’t have dibs on how songs are sung, but I’m hoping Green will do something that sets his voice outside others even if it is just a tad. Brett had his certain depth and ability to express… So, Green, what will be your thing?
Now, the band as a whole… another reason why I say it sounds like a different band is because it sounds more mainstream. The Fuel CD Natural Selection was going that way, in my opinion, and this one seems like such as well if not already. I guess the earlier two, Sunburn and Something Like Human got me the most due the fact that they were really beginning to develop their sound, finding what really worked. They sounded slightly more diverse and certain songs would really stand out for me. I heard songs from EPs Fuel, Porcelain, and Hazleton. Those were more experimental and had versions of songs that really had yet to be polished to become what they were in Sunburn and Something Like Human. I think so far, their middle years are the best.
These last CDs are good, but not as… distinct. I think it is due to the instrumentals. Like in Sunburn’s Jesus or a Gun, the rifts in that were great. I don’t hear that sort of stuff happen anymore. I did like the beginning of Not This Time with the heavy rifts, but they never really incorporated greatly or changed into something better. Sure there was a string solo… but it didn’t grasp me. Maybe it was because I was getting peeved with hearing Not This Time being repeated so often. Before Natural Selection came out their instrumentals were more simplistic where each instrument stood out more easily. A lot of songs from Natural Selection and Angels & Devils sort of blur the instruments together into something almost more… “lulling”. Some songs are rubbing on me some due to melody, though. I Should Have Told You, Halos of the Son and Wasted are starting to catch my attention after listening to them for a while.
Overall, the CD is okay. After getting the sound settled in, I think I just might like all the songs on it. None of them seem bad so far. It is just none of them have gotten me singing aloud with them yet – though Halos of the Son is getting there, I admit. After listening to it to the point most would go mad, I’ll find my standing – like how I do with most CDs. Who knows? I might just come to love this one.