Description
Tesla – Five Man London Jam – Compact Disc
Tesla’s Five Man London Jam is a live album released in 1990 on Geffen Records, and it captures the band at the height of their late-’80s commercial run—but in a deliberately stripped-down format. Recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1990, the set features Tesla performing acoustically, well before the “unplugged” trend became mainstream.
The album is significant because it predates and arguably helped spark the early-’90s wave of acoustic rock performances that would later be popularized by MTV Unplugged. Rather than simply softening their songs, Tesla reworked them—leaning into tighter arrangements, hand percussion, and vocal harmonies. The stripped format highlights the songwriting underneath the hard-rock production of their studio albums.
The setlist draws heavily from their first two studio releases, Mechanical Resonance (1986) and The Great Radio Controversy (1989). Key performances include “Signs” (a cover of the Five Man Electrical Band song that became a major hit for Tesla), “Love Song,” “Modern Day Cowboy,” “Little Suzi,” and “Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out).” The acoustic version of “Signs” became the standout single from the album, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and significantly expanding the band’s mainstream audience.
The album reached the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified Platinum in the United States. For Tesla, it marked a turning point: it broadened their identity beyond straightforward hard rock and demonstrated that their material could hold up without heavy amplification.
In the band’s catalog, Five Man London Jam remains one of their most commercially successful and culturally impactful releases—an acoustic live document that showcased musicianship and songwriting strength at a time when glam metal still dominated radio, helping position Tesla slightly outside that scene’s excess and closer to a more roots-oriented rock tradition.
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England on June 12, 2019
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic sealed
Track Listing
Cumin’ Atcha Live / Truckin’
Tied To The Tracks
We Can Work It Out
Signs
What You Give
California Summer Song
Forever Loving You
Miles Away
Paradise
Call It What You Want
Stir It Up
Into The Now
Love Song
