Fuel guitarist Carl Bell remembered when his older brother won 500 albums from a radio station.
"It was actually supposed to be an album a day for a year, but the radio station miscounted and wound up sending him more," Bell said. "I benefited because we lived in a small town and didn't have a TV. So when I got home from school, instead of watching cartoons, I'd put on an album by Queen, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, the Eagles or 'Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits.' "
During a telephone interview from his home in Harrisburg, Pa., Bell said, "I grew up in the '70s. All the good bands were melodic and knew how to rock out. The stuff had substance and the lyrics meant something. That's what I wanted to do with Fuel."
The hard rock of Fuel will hit Saltair on Saturday, Oct. 27. Saliva and Breaking Point will also take the stage. The music will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets available through Smith'sTix at 467-TIXX.
By the time Bell knew he wanted to play music for a living, he had already made the decision of what style he wanted to do. Fuel was formed in 1993 with Bell, vocalist Brett Scallions, bassist Jeff Abercrombie and drummer Kevin Miller.
"Everything was together except for the original lead singer," Bell said. "He just didn't have the same priorities that we did. But once we got Brett, things jelled."
Within six months, the band had released a cassette demo and started to gain a following in around the Harrisburg area. By 1996, the band had honed in on an eight-song, extended-play (EP) recording called "Porcelain."
The EP caught the ears of Sony music, which signed the band. A few months later, Fuel emerged with a college-only promo release titled "Hazelton." Then, in 1998, the band released its bona-fide, big-label debut, "Sunburn," which featured some of the songs from "Porcelain and "Hazelton."
"We had some response to the other two EPs, so I knew we had something when we did 'Sunburn,' " Bell said. "I knew we could stand on this album, but I was surprised that it was such a big hit."
The album eventually went multi-platinum — selling more than 1 million copies. That set the stage for Fuel to re-enter the studio and record the follow-up album "Something Like Human."
"We felt the pressure to do a good album," Bell said. "Anyone who doesn't feel pressure is an idiot. But unlike some bands who feel the follow-up pressure, we just focused ourselves to try to make the best album we could. When we recorded the EPs and 'Sunburn,' we worked from scratch. When we went into the studio for 'Something Like Human,' we had 'Sunburn' to look back on. It was the standard we measured ourselves with."
That hindsight turned out to be 20/20 for Fuel. Two months after it was released, "Something Like Human" went platinum.
"We established a work ethic long ago," Bell explained about the band's perfectionism. "We love to tour. We love to play music, and we don't know any better."
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com