Never a band to shy away from wearing their influences on their sleeves, Tesla are back with ‘Homage’, which is exactly what the title suggests, a cover album of their influences. Thankfully, Tesla is a band that is more than happy to sing the songs that made them the band they are today, and this new release delivers on so many levels.

Opener ‘Never Alone’ is the only original track on the album, while it is a great song and shows the listener where the band are currently at, thankfully, it doesn’t sound out of place, but it is a strange thing to hear on what is basically a covers album.

Anyway, the first homage up is the cover of Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It On Home’. Whenever Tesla covers a song, they do indeed make it their own, and that is the case with this classic. I mean Jeff Keith, can only sound like himself and no one else.

One band I never thought I would hear Tesla cover is Queen, and with ‘Spread Your Wings’, the band have done just that, shown the song respect, and done it justice. Thankfully, Jeff Keith, along with the rest of the band, makes the song their own once again.

Tesla’s take on Bob Seger’s classic ‘Night Moves’ is a perfect song for the band to take on and does it justice. Admittedly, it doesn’t sound too removed from the original, but that’s not the point here. The band are clearly having a ball paying their respects to the songs that shaped them. And none more so than on this track, which for me is easily the highlight of the whole album.

Another artist that I would never imagine Tesla covering is that of the King, yeah, they cover Elvis Presley’s ‘If I Can Dream’, which thankfully, the band stay the right side of honouring a great song.

Yes, the band have covered the brilliant Badfinger’s ‘Come and Get It’, and we all know the history behind its inception, with it being written by Paul McCartney and is, for all intents and purposes, a Beatles track. And Tesla has recorded a great version.

On the cover bingo card, Tesla covering James Brown is not one I would have thought would ever get ticked off – but here they go for a straightforward cover of the classic ‘I Got You (I Feel Good). While it is a decent cover, it’s not for me, as it doesn’t add much to the original.

Supertramp’s ‘Give A Little Bit’ is up next and feels like it has been covered to death, but that said, the band have yet again done it justice, while making it ‘Tesla-fied’. Following this up with the first single release from this album is ‘I Love You (2026 Version)’. The Climax Blues Band cover is not one I was familiar with until I heard it on the band’s 2011 album ‘Twisted Wires’. This newly updated version is sublime.

The other covers on the album are good, especially Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Have You Seen The Rain. Jeff Keith’s voice fits the song perfectly. As it does on ‘The Ballad of Curtis Loew’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

One thing about this album is that the band, made up of Jeff Keith (vocals), Brian Wheat (bass), Frank Hannon (guitars), Dave Rude (guitars) and Steve Brown (drums), has clearly recorded songs that have inspired them throughout the years. Tesla is clearly going nowhere but up!

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Author: Dave Prince