Natural Selection

Album Review

Fuel make post-grunge music that bears all the hallmarks of the genre — sullen lyrics, polished heavy guitars, Alice in Chains vocal harmonies, a somber tone. Fuel had their breakthrough in 2001 when "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" became an omnipresent hit on modern rock radio, sending its parent album, Something Like Human, to 17 on the charts. "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" broke through because it had a brutal, endlessly repeated hook that stuck in the head. For Natural Selection, the follow-up to Something Like Human, Fuel tone down a bit of their stridency and clean up their sound a little (not too dissimilar to what Nickelback did with their follow-up album, The Long Road, released on the same day as Natural Selection, strangely enough). Such an increased sense of professionalism places the emphasis on the album's sound and feel, with the result being well performed and recorded, if somewhat lacking a visceral kick.