Music review: Tesla – ‘Simplicity’
The starkness of the black and white album cover signifies Tesla鈥檚 no-frills approach to delivering basic, straightforward hard rock. Approaching 30 years of pounding out some great rock anthems, the jeans-and-T-shirt band from Sacramento continues to satisfy fans and ignore critics.
鈥淪implicity鈥� comes six years after the band鈥檚 last release. While 鈥淔orever More鈥� was a solid offering, the boys really kick it up a notch with one of their strongest collections of tunes yet. Filled with no-nonsense rockers and slower acoustic arrangements, 鈥淪implicity鈥� contains 14 songs that are reminiscent of the band鈥檚 heyday, when songs like 鈥淗eaven鈥檚 Trail (No Way Out)鈥� and 鈥淟ittle Suzi鈥� dominated rock radio鈥檚 playlist.
鈥淢P3鈥� opens the album with the classic sound of a needle dropping on a vinyl record. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I鈥檇 take the vinyl experience over digital any day of the week. As a teenager, there was always something special about heading down to the local music store to pick up the latest album releases. The members of Tesla obviously agree, singing about how modern technology has left us out of touch with reality. 鈥淩icochet鈥� smolders with some killer guitar riffs and honest lyrics about life on the road in a rock band.
A reference to Ted Nugent鈥檚 鈥淔ree-for-All鈥� brings a smile to my face as I fondly recall Nugent鈥檚 second solo effort from 1976. The Motor City Madman was indeed the man back then, and 鈥淔ree-for-All鈥� remains one of my favorite Nugent tunes. Slower offerings like 鈥淐ross My Heart,鈥� 鈥淗onestly鈥� and 鈥淏urnout to Fade鈥� bring back memories of Tesla鈥檚 鈥淔ive Man Acoustical Jam,鈥� while the piano-driven 鈥淟ife Is a River鈥� possesses a spiritual presence that takes a cue from Motley Crue鈥檚 鈥淗ome Sweet Home.鈥� Tesla鈥檚 current lineup consists of Jeff Keith on vocals, Frank
Hannon on lead guitar, Brian Wheat on bass, Troy Luccketta on drums and Dave Rude on guitar.
Tesla hits Pittsburgh鈥檚 Stage AE on Aug. 14.
Having seen the band a few years ago, I can safely say they won鈥檛 disappoint. Tesla is still an underrated band that just gets stronger with age.