TESLA’s music is often referred to as heavy metal, but is better described as blues metal. The band’s lyrics also strayed from the themes popular in heavy metal, particularly in the 1980’s at the beginning of their career. A further distinction from their contemporaries was their blue-collar, T-shirt-and-jeans image which was in strong contrast to glam bands of the time, which were characterized by big hair, leather pants, and flashy makeup.