siLLy puPPy Of all the comeback artists to drop an album in 2023 after a lengthy absence, the Boston based EXTREME is not a band i expected ever to hear from again. Best known for their funkified glammy pop rock albums that caught the tail end of the 1980s and the early 1990s just before grunge stole glam metal’s thunder, EXTREME was quite successful in its day producing top 10 singles and selling millions of albums but after the alternative 90s hit hard the band sort of slowly but quietly went away. The band did make a surprise return with its rather subdued 2008 album “Saudades de Rock” but i’d bet nobody thought they’d ever hear the likes of vocalist Gary Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt cranking out fiery EXTREME songs ever again. At least i didn’t!

Well here they are in 2023 with their sixth album, titled…. well, SIX! While the album title doesn’t leave a lot to get excited about, i’m pleasantly surprised that the album is exactly what EXTREME fans have been wanting to hear ever since “III Sides To Every Story.” Yes the band has given up trying to be something they never intended to be (as heard on the lackluster alt metal insincerity on 1995’s “Waiting For The Punchline). SIX finds the band getting back to their hard rock / heavy metal roots and cranking out all those thumping rocking grooves, thundering riffs, exquisite vocal harmonies and a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Likewise it wouldn’t be an EXTREME album without a ballad two and SIX checks off that box as well!

While retro 80s hard rock isn’t exactly my thing, i have to say that this band sounds better than i ever expected they could at this point. Sure SIX lacks the pyrotechnic guitar wizardry of EXTREME’s first two releases and the songwriting isn’t quite up to snuff either but for someone well over 60, lead vocalist Gary Cherone’s vox box has held up quite well. I’ve always considered EXTREME a very talented band but one that tried to tackle more than it could handle. While the musicianship and harmonic constructs were light years ahead of the average glam metal band of the era, the band for the most part suffered a continuity problem trying to shove too many disparate ideas into an album. While SIX does sound like it has solved that problem in terms of not getting too ahead of themselves in many ways (especially with the slower tracks) the album sounds like a direct descendent of 2008’s “Saudades de Rock.”

The fiery “Rise” opens the album with a thundering roar announcing EXTREME is back and ready to rock your world but the album soon begins to taper off in quality with tender ballads like “Small Town Beautiful” showing the band can’t quite muster up those utterly infectious ear worms any longer. Amazingly this band finds 3 out of the 4 originals back on duty with only drummer Paul Geary missing but Kevin Figueriedo returns on drum duties from the bands previous album of 15 long years ago. Bettencourt shows he can still play like a mother fucker but unfortunately since “Pornograffiti” he has been loath to shred like a beast and thus is too restrained for my liking. Just let loose, dude! In fact that’s been the problem with most of the later EXTREME albums is the band just got too restrained for its own good.

While much of the album is substandard to classic EXTREME, a few tracks like “Save Me” are every bit as good as anything from the past with strong crunchy grooves, instantly catchy melodies and performances to match including a sizzling Nuno styled guitar solo. If only there were more tracks on board like this. As far as ballads go on the album, i can live without them but “Hurricane” is the exception with a beautiful arpeggiated acoustic guitar performance and those classic vocal harmonies not heard since the 1990 smash hit “More Than Words.” The band uses keyboards on “Thicker Than Blood” and “X Out” but they seem wasted due to the fact the tracks are fairly generic. The ska flavored “Beautiful Girls” insinuates a Van Halen cover but provides a track completely out of character.

Highlights are “Rise,” “The Mask,” the guitar solo on “Thicker Than Blood” and “Save Me.” Well don’t expect EXTREME to have undergone a transformation into a totally new band of the 21st century! No way. This is EXTREME looking to its past for ideas not expressed some 30 years ago. In many ways this album could’ve easily come out in the early 90s as there is nothing to indicate that it is a modern creation. While i wasn’t expecting anything spectacular the album is better than i was expecting. While this hardly competes with EXTREME at its peak much less the legions of metal and hard rock that have come out since, SIX is a nice fun ride bringing a glimpse of simpler times to those not familiar with the band’s previous output. There are some really brilliant tracks on this one but also quite a bit of filler too however i have to give them credit for keeping it together all these decades.

martindavey87 By 1989, the world was already getting a bit bored by what was commonly referred to as either glam metal or hair metal... or simply, 80’s metal. With its vast array of long-haired, grown men in spandex and makeup, there was a certain cheesiness and repetition to the subgenre that had run its course, and with the rising thrash metal scene and grunge on the horizon, people were looking for something a bit more serious and with more depth.

Which is why it’s such a shame that Boston four-piece Extreme seem to have become the poster child for everything that was wrong with 80’s metal.

Big hairdos, headbands (definitely an 80’s thing), bright clothing and cowboy boots... Yep, these guys checked off everything on the list of cheesy clichés that people were embarrassed by. But the reality is that Extreme consists of four incredibly talented and competent musicians, and this, their 1989 self-titled debut album, is chock-full of catchy, well-written and well-performed songs.

