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Fuse's sole album is only worth paying attention to if you're a Cheap Trick fan and want a curious glimpse of what Rick Nielsen and Tom Peterson were up to roughly five years before they formed the band for which they're really famous. In Fuse, they and three other musicians played ordinary late-'60s hard rock, influenced by the Yardbirds and Cream, and perhaps a bit of Arthur Brown in the operatic vocals and classical-tinged keyboards, but with a Midwestern industriousness. Actually, it seems a little ahead of its time in how the songwriting, hard rock/organ combinations, long-winding melodic progressions, and overly serious belting vocals of Joe Sundberg anticipate some early-'70s hard rock/prog rock crossover albums. Being on the cutting edge of that particular trend is not especially praiseworthy, since the crunching songs aren't too good or memorable. The 2001 CD reissue on Rewind adds a non-LP single, with a strange cover of "Hound Dog" on the A-side and a "Dust My Blues" variation, "Cruisin' for Burgers," on the flip. 


Joe Sundberg (vocals)
Rick Nielsen (guitar, organ) [cheap Trick]
Craig Myers (guitar)
Tom Peterson (bass) [cheap Trick]
Chip Greenman (drums)

1 Across The Skies 
2 Permanent Resident 
3 Show Me 
4 To Your Health 
5 In A Window 
6 4/4 3/4 
7 Mystery Ship 
8 Sad Day 
9 Hound Dog (Bonus Track) 
10 Crusin' For Burgers (Bonus Track)