Recently, I decided to bust out some of my CDs and came upon the second album by American rock band Fuel, Something Like Human. With similar musical and voice styles to other 2000s albums, Fuel’s second album is not too unique, but his twelve-track album is sure to please fans of Alice in Chains and Trapt in particular. 

Before listening to the album, I already heard and loved “Hemorrhage,” the second song from Something Like Human. It has a pretty guitar-picking pattern and a gentler first chorus with a musical break after. This song really captures Fuel’s music style and showcases singer Brett Scallion’s voice. In this song in particular, his voice stands apart from any other singer of the 2000s.  

That isn’t the case for the rest of the album. After all, grunge or “sad rock” was popular at that time and Scallion often sounds similar to singers like Chris Cornell and Layne Staley from Alice in Chains. I don’t blame Fuel for embracing the sound of other successful bands, even though it makes their album less unique.  

Fuel’s similar rock style to other artists is particularly present in a few songs. In “Scar,” the fourth track on the album, Scallion’s voice made me think of Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins. Fuel also reminds me of the rock band Trapt, with similar heavy guitar and drums that are in a lot of Trapt’s intros and choruses. Trapt fans would love “Bad Day” and “Last Time,” with the pre-choruses and choruses sounding like many of Trapt’s songs.  

Certain songs in Something Like Human also reminded me of Layne Staley from Alice in Chains, like in the second to last track of the album, “Innocent.”  The pretty chord structure earned this song a spot on my favorites list from the album. 

Another one of my favorite songs from Something Like Human is “Empty Spaces,” the third song from the album. Again, it reminded me of Alice in Chains with its heavy guitar and a distorted guitar riff and bridge.  

Although almost every song of the album made me think of another band, I still really enjoyed Something Like Human. It was a great introduction to a band that I knew very little about, and I’m excited to listen to more of Fuel’s albums. Because of these factors, I give the album 8/10 stars.  

With loud guitar and drums in every song, Something Like Human is sure to please fans of Alice in Chains, Trapt and other grunge rock bands. However, there is not a bad song on the album! So, for those who also want to refuel their music taste, listen to Fuel’s album Something Like Human – it won’t disappoint!