All You Need Is...Love Song by Tesla

The following three bands make my list of the most underrated bands ever: The Kinks, Thin Lizzy, and...Tesla. Yes, fucking Tesla. Now let me explain myself here.

Tesla for some reason gets lumped into the category of hair metal but really was nothing like the rest of their peers (main reason: while most of those bands were filled with pretty boys, the bass player and drummer of Tesla might be the two ugliest dudes that have ever picked up musical instruments). Tesla was a hard rock band in the truest sense of the genre. The lead singer (Jeff Keith) has one of the best rock voices. (I'm a firm believer that the best voices are gravelly and scratchy. Hence why Liam Gallagher and Rod Stewart rule…but I digress…)

There are 3 albums I vividly remember hearing for the first time and being blown away. Appetite For Destruction by GN'R, Nevermind by Nirvana, and Mechanical Resonance by Tesla. My older brother played it for me when I was 8 and I remember he had somehow gotten an advanced copy (which actually boggles my mind now that I think about it. How the hell did my 14 year old brother with no connection to the music industry end up with a promo of Tesla's first album?)

All things aside, the real focus of this entry is that Tesla is one of the most underrated bands ever because they wrote one of the best songs of all time: Love Song.

I do not care what you say. Unless you agree with me, you are wrong. American Pie, Freebird, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Bohemian Rhapsody, Strawberry Fields...they got nothin' on Love Song. This song is amazing. Starts off with a slow classical guitar solo (totally stolen from Dee by Randy Rhoads but whatever...it's homage) and then goes into a slow ballad-type intro, followed by two guitar solos (Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeotch represent) and then blows up with a huge fist-pumping chorus that proclaims "Love will find a way." How great is that? It's fucking triumphant! Hopeful! Love will find a way, damn it!

Now I'm not going to lie here. I have never listened to another Tesla album after their third studio album Psychotic Supper. All I know is that at some point they made an album called Bust a Nut that had a picture of a walnut in a vice grip or something on the cover. But if my brother ever somehow manages to get his hands on an advanced copy of a new Tesla album (which would probably be even more mind-boggling now) I'd definitely give it a listen.

A History Lesson for the Hipsters

There are many different types of albums out there in the world. "Well of course there are," you say. "Rock, Rap, Country, some kind of electronic music that will be out of date 3 months after it is released (don't worry though, it'll be retro 8 months after that and will be played at college parties for the next 12 years.) I'm talking about a specific type of album that some bands make. Not every band has this type of album, and not all of the bands that do have good ones. Some of them though...are the greatest albums ever made. I'm talking about the drug album. The one that was inspired by something that can only be legally obtained with a stolen prescription pad.
Recently I've rediscovered one of my favorite albums of this category, This is Hardcore by Pulp. For those of you that don't know, Pulp was huge in the UK during the Britpop scene and had very brief success here in the U.S. (however, as of late hipsters across the country have embraced Jarvis Cocker and his solo work. Good for you hipster-douche. Much cooler than back in '98 when you were embracing Marilyn Manson t-shirts and Korn CD's.)
The album came out in 1998 and is to me the last Britpop album. While it was given good reviews by the critics and went to number 1 in the U.K. it didn't do much here...which is a shame because it is great from start to finish.
Why do I call it a "drug album"? Well, the first track is over 5 min long, the first single off the album is over 6 min long, 90% of the songs make a drug reference, and one track that is over 8 minutes long spends 5 minutes and 30 seconds building up to less than 2 minutes of music. While I've never had the pleasure of a cocaine-fueled psychotic episode, I completely plan on this album blaring if I do. In short, this album is incredible.
I love the different layers of guitar, the bass, and the orchestra that keeps popping up in songs throughout the album (another sign of a drug album). There is also something about the drums on the album that sound incredible to me. Especially on the track Sylvia. There is just a really cool groove throughout the album. And of course you can't ignore the incredible voice of Jarvis Cocker. Narrating the story of his life going out of control, he sounds like David Bowie on one track and Leonard Cohen the on the next. It's a pop album that you can dance and pump your fist to, but at the same time, it's dark as shit.
Have you ever had a party at your house where at the end of the night you've had way too much fun, you're way too drunk, way too tired, and you just want to tell everyone to get the hell out of your house? That's This is Hardcore.
Favorite Tracks
The Fear
TV Movie
A Little Soul
Sylvia

