"Fuel" | ||||||||||||||
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Single by Metallica | ||||||||||||||
from the album ReLoad | ||||||||||||||
B-side |
"Sad But True" (live)/"Nothing Else Matters" (live) "Wherever I May Roam" (live)/"One" (live) "Until It Sleeps" (live)/"Fuel" (live)/"Fuel" (demo) |
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Released | June 16, 1998 | |||||||||||||
Format | CD single | |||||||||||||
Recorded | 1996 | |||||||||||||
Genre | Heavy metal | |||||||||||||
Length | 4:26 | |||||||||||||
Label | Elektra | |||||||||||||
Writer(s) |
Kirk Hammett James Hetfield Lars Ulrich |
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Producer(s) | Bob Rock | |||||||||||||
Metallica singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
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"Fuel" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. The song was written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett, and was released as the third single from their seventh album, Reload. Metallica have frequently played the song in concert over the years, including the 1999 live album S&M with Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Fuel was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1999 but lost to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant for the song "Most High".
The song's demo was called "Fuel for Fire" and was recorded in Lars Ulrich's home studio "Dungeon" on January 16, 1995 (take 1).
As an instrumental piece, "Fuel" was the theme song and used as background music during race recaps for NASCAR broadcasts on NBC and TNT from 2001 to 2003 seasons. (It was also used for the 2004 coverage of the Daytona 500, but not as the theme song.) However, from the MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 until the end of the 2001 season, the opening scream ("Give me fuel, Give me fire, Give me that which I desire!") was removed because of its close association with terrorists in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The pre-release version of the song entitled "Fuel for Fire" (recorded on October 5, 1995) (with different lyrics) appears on the NASCAR Full Throttle CD. Sometimes at live concerts, James and Kirk slide their guitars to make an engine roaring sound to add the taste of the theme of the song. The song was used as the entrance music for NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Joey Logano when they guest-starred on the October 26, 2009 episode of WWE Raw.