Fuel has had an interesting career. In the early 2000s they enjoyed a good measure of success with such hits as “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” from 2000’s Something Like Human and “Falls On Me” from 2003’s Natural Selection. After that is when things got interesting. In 2006, famed lead singer Brett Scallions left the band and was replaced by Toryn Green, who only appears on Fuel’s last studio album, 2007’s Angels & Devils.
Fast-forward to 2014, Fuel are back with their first studio album in seven years, Puppet Strings. Not only are they back as a band, but Scallions is back as well. What’s funny, though, is that now the other three guys left. In short, every slot in this band has been rotated at some point or another. I’m sure some hardcore Fuel fans out there don’t even consider Puppet Strings a proper Fuel album. But here it is nonetheless.
As far as standout tracks go, there is the blues-rock twang of “Hey, Mama” and title piece “Puppet Strings” or the up-tempo hammer of album opener (and quite unoriginally-titled) “Yeah”. Other than that, it is a pretty generic-sounding rock record of which you most likely won’t remember much even after a few listens.
So there you have it. Whether or not Fuel is as relevant as they once were may have been revealed in Puppet Strings with the answer of, “Probably not.” It is pretty clear that the Something Like Human/Natural Selection lineup of the band remains their ‘classic’ one and unless all four of those guys found a way to get back together, then this might be the last we hear from Fuel, or at least the last that anyone might care about.
Fuel – Hey, Mama
