“The Way It Is” by Tesla

"The Way It Is" rides in on The Great Radio Controversy, Tesla's 1989 album, and it's the sound of an American rock band that would rather be tuneful than merely loud. Jeff Keith, Frank Hannon, Troy Luccketta and Tommy Skeoch wrote it together. Keith sings lead, Hannon plays both electric and acoustic guitar, Brian Wheat holds down the bass and Luccketta handles drums and percussion. Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero produced and mixed it, with Barbiero engineering as well.

The single followed in March 1990 and topped out at 13 on Album Rock Tracks and 55 on the Hot 100. Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Steve Huey counted it among the band's best, alongside "Love Song" and "Heaven's Trail", crediting melodies and riffs that dodge the predictable.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.