Tesla
Forever More

What do this band and this Croatian (or Serbian?) inventor, besides the name, have in common?

With thorough research into the lives of both the scientist and the band, common traits can be identified. The Tesla case (the scientist), for those who don't already know, was very troubled. He carried out numerous researches and discoveries, some of which weren't even credited to him (the most famous case was the radio, attributed to him only in 1943, the year the poor man died). Now, you may ask what does this madman (because he was) have to do with the American band?

Besides taking the name of the scientist, the Californian group also dedicated their second album to him, the beautiful "The Great Radio Controversity", but destiny was more generous towards the "rock scientists" who gained notoriety in the American and international scene. However, success was not excessive for the band, overshadowed by the Grunge phenomenon and other less talented groups, and it remains one of the most (unjustly) underrated rock bands of all time. Ultimately, both the group and the scientist, in different measures, didn't achieve the success they deserved.

After this prelude, we come to the album, the latest work from the band that, after the live albums with the cover album, seemed to have taken a recreational break, which I must say did them well. Indeed, Keith and the others arrived last 2008 (the year of historic comebacks) with a fresh, clean, and sincere record that gives the impression of a genuine and inspired product. Some of the staunchest fans might wrinkle their noses at the new sounds that Tesla proposes. They indeed combine their usual blues-rock and beloved melody with a more modern and mature sound, never clichéd or commercial. The five Californians, who seem to have drunk the same elixir of eternal youth as Jon Bon Jovi, leave us wanting nothing with this album: the usual honest, well-played hard rock, full of energy.

The memorable tracks are there, starting with the initial title track "Forever More" (with references to the Scorpions in the introduction), differences are noticeable compared to the old albums, the sound has evolved, but the formula is the same: energy, sweat, and rock n' roll. It continues with catchy songs like "I Wanna Live" and in my opinion, the best song of the album, "One Day At A Time", then there's "So What", also noteworthy, with no lack of romantic interludes (as usual) in full Tesla style such as "Just In Case", "The First Time", which perhaps represents one of the band's best ballads, and "Pvt Ledbetter", another classy piece.

"Breakin' Free" is adequate but nothing special. "All Of Me" returns to Tesla's typical hard rock tones and is truly a fabulous piece, oozing energy from every pore. The three tracks that close the album ("In The Hole Again", "The Game", and "My Way") are slightly inferior to what we've heard so far, but certainly don't spoil the overall structure of the album, which closes with a "Bonus Track" well known to the band's fans, I'm talking about "What A Shame" in a live version.

Our dear Tesla never disappoint and, in the year of historic comebacks, while many other "old" rockers have rusted away, they stand out by giving us a good product, not a masterpiece, but an honest album, also aimed at new generations.

Tesla represents the kind of band that has always worked hard, focusing only on producing good music, always far from gossip, they've carried out their work with heads held high, with professional continuity, overcoming even the difficult test of time with products that are always up to par and never repetitive. And it's precisely this trait that makes Tesla an exceptional rock band: their prolific nature, which in past times was commonplace, but today seems to have become a utopia. Who knows if the band would have been appreciated by that man who once asserted:

«..I continue to hold that space cannot be curved, for the simple reason that it can have no properties. It might as well be said that God has properties. He has not, but only attributes of our own making. Of properties, we can only speak where there is matter filling space. To say that in the presence of large bodies space becomes curved is equivalent to stating that something can act upon nothing. I, for one, refuse to subscribe to such a view.»

(Nikola Tesla)