I Still Want to Punch You in the Balls, Julian Casablancas

So I thought this blog would be me writing about whatever it is I'm listening to at the time and that it would be things that have been out for quite sometime because I wasn't up on new music anymore. Low and behold, I've been hooked on a new album for the last couple of days! Granted it's a solo album by a guy whose band really hasn't been hip in something like 6 years, but whatever, it's a new album. Put me on the board.
So in 2001 I was like a lot of Strokes fans. While being completely blown away with their music I also wanted to give every single one of them a cock punch. Well, maybe not the bass player. He seemed pretty harmless...but yeah, aside from being annoying I loved the Strokes and listened to the album constantly. I even thought the second album was great as well, which I'm pretty sure was considered a failure. The third album though, I think is pretty much destined to spend the rest of eternity as the "i didn't even know they made a third album" album. Which is good, because it's pretty bad.
So, like most Strokes fans, I pretty much wrote them off as a band I would never seek out again, nor did I care to. Then somehow I stumbled across the new solo album, Phrazes for the Young from lead singer Julian Casablancas.
Son of...
this album is good. I mean, honestly, it's awesome.
If you never liked the Strokes, then don't bother - because it sounds like a Strokes album a lot of the time - but that's mainly due to the fact that Casablancas has a very distinct vocal sound. Musically, it's kind of all over the place, ranging from the signature Strokes guitar sound and fist-pumping choruses to 80's synth and drum machine beats that wouldn't sound out of place at a dance club. I'll even go out on a ledge and say Julian Casablancas does a good job at channeling Lou Reed on a couple tracks. Yeah, that's right.
I forgot how much I liked the dudes vocals. Some people have whiskey voices; Casablancas has a beer voice. Slurring and crooning his way through a song in a fashion that only 7 Budweisers could create.
I read an interview with Casablancas where he said the Strokes are planning on getting together in the coming year to work on a new album but he didn't seem that optimistic. I'll tell you what Julian. Don't bother. Using this and that last train wreck of an album you guys put out as a reference, I say stay with the solo career. Hopefully you tour and come to Chicago, because I'll be there. Can't say I won't want to still give you a cock punch though...
Favorite tracks:
Out of the Blue
Left & Right in the Dark
Ludlow St.
Glass

Gram's Tune

Am I the only one who finds that their music selections are heavily influenced by the seasons?
Something about the fall makes me want to listen to country or alt-country, or just anything where the acoustic guitar is used.
As of late, I've been on a big Gram Parsons kick. This happens a few times a year and it's always a welcomed mood.
What I love about Parsons is the selections you have. From his work with, the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers (which coincidentally is the best name for a band ever), or his solo albums. Each is a little different than the other yet still maintains his style of songwriting and his country influence.
You'll always see him referenced as being a founder or main influence of country rock. And many times people will say he was a huge influence on the Stones during the Exile recording. All I know is that, to me his music sounds like an old friend...And by that I mean the old friend that when you see them, you end up drinking all night long and playing air guitar at multiple times.
Obviously the most tragic thing about Parson's music is that there isn't more out there. Like many rock stars of that era, Gram died young of a drug overdose.
The story of his life is one that sounds like it could have been made up; heir to a large fruit grove and shipping company, had a father named "Coon Dog", enrolled and dropped out of Harvard, went to L.A. to become a famous musician, became friends with the Rolling Stones, and finally, burnt out before he faded away.
For those of you that like alt country, country, classic rock, or just music in general you need to listen to his music. And might I add that you should drink a can of Coors when you do....
Be sure to check out these tracks when you do:
$1000 Wedding
Hot Burrito # 1
Six Days on the Road
Sin City
Dark End of the Street
A Song for You
Kiss the Children
Wheels
Hickory Wind