Stereo Fuse
Review by antiGUY

Stereo Fuse � STD
Label: Wind-Up
Rating:

Stereo Fuse is the latest modern rock band to emerge from Wind-Up, the label that brought us Creed, Seether and Drowning Pool.

As you would expect, the music is definitely radio friendly and starts off strong with the mid-tempo "Everything"; a song that is fairly predicable yet still appealing. Not quite the hooks of Nickelback's "How You Remind Me", but a strong way to lead off the album off none the less.

The second track, "Seed" follows the same modern rock formula and comes across as sounding like Creed meets 3 Doors Down meets Matchbox Twenty. Again, not a bad combo but nothing original either. If fact, the rest of the CD stays on the same track. The songs are all solidly well-crafted modern rock ear candy that seems to be targeted to radio.

For the most part Stereo Fuse fall into the Nickeback Jr. department. The vocal phrasing and delivering just rings out Chad Kroeger with shadows of Rob Thomas. So some may decide that Stereo Fuse is to Nickelback what Creed is to Pearl Jam.

"Super Hero" comes across a little different, and sound's like it would have fit right in on Nickelback's "The State". It starts out with a lot of promise but the choruses grows monotonous really quick with the never ending repeating line "I wanna be a Super Hero".

"Breath" again sounds like "The State" era Nickelback, not a bad thing by any stretch since that was a rock solid album. This track features some cool old-school hard rock riffing but again the choruses have a tendency to get monotonous.

By the time "Live Like A God" comes on I began wondering if this is a long lost Nickelback album released under a different band name.

"Heaven Inside You" is the high point of the album. This mid-tempo ballad doesn't break any new ground and you come away wishing that they switched their lyrics up a little in the chorus instead of just repeating the same line a few times. But what the hell, Bad Company became legends by using the same formula.

Of the remaining tracks "Hey You" and "Flesh and Blood" are the standouts as they delve into different musical territories instead of sticking to the strict modern rock formula, ok they are modern rock tracks but with a twist. The chorus to "Hey You" sounds little like a tune that might have popped up if Joey Ramone and Kurt Cobain sat down and wrote a tune together.

"Flesh and Blood" has some fun fuzzy guitar riffing and a 70's like power-rock vocal melody that is reminiscent of early Riot while not straying too far from modern rock.

The ballad "Allison" is perhaps the most original song here or rather the most standout track. If I heard this on the radio I would assume I was hearing Matchbox Twenty. Hell, if you're gonna copy, why not aim for a best seller? The funny thing about this track is the subject matter of a dead girl named Allison doesn't match the up tempo feel of the track.

If you're looking for innovation, look elsewhere but if you want a rock solid modern rock album in the tradition of Creed, 12 Stones, Nickelback, STP, etc. then you can't go wrong with Stereo Fuse. They are more than competent at what they do. The musicianship is solid and they guys know how to write songs with plenty of hooks. The only problem some might have with them is they seem content to fit right in with the mainstream and don't aim to break any new musical ground.

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