Those are the EXACT words a friend of mine blurted when I popped in Fueler, the latest disc from one-time RATT frontman STEPHEN PEARCY. Yeah, I know...that's far from a conventional sparkling review, but trust me...from this guy, it said volumes. Given all of the tension and drama between Pearcy and his former RATT bandmates, I was half expecting him to vanish into obscurity after losing out in the wake of a lengthy legal battle over the rights to the band name.
He didn't vanish. He got back to work on his own company, Top Fuel Entertainment, and writing new music.
My favorite tracks on Fueler are the first single "Drive With Me" (which is odd, because I never like first singles) and the re-make of the RATT classic "Back For More". "Drive with Me" is very GODSMACK-ish with the main riff sounding like it was lifted right off Awake or Faceless. Still, it's by far the strongest track on the disc, and proves that chunky metal riffs aren't dead.
"Back For More" can barely be called a re-make. It's almost a completely new track. Pearcy has added a techno/industrial beat behind the main riff, and if not for the signature Pearcy howl, you'd never know he was singing one of his classics.
The overhauled "Lay It Down" is a little too mellow for me, and sounds like he's re-mixing it with samples of the original. I would have rather he ROB ZOMBIE'd that thing up rather that going for the casual, loungy thing.
Now, the last track on the disc, is a good old cover of "Round and Round", along with the obligatory "What comes around, goes around motherfucker" at the beginning. I'm thinking that you don't have to be a genius to figure out who that's directed at.
The one track that I really wish wasn't on here is "Godsmack" simply because of the enormity of that band's popularity. I would have left this one off. I'm supposed to interview Stephen soon. I'll have to break his balls about that.
Not only do I not hate it, I actually like it. Well done.
