Certainly one of my favourite bands to come out of the 80’s was Tesla, a band who I’ve seen countless times in concert over the years both headlining and supporting in Europe, Asia, Australia and the U.S. As a live band Tesla are close to flawless and as a band they care more about there fans than most. The interesting thing about them though as a fan is that they’ve only released two studio albums per decade since their 1986 debut, making a Tesla release a much anticipated event. (In that time there have also been 5 live albums and 2 albums of covers). For a band who have been touring constantly over the period ‘Shock’ comes a huge five years after their last release ‘Simplicity’ which at one point looked like being their swansong. There have of course already been some reaction and cut and thrust due to accusations that ‘Shock’ has a rather Def Leppard feel to it, so let’s see…
First impressions certainty do cast shadows and opening track: ‘You Won’t Take Me Alive’ does have that shuffling drum sound and gang-vocal backed chorus and funky thrust that kinda sounds like a cool take on vintage Def Leppard albeit with a far better vocal and also a few added blues notes. It’s not the construction though as much as the really ‘clean’ sound though that worries me a little, and you can immediately see why some out there are screaming foul and jumping on the Phil Collen’s production. That whole Mutt Lange-style sound really suited certain bands back in the day but I always appreciated a little more earthiness and grit in my music, which was one of the things I have always loved about Tesla. As a result even after a few listens I’m still hot and cold on that opener.
Interestingly ‘Taste Like’ that follows it in reality sounds even more like Def Leppard with Jeff even phrasing his vocals like Joe Elliott and the stuttering guitar is pure Leppard. It might on one hand be rather disappointing for Tesla fans like myself to hear that, though I imagine it would sound rather great for fans of Collen’s day band and maybe even better for fans of both! I mean they’re good songs, I’d even venture that ‘Taste Like’ is a great song. Jeff is still singing and the music does edge more towards a vintage Leppard sound rather than a lackluster latter-day take on that radio-friendly formula. The only issue I really have is the production and the rather synthesized sound. The interesting thing is that then we take a complete about face…
As I said, conversely the big ballad ‘We Can Rule The World’ draws on a multitude of influences from latter-day Aerosmith to The Beatles with a thread of Spanish guitar, it’s a great song but again for me it’s the smooth production that shaves a little potential emotion from the resultant song. The title track ‘Shock’ really doesn’t do it for me though, it’s restrained and chugs along smoothly and even when Jeff decides to scream a little it just doesn’t break the surface of the ‘clean as a whistle’ production. Understated can be good of course but here the lack of bite really feels like a missed opportunity. It’s the second half of the album though where things really do take a huge upswing and if we’d started here I’d be more than happy…
‘Love is a Fire’ is the second ballad in the opening five songs and thankfully it’s one that is cast in the traditional Tesla mould, it starts out nice and light settling on blues-edged guitar stabs, gentle keys and it’s coaxed forward to a huge chorus by bass and drums before the guitar again goes all acoustic on us for a short sharp solo. This is brilliant and much more like you’d imagine from the band who have given us some incredible slower songs over the years. It’s also the first song where to my ears the production isn’t front and centre, and actually enhances the music.
‘California Summer Song’ is light, breezy, a little quirky but to me sounds more Kid Rock or Everclear than Tesla,but again it’s not a bad song. It’s also a song that I know a lot of people here will enjoy, but for me at least so much better is still to come. It’s the same almost with ‘Forever Loving You’ which is the third ballad in the opening seven songs and the poppiest of them all. I honestly don’t like it despite the smooth and soothing strings. It just seems to be missing something – lacking a hook or a thrust as it lays low at the same level without a peak. After that the album really takes flight and just soars…
‘The Mission’ is more like it, it sounds just like the Tesla we love, a little dark and brooding maybe but all heart and breaking the shackles of that overarching production. ‘Tied to the Tracks’ is maybe even better and again sounds just like the band did in the 80’s and here the guitar that you feel has been rather restrained so far really comes alive. After those two and the cool wash of ‘Afterlife’ that follows, I almost felt I’d started listening to a different album. It’s another great song, breezy, catchy and gets better with each listen. That feeling of revelation is further enhanced by ‘I Want Everything’ which bursts out of the speakers like Tesla doing a ‘Cheap Trick’ – it’s a great slab of Pop-Rock that is given a real edge by Keith’s magical delivery.
The last word goes to ‘Comfort Zone’ and here the bass is the star on another song that for me also sounds rather like that little band from Sheffield. It again suffers from those Leppard-like backing vocals and ‘smoother-than-smooth’ production but like the opening pair it’s not a bad song. Some I imagine will love the touches of Def Leppard I just prefer the rest.
For me this may well, in balance, be the best Tesla album of the last 20 years. Does it sound like Def Leppard? Well, a little, but it soon wears off – lose the first two tracks and the closer and no one would ever have have even breathed a word. If I’m being picky I’d have loved a couple more like ‘Save That Goodness’ on here, that wonderful bonus track from 2016’s ‘Mechanical Resonance Live’ but maybe that’s being greedy? Ironically of course that very track was also written by and produced by …. Def Leppard’s Phil Collen.
