Bret Michaels embarked on a solo career, and released his first solo full-length studio album on August 25th 1998, entitled “A Letter from Death Row”. It is the soundtrack to a movie 'A Letter from Death Row' that Michaels wrote, directed and starred in. The album features guest appearances from his ex-band mate C.C DeVille.
It wasn’t until his fourth studio album “Custom Built”, released on July 6th 2010 that Michaels enjoyed chart success again. It is his highest charting solo album to date peaking at #1 on the Top Independent Album and Top Hard Rock Albums chart. It also made it to #14 on The Billboard 200. The lead single from the album “Nothing to Lose” features pop singer Miley Cyrus. The song reached #32 in the Billboard top Rock Digital Songs chart. The opening track from the album “Riding Against the Wind” is the theme song to the Bret Michaels reality Docu-series 'Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It', which is the follow up to the Rock of Love series. The album also has a country music version of Poison’s number one single, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
The follow up album “Jammin’ with Friends” is the fifth studio album by Michaels. It was released on June 25th 2013 and it brings together friends that Michaels has made throughout his career with some of the songs that have shaped his success. The lead single from the album is a song called “Get Your Rock On” featuring Phil Collen from Def Leppard and Sal Costa. The song served as Monster Energy AMA Supercross Opener on Speed with an exclusive video that premiered on SPEED TV. There was also a re-recorded version of “Nothin’ But a Good time” featuring Ace Frehley from KISS and Michael Anthony from Van Halen. Michaels even tried his hand at a fun, tongue in cheek country crossover tune entitled “They Don’t Make An App For That” also known as “The App Song”. Michaels even managed to get Joe Perry from Aerosmith to feature on a re-recording of “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”. The album reached #13 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums Chart.
Formed in Kenton, Tennessee, US, the band came together in 1989, featuring singer/guitarist Brett Scallions, guitarist Carl Bell, bassist Jeff Abercrombie and drummer Kevin Miller. Having established their presence on the local scene, Fuel relocated to Pennsylvania in 1993, hoping to find a more fertile ground for their music to develop.
They made their record debut in 1996with the independently released EP, "Porcelain," which became a local success, bolstered by radio airplay of their single, "Shimmer." Sony's 550 imprint saw the band's potential and signed them to their roster, releasing the "Hazleton" EP in 1997 before then releasing their debut album, "Sunburn," in 1998. 'Shimmer" again became a hit, almost breaking into Billboard's Top 40. Bolstered by three further hit singles, Fuel's debut was certified Platinum, establishing the band on the hard rock scene.
Their second effort, "Something Like Human" was released in 2000, prompting further commercial success, reaching number 12 on the Billboard album charts and selling double-Platinum. 2003's "Natural Selection" continued to find Fuel hits, with the lead single, "Falls on Me," although it failed to muster the same number of sales as previous albums.
After releasing a greatest hits album, lead singer Scallions decided to depart from the band, wishing to pursue other musical interests. Toryn Green became a worthy replacement, making his debut on the band's fourth record, "Angels & Devils." Miller also left the drum stool, with Fuel filling the void with both Tommy Stewart (ex-Godsmack) and John Freese (Nine Inch Nails/A Perfect Circle). The album appeared in 2007, finding moderate chart success.
Scallions returned in 2010, with the band continuing to tour across the US. They returned to the studio in 2012, beginning work on their fifth full-length, enlisting producer Eddie Wohl to work on the album. The record saw an eventual release in March 2014, with the album breaking into the Billboard's album chart's Top 100 at number 77 upon its debut.
Bret came, saw and conquered... The set was tight with vocals and instruments right on. He had the crowd well motivated, up and dancing for the whole evening. I'll definitely make a return trip to see him when he's around again. An all around great evening of music, and well worth the price of admission.
On paper, at least, the post-grunge movement shouldn’t really have had any kind of longevity attached to it; for my money, the whole idea of prefixing ‘post’ to a musical movement is to provide a kind of place holder, in terms of musical terminology, until the next major stylistic shift occurs. Despite that fact, though - and despite the fact that they share their name with a frankly horrendous Metallica album - Fuel are still going strong, twenty-five years after their formation, even though that genre tag was one that they struggled to shake off early in their careers. Admittedly, they’ve hardly been massively prodigious in terms of their work ethic - turning out just five records, an average of one every five years - but they’ve succeeded in securing a cult fanbase, which would explain why they were still a going concern as of the release of Puppet Strings earlier this year. The album met with strong reviews and saw the band hit the road once more, tearing through their impressive back catalogue night after night across America; frontman Brett Scallions is showing no signs of slowing down with age, and UK fans will be waiting with bated breath for an announcement from the band as to British tour dates before the year is out.
Great show. Great songs. Great crowd. The venue was quite small. The maximum distance to the stage is 10 m. the sound was good for my impression. A lot of people sang along and the mood was fantastic. The show was a little short. But that is maybe due to the fact that at a Sunday night bin the city center of Stuttgart there are legal restrictions