Mechanical Resonance is the debut studio album by Sacramento based Hard Rock band Tesla(whose original name was City Kidd but another band had a similar name so the band changed it shortly before recording this album). It was released on December 8, 1986, by Geffen Records. There were three singles released from the album, “Modern Day Cowboy”, “Little Suzi(Ph.D cover who’s original version was the fifth video played on MTV in 1981 but was not a hit in the US)” and “Gettin’ Better”. All three singles made the Mainstream Rock Charts but only Little Suzi landed on the Billboard Hot 100(#91). The album would go on to sell more than a million copies in the US alone and is considered by many one of the best debut albums in the genre. The album kicks off with one of my personal favorites “EZ Come EZ Go” which kicks things off to a rocking start. “Comin’ Atcha Live” keeps things moving and is one of the best songs in the bands live shows to this day. “Gettin’ Better” is one of several more melodic songs on the album and should have been a massive hit. “2 Late 4 Love” and “Rock Me To The Top” both rock from beginning to end and for me are two of the more underrated tracks on the album. “We’re No Good Together” isn’t exactly a ballad but it starts out slower and builds as it goes on and the pace speeds up over the last minute or two of the song. Great song and another overlooked song in the bands catalog. “Modern Day Cowboy” is a legendary hard rock song in the catalog and one you can’t imagine the band not playing live. “Changes” is heavy but melodic and has a lot of light and shade in the way Zeppelin wrote. The song is amazing both musically and lyrically. “Little Suzi” was the hit but also a cover that I’m sure most fans didn’t realize at the time. Great song that’s still a live staple for the band. “Love Me” is a little more on the melodic side and another one that doesn’t get talked about much but is a very good song. “Cover Queen” is hard rock and right in your face. “Before My Eyes” closes the album and is slower but not a ballad and I’m usually not a fan of slower type songs closing albums but with how haunting this song is just works. What was cool about this band is they were a jeans and T-shirt band in the same way Metallica was at that time(they had the same management as did Dokken who should have followed the same look)and while there’s some old pictures with the makeup and teased up hair that look was short lived and the band just looked like one of us and plugged in and rocked. They toured with David Lee Roth and Alice Cooper separately in early 1987 and eventually joined the massively successful Def Leppard Hysteria tour in the summer/fall of 1987 and into 1988 and that tour helped break the band even more.
Tesla – Mechanical Resonance (1986)
