Rabbia, disperazione, solitudine. Queste sono le prime parole che mi vengono in mente quando penso ai Fuel, ed in modo particolare a questo loro debut album, 'Sunburn' datato 1998.

I Fuel furono una delle tante rock band americane nate cavalcando quella grande onda che investì e sommerse gli Usa partendo dalla grigia Seattle. Formata nel 1989 a Brownsville, nelle zone rurali del Tennessee, dal chitarrista Carl Bell e dal bassista Jeff Abercrombie, inizialmente con il nome di Small The Joy; la band, dopo aver reclutato il singer Brett Scallions, emigrò nel 1994 in Pennsylvania, alla ricerca del primo contratto discografico, assumendo in quello stesso anno, dopo l'ingresso del batterista Jody Abbot, il definitivo nome Fuel. Nel corso dei tre anni successivi la band fece le prove generali al debutto pubblicando ben 5 ep; fino a quando, nel 1998, grazie al successo commerciale del singolo 'Shimmer', il gruppo finalmente riuscì ad entrare in studio, per registrare questo debut album sotto il grande marchio della Sony.

'Shimmer', la canzone manifesto del disco, che parte lenta e vulnerabile per poi prendere quota nel bridge, si rivela essere una song riuscita e facilmente assimilabile, che garantì quella riconoscibilità, unita alla facile presa, che fu il trampolino di lancio per le ambizioni del gruppo. Il disco si snoda poi tra i ritmi cupi e riflessivi di 'It Come To This', e l'appassionante crescendo della title track, che porta la song dai delicati accordi delle strofe all'enfasi del chorus, con il canto sospeso a metà strada tra rabbia e angoscia del singer; che contrastano con la positività dell'elettrizzante opener 'Untitled e la solarità di 'Song For You', brano davvero emozionante e dotato di un altro chorus memorabile. Non mancano pezzi più hard e tirati, come 'Jesus Or A Gun', song dura sia a livello musicale che di lyrics, ispirate probabilmente alle tante campagne di 'pace' intraprese dalle forze armate della loro madrepatria; l'incalzante 'Bittersweet', o le meno incisive 'New Thing', 'Mary Pretends', e 'Ozone', dai ritmi sempre scoppiettanti, pur senza rinunciare alle solite aperture melodiche sempre ben presenti nei chorus.

Chiude il disco la meravigliosa 'Hideaway', gioello (semi)acustico e nichilista, che annienta davvero in profondità per l'atmosfera colma di inquietudine e attesa che la band riesce a ricreare, tra le note di chitarra ora dolci, ora più aggressive, e il canto sofferto e distante del singer Brett Scallions.

'Sunburn' si rivela un debutto convincente, che esprime la vera anima del gruppo, quella fatta di anni e anni passati a suonare anche nei peggiori bar e locali, nell'attesa e nella speranza di farcela; questo nonostante anche il successivo album, 'Something Like Human', pubblicato due anni dopo, risulti sicuramente valido e contenga quelle che probabilmente sono le loro canzoni di maggiore successo, ovvero 'Hemorrage(In My Hands)' e 'Bad Day', ma suoni già più costruito a tavolino e meno sincero di questo debut; maggiormente influenzato da quelle sonorità modern-rock che andavano già per la maggiore nell'America di quegli anni, sull'onda di band come Creed, Staind, Goo Goo Dolls o Alter Brigde, le cui influenze risulteranno ancora maggiori nel successivo 'Natural Selection'.

Negli anni successivi al 2003, la band andrà invece incontro ad una continua rivoluzione, che vide prima l'abbandono del cantante Brett Scallions e del batterista Miller; dopo averli sostituiti  con Tommy Stewart e Toryn Green, il gruppo pubblicò il quarto album, 'Angels And Devils'(2007), che ebbe un buon riscontro commerciale. Dopo il tour di quell'anno, però, il gruppo sembrò assopirsi a causa di problemi con la casa discografica, fino a quando l'ex singer Brett Scallions formò una nuova band insieme al bassista Jeff Abercrombie, dal nome 'Refueled'; che, dopo qualche anno, in seguito a un'accordo concluso tra il cantante e l'ex chitarrista Carl Bell, andrà a riprendere l'antico marchio Fuel, per mantenere in vita almeno il ricordo di un gruppo che è arrivato forse troppo tardi, rispetto ai tempi, per per riscuotere i successi e gli apprezzamenti che avrebbe meritato, anche al di fuori degli States.

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   [untitled] (03:58)

02   Bittersweet (03:52)

Seven sins of wantonness and
everything that's good is gone
Sell it for the glory from the peers
Silicone priestess scratch the back and
twists the knife to bone
Kick against the pricks and scrape the shins
I'm the enemy in the enemies now

Chorus:
Swallowed the pill
And drank to the fill
All these things I carry now
In this bittersweet, in this bittersweet now

Try to hold the world there sinking,
swimming in a paper cup
Try to own the one beneath the skin
Held up to the flame still singing
skin begins to draw and tuck
Never told there's not a chance to win
What couldn't be, wouldn't be now

(chorus)

Bittersweet
Love is bittersweet

Hold your hands up to the sky and try
So hard to rise above
But everything is beating down

(chorus)

Swallowed the pill
And drank to the fill
All these things I carry now
In this bittersweet
In this bittersweet
In this bittersweet, now

03   Shimmer (03:34)

She calls me from the cold
Just when I was low
Feeling short of stable
All that she intends
And all she keeps inside
Isn't on the label

She says she's ashamed
Can she take me for a while?
Can I be a friend?
We'll forget the past
Or maybe I'm not able
And I break at the bend