Courtesy of guitar virtuoso Nuno Bettencourt, ‘Extreme’ features non-stop energetic displays of musical prowess. Accompanied by Gary Cherones powerful and infectious vocals, and a solid rhythm section by Pat Badger on bass and Paul Geary on drums, this is a band of highly competent musicians with incredible chemistry. There’s a strong, punchy production that brings the music to life, and a big emphasis on backing vocals and harmonies gives the songs some great dynamics.

Tracks like ‘Kid Ego’, ‘Little Girls’, ‘Wind Me Up’, ‘Teacher’s Pet’, ‘Mutha (Don’t Wanna Go to School Today)’, ‘Play With Me’ and ‘Flesh and Blood’ make this album such a joy to listen to. Fun, upbeat, energetic and full of excellent musicianship, Extreme had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and while they’re somewhat respected today, being around in 1989 instantly put them in the firing line for anyone who was fed up with the big-haired pompous rock stars of the 80’s. Still, if you can look past the criticisms of the day and the ridiculous fashion sense, ‘Extreme’ is a fantastic debut album, and definitely shows that there was some serious talent to be found in the hair metal scene of the 80’s.

siLLy puPPy After catching the attention of the metal scene with their eponymous debut mostly due to the guitar wizardry antics of Nuno Bettencourt as well as the childhood themed syncopated funky metal sound that even got the track “Play With Me” included in a couple films including “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, EXTREME rode the momentum and cranked out their second album EXTREME II: PORNOGRAFFITTI which technically is followed by (A FUNKED UP FAIRY TALE) but absolutely nobody including me knew that it was the case and seems a little excessive actually. The band found huge success with this album as it cashed in just before the total collapse of the glam metal scene that was increasingly becoming more cheesy pop than metal. PORNOGRAFFITTI is no exception to that trend however EXTREME carried out the marriage of glam metal and cheesy pop with more sophistication than say Poison, Warrant or other kitschy purveyors of cheese of the day. Add to that the funk infused compositions and they were ready for primetime.

Nuno Bettencourt was a bona fide guitar hero of the day with technical chops so bold and daring that he was admitted into the big boys club that included the neoclassical greats such as Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteem and Steve Vai. His sophisticated riffing and soloing sequences were the wet dreams of guitarists of the day and he was admittedly brilliant in juxtaposing extreme speed and seemingly improvised techniques into some of the catchiest pop infused melodies in all of 80s metal. On the pop metal side of the equation, the band wrote some incredibly catchy funk metal tunes with addictive multi-part harmonies and ear worm quality melodies that the public ate up which catapulted the album all the way to the #10 position on the Billboard charts and earning them a double platinum release.

To say the least, PORNOGRAFFITTI is quite a diverse release however the tracks basically fall into two categories. The heavy funk metal rockers that display the assiduous riffing with funky syncopation and include extraordinary complex soloing and then… there are the others. The remaining tracks are softer, sweeter and more pop oriented. These tracks include the huge #1 hit “More Than Words” which was basically a duet between vocalist Gary Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt playing on an acoustic guitar. The track was so friggin’ popular during the day that it created a very unique situation in all of metal history that had 80 year old grandmothers lining up at record stores to buy a mostly metal album based upon the one song that touched them like grandpa never did! They most likely assumed that this was some new version of Simon & Garfunkel which led record store employees to have to convince them to buy the single rather than the album!

The followup single “Hole Hearted” was also a huge hit peaking at #4 on the charts. While also an acoustic number, this one sounded more like Supertramp’s “Give A Little Bit” as it was based on a 12 string guitar with an upbeat mid-tempo stomp sort of groove. Also on the album is a totally left-field turn in the form of “When I First Kissed You” which is a cheesy synthesized Frank Sinatra type of tune that showcases Cherone’s gift for crooning. Given that these mellower pop tracks were so popular makes me realize that Cherone was actually a better crooner on ballads than heavy rock vocalist because when he rocks out he sounds a lot like Paul Stanley of KISS while on ballads like this he displays more sophisticated subtleties. Sometimes on the heavier tracks his vocals just didn’t fit the bill but he always got the job done.

Lyrically speaking, the band utilized the same sort of childhood fantasies laced with nursery rhymes as heard on the debut such as on tracks like “Li’l Jack Horny” and “When I’m President” but on PORNOGRAFFITTI they also developed a sense of political satire as heard in the title track, “Get The Funk Out,” “Money (in God We Trust)” and “He-Man Woman Hater,” the latter of which opens with an outstanding display of Bettencourt’s sizzling guitar playing virtuosity before breaking into the main song. Some of the tracks are head scratchers like the lyrically WTF moment on “Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)” which are the lyrics followed by “Suzie wants her all day sucker.” Perhaps the biggest cheesefest on the album comes in the form of “Song For Love” which is a rather hilarious sort of kumbaya moment where hippie ideals unite with sunshine pop embellished with metal backings. Pretty funny but amazingly addictive at the same time!

