Fuel - Angels & Devils
List Price:
Our Price: $4.61
You Save: $14.37 (76%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: FuelEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2007-08-07
Music Label: Epic
Soundtracks:
- Gone
- I Should Have Told You
- Forever
- Wasted Time
- Leave the Memories Alone
- Mess
- Not This Time
- Scars In the Making
- Hangin Round
- Again
- Halos Of the Son
- Angels Take a Soul
- Wasted Time
Music reviews of Angels & Devils
Music Review: Refueled And Rocking
Rating: 4 Stars
Most of the time when bands switch singers, I'd prefer if they switch names, because the style changes so much. However, with Fuel, the changes are very minor, and almost all positive.
This is probably because while Brett Scallions was Fuel's singer, the primary songwriter and creative force behind the band, guitarist Carl Bell, is still around and still pumping out the same thunderous, angry, emotional rock he always has. Only new singer Toryn Green takes his material and makes it sparkle. Scallions was a great, distinctive vocalist, but Green tears into this new material like a man possessed. Future CDs will tell for sure, but if this CD is any indication, he is one of the finest vocalists in rock music today.
From the opening lines of kickoff track Gone, you know what you're in for. Green has a grit to his voice similar to that of Scallions, and if I hadn't know Fuel had switched vocalists, I would never be able to tell from tracks like lead single Wasted Time and the grinding Not This Time. But Gone shows us right away Green has a bit more sneer and snot (not unlike Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace or a latter-day Billy Idol), and Leave The Memories Alone really showcase the superior range Green has on Scallions, while Scars In The Making shows us a softer side on the verses that Scallions just couldn't do. Green can make his voice soar in a way that allows Fuel to tackle new territory while still sounding distinctly like themselves.
The musicianship on this album is vintage Fuel. Chunky, rhythmic guitar riffs with smooth, in-your-face bass playing. The new drummer, whose name escapes me at the moment, is more than capable of throwing out some of the best drum work I've heard from Fuel (see "Forever", which has simple yet addictive-in-a-headbanging-way drum work). Mostly mid-tempo rockers with the occasional ballad. Nothing new, but in some cases, that's a good thing, and Fuel has a sound that just WORKS.
Lyrically, Bell pumps out some of his best songs on this set. My problem with previous Fuel albums has always been repetitive, too-simple lyrics (also a gripe I have with contemporaties like Three Days Grace), and filler tracks taking up about half of an otherwise incredible album. This album does have it's fair share of repetition, but the filler is mostly avoided, and Bell's lyricism has grown a lot since "Million Miles" or "Won't Back Down" from Natural Selection (both of which I liked, but could have benefitted from some better turns of phrase and rhymes).
Now for a brief review of individual tracks:
Gone: (7.5/10) Greasy and almost punky song about a hypocritical acquaintance who preaches righteousness and then uses a "short skirt" to get what she wants and refuses to admit when she's wrong. Check the drum work near the end of the song.
I Should Have Told You: (7.5/10) A mid-tempo rocker where the singer apologizes for not letting a lover know that the relationship was falling apart before leaving suddenly. "Time turns good love to goodbye" is one of the best witty phrases I've heard in a Fuel song.
Forever: (8.5/10) Get over the f-word. If they want to curse, they can. In fact, from a band that rarely curses, hearing a song opened with an expletive just hammers home the point of using it, and the point is rage, but rage without a target. This song is infinately frustrated, but there's no escape for that frustration aside from the boiling bass line. Green's vocals here have that singing quality that Scallions' rasp just couldn't have accomplished.
Wasted Time: (6/10). Fuel is treading water here. Maybe this is a throwback to ease fans into having a new singer, as Green sounds just like Scallions on this song, but nothing about it stands out. It's not bad, by any means, but it is forgettable.
