Customer Reviews

Real to Reel, Vol. 2

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thank-you Tesla for making this great CD available to those of us who couldn't make it to a show during the summer of 2007. I thought Reel 1 was good but this one's even better. That oh-so-satisfying heavy guitar crunch that showed up on Reel 1's "Walk Away," "Day of the Eagle," and "Rock Bottom" shows up again on Reel 2's "Not Fragile," Saturday Night Special," and "War Pigs."

In the same way that Reel 1's "I've Got a Feeling" actually sounded BETTER than the Beatles original, Reel 2's "I Want to Take You Higher" sounds BETTER than Sly's original. If you love the classic Gibson/Marshall guitar tone, then this is your CD. It contains some of the best guitar sounds I've ever heard, and effectively pays tribute to pioneers like Ronnie Montrose, Joe Walsh, Robin Trower, Gary Rossington, Keith Richards, Tony Iommi and Joe Perry.

Reel 1 and Reel 2 are so fun to listen to, that I'm prepared to plunk my money down on volume 3 if the boys are so inclined. In fact, Tesla is going to HAVE to create Reel 3, if only to pay tribute to the Who, Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Oh, I just remembered another song from Reel 1 that is superior to the original: "Hand Me Down World" by the Guess Who. Great stuff. Buy it!

Tesla does it again in outstanding fashion. I appreciate the fact that they picked many less obvious songs and made them all their own. Case in point: Montrose's "Make It Last" and BTO's "Not Fragile" both excellent versions that make you appreciate the originals and the tesla-fied versions - they both rock. This cd contains two other gems Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do" and Sabbath's "War Pigs". I've never heard anybody cover Frampton's song (and you thought the live version was the final word!) 12 minutes of electric guitar bliss. "War Pigs" contains a wicked guitar break a la Hendrix (in this case..f'in Frank Hannon very underrated guitarist). I've heard many tribute cds and only a select few can make you forget the original version and seek out a newer version. This cd is easily one of the best cover song cds I've ever heard. P.S. Heard them cover "Rock Bottom" and "Do You Feel Like We Do" in '92 and Tesla rocked the house with smokin' versions of both songs. This rocks...BUY IT and support a band that plays out and is not played out.

I thoroughly enjoyed Real to Reel 1 by Tesla. Had some great covers, both known and unknown. I couldn't wait to get my hands on Real to Reel 2. I don't think it is as good as the first one due to song selection only, but it does contain MY favorite Black Sabbath song: War Pigs. And they do a good job on it. I would honestly give this 4 stars, but I am trying to compensate for "Apetit's" 1 star review (completely Un-appropriate) from Monkeyville USA. What an IDIOT this guy is.

Anyway, if you liked version one you should like version 2. Plus, it gives you the chance to mix and match your personal favorites and burn to one disc.

The guys from Tesla have done it again. All they have ever done is rock. They never got into all the hair band, glam stuff. They have always been T-shirts and blue jeans hard rockers. The first album is slightly better because of song selections, only because I was not familiar with some of the songs, but the more I listen the better it gets. Once in a while I recognize on the radio some of the original songs they covered on these 2 albums and man what a great job they did covering them. I can honestly say, of all my favorite artists, Tesla has never disappointed me. I love every album and pretty much every song they have ever done.
Keep on making good rock guys and keep it coming.

The initial plan was to keep Reel 2 as a CD only available to those who went to the concerts, but apparetly popular demand and watching auctions sell these CD's at ridiculous prices, they released it to the public. I'm glad they came to their senses.

Queensryche, Def Leppard, Poison,Ozzy, and Tesla have all released cover albums in the last few years, and this Real to Reel series is the best of all of them. Real 2 highlights are the It's My Body cooper cover,a long with the BTO special "not fragile. Excellent musicianship that we expect from tesla, great guitars. a must have for a tesla fan.

And here we have the second in Tesla's two-volume collection of cover songs. Of all the bands to emerge from the `80s "hair metal" scene (and I'm fully aware that Tesla was never really a hair metal band), Tesla always seemed like the band most connected to their classic rock roots. Their 5 Man Acoustical Jam album showed that they know their way around a good cover, and these Real to Reel albums prove that even further.

Real to Reel Volume 2 finds the band covering a pretty wide array of classic rock and even metal bands, from Mott the Hoople to Bad Company to Peter Frampton to Black Sabbath to Lynyrd Skynyrd. As with the first album in the series, some of the songs are just perfect for Tesla's sound (Mott's "All the Young Dudes" and Bad Company's "Shooting Star" for example) while others seem by the numbers and unnecessary. The 11-minute Frampton cover was downright painful. Still, it's fun hearing a band this good take on some classic rock songs.

I still think Tesla could have cut more than a few of these songs and made the Real to Reel project a single-disc release, but this set is still (much) more enjoyable than the halfhearted covers collections released by Poison and Def Leppard in recent years. If you're a die-hard Tesla fan, you're going to want to hear this one. Casual fans should skip Real to Reel Volume 2 in favor of one of the band's excellent studio albums or the Gold collection.

If you like Rock Covers or you like Tesla, This is a GREAT set of disks for your collection.

this album rocks...tesla your it...who ever rated this album a 1 star does not know about rock n' roll...outstanding cover songs...looking forward for real 2 reel 3.

THIS IS A VERY GOOD CD. I THINK IT'S A LITTLE HEAVIER THAN REEL 1. THE SOUND IS GREAT AS THERE ARE VERY FEW OVERDUBS SO IT HAS THAT LIVE FEEL. I WISH THEY WOULD'VE HAD MORE LEAD GUITAR BATTLES SO WE COULD HEAR MORE OF WHAT DAVE RUDE SOUNDS LIKE. HE PLAYS A LITTLE LEAD HERE AND THERE BUT THE MAJORITY OF IT IS PLAYED BY FRANK HANNON. CAN'T ARGUE WITH FRANK'S PLAYING THOUGH AS HE IS AWESOME LIKE ALWAYS. THE WHOLE BAND SOUNDS GOOD AND LIKE THEY ARE HAVING FUN. OVERALL A GOOD CD AND FUN TO LISTEN TO.

this cd was well worth the wait, the only drawback is in essence that you have to throw away the case to put it in the case with the first cd, or have 2 cases.