Even
though Tesla were an 80’s metal band, they never had that 80’s flair. They had the hair, sure, but their music was
always more than just the fluff that most bands that rose to prominence in the
80’s provided. Most rock music has blues
undertones, but where a lot of the 80’s bands glossed over that with
synthesizers and hair spray, Tesla embraced it, and because of that, their
music has stood up a lot better (in my opinion) than other bands of that era.
It
doesn’t hurt that Tesla is also putting out new music on a fairly regular
basis. Despite a break between 1994 and
2000, Tesla has been going strong for the better part of thirty years, which
includes relentless touring as well as a steady stream of albums. Sure, a couple of those albums weren’t
entirely new material (Real to Reel
was an album of covers, while Twisted
Wires was an acoustic compilation – and actually really good!). Tesla recently released a new album titled Simplicity, which is in lockstep with
their mantra of bare-bones songwriting.
Tesla has long bucked the trend of overproduced music, preferring
instruments played by skilled musicians along with a vocalist who’s voice still
has a considerable range over a computer.
The
tracks on this album are all well done, and hard to believe that they were all
single day recordings, but they run the gamut from hard and heavy to
piano-laced beauties. Frank Hannon is
still one of the best guitar players and songwriters of the 80’s that no one
remembers until they hear a Tesla album.
Seriously, who are the best 80’s guitarists? Van Halen, Mars, Sambora maybe?, CC DeVille
or Phil Collen? Not to mention Mustaine,
Hammett and all of the heavier acts from that era. No one seems to remember that Tesla is the brainchild
of Frank Hannon, his musical fingerprints are all over it (along with bassist
Brian Wheat whose contributions can’t be undersold). Jeff Keith has one of the most unique voices
in music, part strained, part melodic, it sounds like he smoked a
carton of Marlboros before stepping to the mike, yet he pulls it off every
time. You would think that a voice that
unique would make everything sound the same after awhile, but Keith varies his
delivery just enough to make each track its own individual entity. The entire band has never disappointed in
terms of execution, be it on the live stage or in the recording studio, and this album proves that point.
I loved
how heavy Tesla’s last album Forevermore
was, and while Simplicity doesn’t
approach that level of heft, it’s not a disappointment in the least. It’s a simple rock record with performers
that are still as tight of a band as they ever were and definitely one to check
out. Now only if the band would come
play a show in New York…
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