Tesla

Tesla, a Sacramento, CA, hard rock quintet, regularly toured with the likes of Poison and Def Leppard, but vocalist Jeff Keith, guitarist/keyboardist Frank Hannon, guitarist Tommy Skeoch, bass guitarist/keyboardist Brian Wheat, and drummer Troy Luccketta weren't a "hair metal" act. More importantly, musically, Tesla's five albums between 1986 and 1994 had more in common with Aerosmith. The 1995 video collection Time's Makin' Changes: The Videos & More compiles 16 clips and insightful interviews with Keith, Hannon, Wheat, and Luccketta. (By 1995, Skeoch's drug problems had forced him out of the band.) The videos for killer early songs like "Modern Day Cowboy" and "Little Suzi" are loaded with powerful and playful "performance" shots. "Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)" is one of those outdoor, filmed-at-an-abandoned-industrial-site videos, but the gritty blues-rocker is enhanced by the setting and the occasional blasts of fire. "Lazy Days, Crazy Nights" was filmed during a soundcheck on the 1989 tour, and traditional behind the scenes, offstage candid peeks at the band are included. Hannon's lengthy acoustic guitar intro to "Love Song" was actually shot outside in the twilight during an interview segment. "The Way It Is" was recorded live in Tesla's hometown at a benefit concert for the homeless on Jan. 17, 1990. "Signs" and "Paradise" are taken from the live acoustic show released in 1990 as Five Man Acoustical Jam. "Edison's Medicine" is practically an educational video since it's used to document the groundbreaking but largely ignored scientific work of the band's namesake, Nikola Tesla. Tired video clichés are savagely mocked and copied on "Need Your Lovin'" which goes so far as to identify them with on-screen graphics. Time's Makin' Changes: The Videos & More is a solid blend of videos and anecdotes from a popular but largely underrated American rock & roll band. This video was reissued on DVD in 2002. ~ Bret Adams, All Music Guide