The Flashback JukeBox

1. Hang Tough
2. Lady Luck
3. Heaven''s Trail (No Way Out)
4. Be A Man
5. Lazy Days, Crazy Nights
6. Did It For The Money
7. Yesterdaze Gone
8. Makin' Magic
9. The Way It Is
10. Flight To Nowhere
11. Love Song
12. Paradise
13. Party's Over

The Great Radio Controversy (Geffen Records, 1989)

There isn't much that makes Tesla disinguishable from all the other hard rock/lite metal bands that dotted the musical landscape during part of the eighties and nineties. Their initial success came on the heels of a power ballad (in this case Love Song) like so many other bands of their era and they rode that success for as long as possible before time and the new wave of rock took over.

The Great Radio Controversy is Tesla's debut for Geffen records. Tesla comes with a twin guitar attack although if it weren't for the liner notes, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Tommy Skeoch and Frank Hannon since neither has a particularly signature style. Singer Jeff Keith sounds like Steven Tyler thus making him dispensible if needed. Unforunately, the band wishes they could write songs like Aerosmith. The opening track "Hang Tough" starts with a bass solo reminiscient of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" so I guess they do realize the Aerosmith connection. This album is strictly paint-by-the-numbers although it's better than most. "The Way It Is" is a good little ditty, actually. But really, the only reason I have this album is for "Love Song." This is quite simply one of my favorite power ballads of all time. Even if the opening acoustice lines don't exactly lead into the rest of the song. If I had no conscience, I would highly recommend this album but I do so you'd be better off trying to find "Love Song" on some compilation album rather than buying this album although you won't be wasting all your money if you do.

The Final Verdict?: Solid but not sensational.