PORNOGRAFFITTI portended quite a few trends in the music scene that were about to unfold. Firstly, this album was perhaps the death knell for the glam metal world that was about to get dethroned by the grunge scene once Nirvana’s “Nevermind” hit the market. While glam metal of the 80s started out with a raw and gritty sound as heard on Motley Crue’s earliest albums, throughout the MTV years it continued to get more and more infused with cheesy pop hooks and uninspired ballads that eroded its credibility. While bands like W.A.S.P. and Guns N Roses gave it some sense of legitimacy, EXTREME’s “More Than Words” went the final step and completely eliminated any trace of hard rock or metal altogether resulting in nothing but a Simon & Garfunkel sing along type of guitar and vocal piece. While well performed, it didn’t exactly sit well with metalheads of the day.

Secondly, the funk metal scene and genre mixing would catch on with the ultimate culmination resulting in Mr. Bungle’s debut album the following year. While EXTREME may have been on to something as they saw the signs of a burgeoning alternative approach to metal brewing all around them, unfortunately they latched on to the most loathed aspects of the glam metal scene which would be their ultimate undoing. Personally, despite the negatives of PORNOGRAFFITTI, i actually find the compositions to be brilliant and the lyrics, while cheesy much of the time, are lighthearted and don’t irritate me like they seem to do to others. Perhaps the only problem i have with PORNOGRAFFITTI is that EXTREME are trying too hard to be too many different things and haven’t quite found their unique signature sound as they would on the followup “III Sides To Every Story.” Still though, this is a fun little spin that i’ve listened to a ridiculous number of times. While the production of the original is a little sucky, the newer remastered version makes up for it and possible the one to check out.

siLLy puPPy Coming from Boston, USA, the funk glam metal band EXTREME formed from the ashes of several other bands imploding before they barely got started. Gary Cherone (vocals) and Paul Geary (drums) from a band called The Dream, Pat Badger (bass) from a band called In The Pink and guitarist Nuno Buttencourt coming from Sinful. Once the four hooked up and began writing songs, the chemistry was complete and quickly caught attention in the live circuit of the Boston region. While forming in 1985 it only took a year to win the Boston Music Awards in both 86 and 87. This caught the attention of A&M Records turned PolyGram in 1988 and soon thereafter the band was signed and released their eponymous debut album catching the wave of the 80s alternative funk metal scene coupled with a glam appearance.

Despite the attempts to pigeonhole EXTREME into any sort of categorization however they were actually quite distinct from other bands of the day with their tracks consisting of catchy Van Halen-esque guitar riffs accompanied by funky syncopated counterpoints. Nuno Betterncourt was a particular developed guitarist offering super fast and technically advanced guitar soloing much in the vein of Eddie Van Halen. These guitar antics are most pronounced on “Mutha (Don’t Wanna Go To School Today)” and the track “Play With Me” the latter of which took parts of Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca in A minor” as the intro and outro with a sizzling classical infused solo in the middle. “Play With Me” track was featured in the films “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and “Jury Duty” which helped get the band some greater national attention. Also, Gary Cherone had a deep voice sounding a lot like Paul Stanley of KISS and the band also employed three-part harmonies especially on the slower ballady tracks such as “Watching, Waiting” and “Rock A Bye Bye.”


While exhibiting a funk metal approach to the compositions, EXTREME comfortably fit in the glam metal scene as well with the standard gaudy hairspray and stretch pants of the day but mainly with the catchy pop hooks wrapped up in heavy rock riffing and extended soloing. On this debut album the band was still struggling to shed their influences which despite having a fairly unique sound still has plenty of sections that sound like they would fit right off a Van Halen or Queen album. The band also displays their love of genre jumping with not only classic heavy rock but the more subdued slower tracks as well but nothing near the more expansive free reign of their second album “Pornograffiti.” The album enjoyed moderate success selling over 300,000 albums with the help of the singles “Little Girls,” “Kid Ego,” "Mutha (Don't Wanna Go To School Today)" and "Play With Me" which found airplay on MTV and select radio play.

EXTREME is a fairly pleasant album to experience. The musicians are all tight with Nuno Bettencourt showing a highly developed sense of melodic virtuosity beyond the standard of the day. The tracks have an innocent playfulness to them as they are all associated with childhood experiences and the rhythms are not only catchy but have a bouncy carefree delivery save the two slower tracks. This debut album is actually a pretty accomplished recording but there a few issues i have with it. First of all the production is a little lackluster and sounds a bit too thin as if it was released on an MP3 before they existed. Secondly the band tends to try too hard to be other bands on any given track and a unifying chemistry hadn’t quite gelled yet as they were still getting their feet wet. All in all, EXTREME is a decent debut for a band that had a larger musical palette than most of their contemporaries. This debut was successful in garnering enough attention that would allow their followup to break them into the mainstream.

Warthur Extreme come at the whole funk metal prospect from a glam rock background, and as such it's rather poppier than much similar material of the era. Primus may have been "Sailing the Seas of Cheese", but this is cheesier by far than their material, and flirts regularly with reverting into full-on glam metal. For those who don't mind the more pop-metal styles of the 1980s, it's a blast, and there's certainly some wit shown in the lyrics. The Van Halen-esque guitar heroics add a bit of technical prowess to proceedings which at least helps steer things away from the most vapid and insipid excesses of the glam metal era.