Leave The Memories Alone: (10/10). Maybe I'm biased to love this song because I first heard it a couple weeks after a particularly devastating breakup, but everything about this song just dazzles. Green's vocals here are downright stunning, carrying just enough bark to sound like Fuel, but enough pure belt-till-your-face-turns-blue power and emotion to make it impossible to not want to sing along. It's a sad song about desire and denial, but that's Fuel for ya. The lyrics here may be Bell's best ever. Simple but classic, and anyone who's lost someone close can relate: "Leave the memories alone/I don't want to see the way it is/Just how it used to be..."
Mess: A 13-second interlude, not really a song.
Not This Time: (8/10) The opening guitar riff prepares you for some face-pounding heaviness, and this song delivers. Green delivers another "are you SURE that isn't Scallions?" performance. Not Bell's best lyrically, but the sheer downhill-snowball momentum of the song makes it enjoyable.
Scars In The Making: (7/10). The verses here are a good indication of the difference between Green and Scallions, where Green turns in something that sound almost like Finger Eleven going back to their roots.
Hangin' Round: (9/10) Another just-like-Brett vocal turn, but a very good one. Still, the real star here is the slinky bass work that drives the song and the guitar work that Bell can play with as the bass takes melody.
Again: (9.5/10) Don't let the strings or the initially angelic vocals fool you: this is Fuel at it's angry best, and a good choice for a single, in my opinion. Bell turns in some nice guitar play (and even a solo!) behind the scenes as Green rips into this song with a real passion.
Halos Of The Son: (9/10) Nice foreboding musical intro that sets up a mid-tempo stomper that sounds like Fuel being channeled through Breaking Benjamin's rhythm section (this is a good thing!) while Green continues to assert that he sound both exactly like Scallions and yet nothing like any other singer.
Angels Take A Soul: (8/10) Green at his punkiest vocally here, but this is still significantly rougher than "punk". Bell pumps out another solo here that isn't technically stunning, but really draws the mood of the song: bright and sharp, but downtrodden and beaten at the same time. Some of the best lyrical work out of Bell is here.
There's also a semi-acoustic mix of Wasted Time tacked on that's actually a little better than the original, as the acoustic fits the mood of the song better than the swirling electric of the original, but I wish they'd toned it down more and made it entirely acoustic, and let Green sing it rasp-free, to make it stand out more.
Overall, this is an extremely solid effort by Fuel, and makes me want to see more from them soon.
Description of Angels & Devils
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Alternative Rock CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Alternative Rock CDs
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal LaughterRelease date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Blondie - Parallel LinesRelease date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $149.98
Doors - L.A. WomanRelease date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $99.99
Amon Duul - Phallus DeiRelease date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Tangerine Dream - MelroseRelease date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Tangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine DreamRelease date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
![Ska Explosion [VHS] Image](/images/Ska-Explosion-VHS-6303381014-X.jpg){kind=small}
Ska Explosion [VHS]Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
![Little Earthquakes [VHS] Image](/images/Little-Earthquakes-VHS-6302488664-X.jpg){kind=small}
Little Earthquakes [VHS]Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops:
Exileby Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
![Louder Than Live [VHS] Image](/images/Louder-Than-Live-VHS-6301627865-X.jpg){kind=small}
Soundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $192.68
Similar CDs
Seether - Holding Onto Strings Better Left To FrayRelease date: 2011-05-17; Music CD
Best price: $8.78
Price in other shops:
Three Days Grace - Three Days GraceRelease date: 2003-07-22; Music CD
Best price: $5.26
Price in other shops:
3 Doors Down - Time of My LifeRelease date: 2011-07-19; Music CD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Breaking Benjamin - Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking BenjaminRelease date: 2011-08-16; Music CD
Best price: $13.80
Price in other shops:
3 Doors Down - 3 Doors DownRelease date: 2008-05-20; Music CD
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Fuel - SunburnRelease date: 1998-03-31; Music CD
Best price: $7.44
Price in other shops:
Fuel - SunburnRelease date: 2008-03-25; Music CD
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
Fuel - Something Like HumanRelease date: 2000-09-19; Published: 2000; Music CD
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
Fuel - Natural SelectionRelease date: 2003-09-23; Music CD
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops:
Fuel - Best ofRelease date: 2005-12-13; Music CD
Best price: $5.03
Price in other shops: