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Bust a Nut

Tesla - Bust a Nut Audio CD

A fair review of the Tesla "Bust a Nut" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Tesla reviews here, or go back to the Tesla tabs.

Band: Tesla
Title: Bust a Nut
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-05-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Gate/Invited 2: Solution 3: Shine Away 4: Try So Hard 5: She Want She Want 6: Need Your Lovin' 7: Action Talks 8: Mama's Fool 9: Cry 10: Earthmover 11: Lot to Lose 12: Rubberband 13: Wonderful World 14: Games People Play

Break the rust!!
Saw these guys back in
the 90's playing SAC"S clubs',what great memories!!. Man if you have dust on your stereo,or rust on your chrome-just play some
tesla and it will blow all that crud right off!!.

Bust a Nut - The best Tesla Album
The others are all great as well so it's going some to say that this is the best. Buy this album!!! I bought it when it first came out and it's been my favorite of their's ever since. I feel that they matured a great deal in their lyrics and the songs all rock. It's truely a shame that they got lumped in with all of the "hair bands" of the day because they were not part of that crowd. Anyway, every song is a stand out. The band feels that they peaked on Psychotic Supper but I feel this is where the truely great stuff is.

From what I've read and heard in talking to a lot of fans is that this is their least favorite Tesla album but if you listen, you will find an awesome rock album full of great songs. This is one of those albums where I truely can't figure out why it didn't do better not only in sales but in the minds of Tesla fans. Buy this album!!!.

Tesla continues to lose direction
After "Psychotic Supper" failed to get the label support that it desparately needed the group just fell apart. I honestly feel that Tesla reached the end here. With this the whole metal scene was falling away anyhow as grunge was dying off after the death of Kurt Cobain, and here was Tesla trying to make up it's mind what way to go. With the opening track "The Gate" it sounded like they were going to head back to the hair days of the 80's, but then the next song "Solution" they played like a lost and wandering band of the 90's. The rest of the songs just followed suit. The groups slogan is "No Machines", but there's also another slogan at foot here, and that's "No Music Direction", and for some bands that's possibly a workable concept as long as there's an inkling of where the bands roots are. With Tesla it's all over the board where they would score a top 10 hit with an acoustic version of the song "Signs", which is a rock song, to where they do a cover here of Joe South's "Games People Play". I feel that Tesla failed to show thier influences here, and was just trying to make a living; which is not a bad thing, but it pretty much kept them at a cult status. I pretty much had this album, but didn't listen to it at the time as I was trying to leave the secular music scene behind, and just move onto Christianity, and I know the album lurked around in my head all this time, so I felt it was time to face it; I feel that the album is below par for a group that can do some memorable songs, and to me it seems they wanted out of the label, and possibly away from each other. .

Rock-Solid Tesla Album
After the flannel-clad alterna-rockers pretty much wiped out the hair metal genre, (and yes, I know that Tesla shouldn't have been lumped in with Poison, Warrant, et al, but they were anyway, so. You really have to hand it to Tesla. . . ) in the early 1990's, Tesla had a decision to make. They could have quit releasing new music like Cinderella, or made some weak attempt at going grunge like Dokken. Instead, the band released what they knew their fans wanted. . . another great Tesla album.

Bust a Nut is exactly the kind of album Tesla could have recorded a decade earlier, or a decade later for that matter (see Into the Now). It's a straightforward, blues-based hard rock album that doesn't rely on big hair, fancy outfits, teen angst, or any other gimmick. In a nutshell (which is appropriate given the title and cover), Tesla is the quintessential rock & roll band. I realize that's a bold statement, but I think they would stand up against all challengers.

Back to the album itself, Bust a Nut may not be as perfect as Mechanical Resonance or the The Great Radio Controversy, but it is on par with Psychotic Supper and Into the Now. There are some great songs here (Shine Away, Try So Hard, Mama's Fool, and Games People Play come to mind), though perhaps a bit of filler as well. Still, it's a solid album overall, and served as a bold declaration of independence at a time when many other bands were trying desperately to adopt the latest trends. Of course it sold poorly and the band disappeared for nearly a decade, but the album still rocked!.

Stands The Test of Time
By the late 80s keyboard-led music became necessity. Music world since the introduction of synth changed a lot and lots of great bands like BOSTON, JOURNEY, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA and ASIA with bombastic dynamism in rock dominated the charts. Tesla came out of such era but stayed simple just as Led Zeppelin, Early Deep Purple, or Whitesnake. They recreated staight rock'n roll based on guitars and passionate vocals. Their style well honors Nikola Tesla, legendary inventor, where the bandname came from.

Borrowing Nikola Tesla's 1943 invention, a machine cracking a nut, as the jacket image, the band fulfills the hard-rocking yet dyanmic and acoustic rock to the edge.

The opening The Gate/Intro signifies their sound and SOLUTION rocks heavy competing well with Metallica's ENTER SANDMAN. SHINE AWAY, TRY SO HARD are my top favorites from this album and the reason I love this album. NEED YOUR LOVING is the beautiful Purplish acoustic masterpiece track. ACTION TALKS and CRY are well set heavy tracks. Since ALOT TO LOSE they search for pop area using covers and renditional track. WONDERFUL WORLD, no doubt was inspired by Louis Armstrong classic WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD. Nice renditional track. GAMES PEOPLE PLAY is the full renditon of 1969 hit by Joe South.

Verdict: Rock'n roll masterpiece. Revitalizing guitar featured traditional hard rock.
Rating: 99 out of 100. Every track is the winner. Few albums can accomplish this.
Recommended for: Classic rock fans. Modern rock fans who love acoustic rock. Wide range of rock fans.

You can see a complete list of all Tesla discography, or go back to the Tesla tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.