I don't know why, but in my mind, I thought Tesla was an established 70's group that just so happened to make it into the 80's. Boy, was I wrong.
Tesla began as City Kidd in 1981, and didn't actually adopt their now known band name until recording began on their first studio album, 1986's Mechanical Resonance. In their early days, Tesla toured with David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, and Poison, which would lead to them being labeled a glam metal. It was perhaps this opportunity, coupled with the music of course, which led to their debut album reaching number thirty-two on the charts, and garnering them a platinum certification.
The group followed this up with their final entry into the 80's, 1988's The Great Radio Controversy. The album had five successful singles, and only served to cement the band as a top selling act. It's with this album that they also hit my radar. However, not until 2022.
While conducting my usual searches, I came across the tune, Love Song, and threw it on the back burner as a potential song to track the album it was on down. It wasn't something that was a high priority, and only made it into my collection relatively quickly as a bulk sale of two other albums, one of which I've already written a post about. Double's Blue, for those of you wondering.
Playing through this album, I got excited very quickly. This thing was on the edge of your seat rock! This is the metal of the 80's that is right up my alley. Track after track hit me with catch guitar hooks, and resonated on every level. I was so into it, that before even writing this current sentence I was on ebay grabbing a copy of their prior album. Give me more Tesla, I say!
I took so many tracks from The Great Radio Controversy, that I may as well have just added all of them to my shuffle list. To say I enjoyed this album would be an absolute understatement.
This may very well be one of the few bands that I look into what they released in the 90's. Which also brings me back full circle to my first paragraph, and why I thought they were a 70's group. This was because of their 1990 live album, Five Man Acoustical Jam. This disc contains an acoustic version of Five Man Electrical Band's Signs. Telsa's version ate up the airways, only serving to paint a picture in my mind of a group that was seasoned over the decades.
Mistakes of their origins aside, Tesla has gone on to release eight studio albums to date between 1986 and 2019. However, this wouldn't be without turmoil. The original lineup of Jeff Keith, Frank Hannon, Tommy Skeoch, Brian Wheat, and Troy Luccketta would ultimately break up in 1996, but reunite in 2000, releasing Into The Now in 2004.
In 2006, Tesla embarked on world tour, but without Skeoch, who stated he left the band to spend more time with his family. The guitarist had struggled with substance abuse in the past, and this appeared to also contribute to his decision to leave. He was replaced by Scott Johnson, who was then replaced by Dave Rude. Rude would officially join the band, and be the guitarist on their studio albums released between 2008 and 2019.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS January 23, 1982 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS January 23, 1988 |
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