We're here and now
Will we ever be again?
'Cause I have found
All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade
Away again

She dreams a champagne dream
Strawberry surprise
Pink linen on white paper
Lavender and cream
Fields of butterflies
Reality escapes her

She says that love
Is for fools that fall behind
And I'm somewhere between
I never really know
A killer from a savior
'Til I break at the bend

We're here and now
Will we ever be again?
'Cause I have found
All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade
Away again

It's too far away for me to hold
Too far away
It's too far away for me to hold
Too far away
Ah-ow

Yeah, it's too far away for me to hold
Too far away, ah-ow
It's too far away for me to hold
Too far away
It's too far away for me to hold
Too far away, ah-ow
It's too far away for me to hold
Too far away
Guess I'll let it go

04   Jesus or a Gun (03:58)

Walk away, I walk the wire
And my fields are burning in the flames
Feel my way, blind in the mire
Struggling from your voice inside my head
Chorus:
But now everything's trying to drag me down
But I'll rip the sky from the ground
But tell me now, who's my saving one
Jesus or a gun
Stripped away my last desire
Nothing comes and nothing's sent away
Happiness I couldn't hire
Struggling from these thoughts inside my head
(chorus)
All that's safer falls from my favor
When it over who will cry for me
It's safe to say I don't desire
Everything you push inside my head
And I'll reject it until I'm dead
(chorus)

05   Sunburn (04:23)

The sky was dark this morning
Not a bird in the trees
And silence hung suspicious and anxious
Like a blanket covered scream
And you were gone
You were not there for me
And I cursed the sky and begged the sun to
Fall all over me
This life's not livin', baby
Livin' ain't free
If I can't find my way back to me
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down
All my friends are searching
Quiet, desperately
Look into their eyes you'll see the faithless crying
Save me, save me, save me
And what are they to feel
And who are they to be
And what am I to do with, do with me, just let the sun
Fall all over me
This life's not livin', baby
Livin' ain't free
If I can't find my way back to me
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down
Until my eyes cry out
'Til my head is free from doubt
'Til my lungs sigh right out
'Til I'm wiser
Let the sun
Fall all over me
This life's not livin', baby
Livin' ain't free
If I can't find my way back to me
Let the sun fall down
Let the sun fall over me
This life's not for livin', baby
Livin' ain't free
And if I can't find my way back to me,
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down over me
Let the sun fall down... over me

06   New Thing (03:19)

Take me out alive
Take me out it's all so stale
Give me another life
Excuse me if i tried and failed
And I don't mind if I fall
It's not that far at all
Chorus:
I got a new thing, it's so inspired
It's not the real thing, but it's for me
Because the real thing I don't desire
So it's the new thing I choose for me
Denial comfort me
Built the gallows high
You gave me plans and silver nails
The architects of pride
But I'm the one you're hanging now
And I don't mind if I fall
It's not that far at all
(chorus)
And I don't mind if I fall
It's not that far at all
(chorus)

07   It's Come to This (03:39)

08   Song for You (03:46)

It's all I want
It's all I needed now it's through
It all comes back to you
The only one
The one I needed I abuse
More color for the bruise...

And so I sing this song for you,
There's nothing left for me to do

Goodbye dear one,
Venus I thought you'd bless me too
So selfish to presume

And so I sing this song for you
And I hope that what is true
Will find a way to you
I sing this song for you

Venus never showed the way
The stars would not be sold
Heaven stole the light of day
And we were never told
So dark the day...
So dark the day...
So dark the day...
So much for life, for life and love

And now it's done
The color always changes hue,
From bright to black and blue

And so I sing this song for you
And I hope that what is true
Will find a way to you
I sing this song for you

And so I sing this song for you,
There's nothing left for me to do

09   Mary Pretends (03:36)

Mary pretends she's so insane, so insane, so insane
Mary pretends she's so insane, so insane, so insane
She just sits back and laughs at the pain
Laughs at the pain, laughs at the pain
Mary pretends she's so insane, so insane, so insane
Falling down of her mind
Gives her everything she wanted from the world
Close her eyes, drift inside, so alive
She gotta know what it feels like
She wants to know how to fly
She wants to know what it feels like to die
Goodbye (all x2)

Falling down of her mind
Gives her everything she wanted from the world
Close her eyes, drift inside, so alive
She gotta know what it feels like
She wants to know how to fly
She wants to know what it feels like to die
Goodbye
Goodbye
Time to die

10   Ozone (03:49)

I wanna make her go, I wanna make her come
I wanna push her away
Don't wanna feel no pain
Don't wanna feel no shame
Don't wanna feel this way
I'm so alone here
Why must I be
Chorus:
I'm the one she calls ozone baby
She waits alone for me to come down
But I want to fly like silly angel
Aim for the sky, straight into the sun
I wanna make her feel, I wanna make it real
I wanna give her away
She wanna keep me here
She wanna hold me dear
She wanna make me stay
She's so alone here
She don't need me
(chorus)
My sun, on you, burning, singe you
Confined inside, rot from my lies, sucker
I'll only hold you down, I'll only steal your crown
I'll only make you cry
I'll only break your pride, and eat you up inside
Why should you even try
I'm so alone here
Why must I be
(chorus)

11   Hideaway (04:07)

Hideaway, take me now
I cannot face another round
And I'm flipping through these pages
For a name to take my place
Close my eyes, wish that I could find a place
To hideaway
Troubled days cloud my eyes
Stole the sun from my skies
And in this darkness I am tossing, turning
Lying wide awake
Hold my breath, wish that I could find a place
To hideaway
Hideaway, take me now
I cannot face another round

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