Drum roll please … or maybe a hearty dose of blast-beats! Tis the season to commence the good, bad and ugly of 2014! Of course we’re talking about BravePicks 2014, where all the staff put their collective metal minds together to build the ultimate lists including individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY),  Top 5 Brave Embarrassments, Top 3 Concerts, What/Who Needs To Stop In 2015? and Metal Predictions For 2015.

BravePicks 2014

28) TESLA – Simplicity (Tesla Electric Co.)

Simplicity, Tesla's seventh studio release of all new material and and fifteenth overall, was issued in June and the Sacramento-based band continued the tradition of gritty, yet melodic hard rock n’ toll!

Tesla was sequestered at producer Tom Zutaut’s 150 acre ranch, isolated in the woods of Virginia. “Yeah, there wasn’t a whole lot there, just a farmhouse,” recalls bassist Brian Wheat to BraveWords scribe Aaron Small. “We took whatever ideas we had and stayed up all night; just wrote a bunch of songs.” As opposed to having each of the band members writing on their own, and then bring the ideas together at rehearsal. “If we were going to do it in Sacramento, there’s too many distractions with wives and kids and family and friends; all that stuff. So we need to go in lock-up.”

Tesla has an important history with Tom Zutaut as he signed the band to Geffen Records in 1986 and worked on their finest albums. “Yeah, he’s really good at bringing the best out of us. He’s one of the few people we respect and we won’t just tell to fuck off. That goes a long way with the five of us,” admits Wheat.

Read Aaron Small's entire Tesla feature at this location.

BravePicks 2014 Top 30

28) TESLA – Simplicity (Tesla Electric Co.)

29) PRONG – Ruining Lives (SPV/Steamhammer)

30) GAMMA RAY – Empire Of The Undead (EarMusic)