Formed 1984, U.S.A.
Albums:
1986
Mechanical Resonance
1989
The Great Radio Controversy
1990
Five Man Acoustical Jam
1991
Psychotic Supper
1994
Bust A Nut
1995
Time's Makin' Changes: The Best Of Tesla
2001
20th Century Remasters - The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Tesla
2001
Replugged Live
2002
Standing Room Only
2003
Extended Versions
2004
Into The Now
2007
Real To Reel
2007
Real To Reel 2
History:
Mainstream hard rockers, Tesla's blue-collar music turned them into superstars in
the early 90s. Named after the inventor of the same name, Tesla took pride
in the fact that they used "no machines" in the recording of any album. They were one
of the few groups that remained successful as musical tides changed around them.
Formed in Sacramento, California by Jeff Keith (vocals), Tommy
Skeoch (guitar), Frank Hannon (guitar), Brian Wheat (bass) and
Troy Luccketta (drums), the band helped usher in a return to roots-oriented
rock, and it paid off as early as the debut album which went platinum. The
sophomore effort went top 20 in America and wielded the top 10 single "Love Song",
also on its way to platinum success.
The band wasn't afraid to experiment, as Five Man Acoustical Jam was
an all acoustic live album, released long before the highly popular MTV Unplugged
show became a household word. It would prove to be the group's most successful album,
as their remake of the song "Signs" would hit #8 on the Billboard singles charts.
Tesla had become one of the heavyweights of the hard rock genre.
Future albums wouldn't be as huge, but still managed to do more then
respectable business considering grunge had all but killed the genre Tesla was
attached to. In 1994 the band took a hiatus to support Skeoch with his substance abuse,
but the band fell apart shortly after. In the aftermath Keith and Skeoch
formed Bar 7, Hannon created Moon Dog Mane and Luccketta
joined Soulmotor. In late 2000 however the group reformed for a few live gigs
and released a live album. In 2004 their first studio album in ten years proved that
Tesla never missed a beat. Dave Rude would then replace Skeoch on guitar
as the band released a covers album entitled Real To Reel.
Links:
The Official Tesla Page
The Official Frank Hannon Page
Buy Tesla CDs:
Purchase at Amazon.com
Purchase at CDUniverse.com
Purchase at eBay.com