American hard rockers Tesla recently hit the road for The Return of the Carnival of Sins Tour alongside Motley Crue and Extreme stateside. On the exact same date worldwide, their new album Homage is set for release via Frontiers Music Srl.
Marking a full circle moment in their storied career, the new album finds Tesla returning to their roots with a collection of covers honouring some of rock’s most timeless hits, and they have been releasing singles from it of late. The most recent from the rock band is a cover of The Temptations 1967 classic, ‘I Wish It Would Rain‘.
Brian Wheat, bassist, keyboardist, pianist, and backing vocalist with the band said of the single: “‘I Wish It Would Rain‘ is a nod to one of the greatest singers of all time, David Ruffin. One of the things I am most proud of about our version is that I think David Ruffin would be proud to hear Jeff sing it. As far as the band goes, there are lots of bands that can play. I am proud that Tesla has developed the maturity to know when not to play. We stayed true to the original arrangement, with five guys playing very sparsely and letting Jeff’s vocal carry the song.”
Their previous single release, ‘Never Alone‘, was an exception to the rule regarding the Homage album’s remit. Wheat explained that he wrote the original acoustic riff in the eleventh hour of recording while visiting friends Rachael Ray and John Cusimano. When he sent it to vocalist Jeff Keith, Keith confirmed it was definitely a Tesla track.
“Out of that he came up with the title ‘Never Alone‘, we worked on it together writing the lyrics, the music, switching the chorus around a little bit and as a result, I think it turned out pretty good,” Wheat shared. “I hope you enjoy it. This is our new song ‘Never Alone‘ because we are never alone.”
Forty years ago, Tesla actually began as a cover band performing in Californian nightclubs before going on to write and record original material and sell millions of albums. Much like their musical heroes The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, artists who honed their craft by performing songs from those who came before them, they followed a similar path in their early years and seemingly continue to embrace the tradition of paying tribute through cover songs today.
The selected songs on Homage were chosen for a variety of reasons, primarily representing some of the greatest vocalists of all time, including Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury, Sam Cooke, David Ruffin, Etta James, and James Brown. Additional selections reflect songs the band grew up hearing on the radio and on their turntables.
Queen‘s 1977 classic ‘Spread Your Wings‘ was a previous single that Wheat commented on too, saying: “‘Spread Your Wings‘ for me was the song I always wanted to record by Queen. I always felt it was the one song they had in their catalogue that should have been a massive hit, but wasn’t because it was overshadowed by ‘We Are The Champions‘ and ‘We Will Rock You‘ on the News Of The World album.”
Another unexpected track that found its way into becoming a 2026 single release is one they had covered before, the Climax Blues Band‘s ‘I Love You‘. While they obviously like the song, having covered it twice, it might not be an obvious choice to UK listeners, as it was a hit single in countries other than in the UK. Also, like the Queen number, it is one written by the bass player. In Climax Blues Band this was Derek Holt, who also sang on it. Its success allegedly led to jealousies and the classic lineup splintering.
“Our new album Homage is a thank you note written in sound,” the band stated. “An offering to the great singers and songs that shaped the music we grew up listening to, and the songs we would eventually write.”
Homage Tracklist:
- ‘Never Alone‘
- ‘Bring It On Home‘ (Sam Cooke)
- ‘Spread Your Wings‘ (Queen)
- ‘I Wish It Would Rain‘ (The Temptations)
- ‘Night Moves‘ (Bob Seger)
- ‘If I Can Dream‘ (Elvis Presley)
- ‘Come And Get It‘ (Badfinger)
- ‘I Got You‘ (James Brown)
- ‘Give A Little Bit‘ (Supertramp)
- ‘I Love You 2026 Version‘ (Climax Blues Band)
- ‘The Ballad Of Curtis Loew‘ (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
- ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain‘ (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
- ‘I’d Rather Go Blind‘ (Etta James)
- ‘Mind Your Own Business‘ (Hank Williams Sr.)
