Extreme : Six

If you weren’t an awkward headbanging teen in the late 80s then you wouldn’t understand. To be a fan of hair metal was to suffer through a cavalcade of lousy dime a dozen rock bands. Most, you’d hear about once and then they’d disappear in a haze of White Rain. It was a constant process of separating the wheat from the chaff.

Extreme arrived in the summer of 1989 out of Boston with their debut and were a breath of fresh air. Big riffs, killer vocals, and songs that weren’t ALL about partying and “chicks”. Thoughtful lyrics, at times. And Nuno Bettencourt was the guitar wizard us wannabe shredders had been waiting for. He had the speed, dexterity, and fluid runs that you’d find on a Shrapnel Records release, yet the melodic touches of Brian May or Jeff Beck. Nuno was a guitarist young and old could agree on.

The band went on to make two more classics, Extreme II: Pornograffitti and Extreme III Sides To Every Story, both a cut above what was happening in the pop metal scene at the time. Then grunge hit like the atom bomb on Hiroshima and hair metal became obsolete. Most of the bands of the era faded into obscurity and fairground main stage shows. The band did release another great album in Waiting For The Punchline in the mid-90s, a pared down, rawer sound. The sound of four guys in a room playing, and it was great. I saw them on this tour in a small club and they blew me away.

Singer Gary Cherone joined Van Halen for one album and Nuno put out a solo album, as well as working in other projects along the way. The band never broke up per say, but Extreme news was spread out over months, years at a time.

Extreme have returned after a 15-year hiatus with Six, a 12-song collection that shows the band still has the chops and chemistry over 30 years after their debut. They pepper the album with chugging hard rock and balladry, and nearly find a balance when they don’t lean too hard in one direction or another.

“Rise” is the opener. The song is a big, chugging rocker with a Nuno guitar solo that has been dropping jaws since the song premiered. It sounds like a band that always steered towards pop/classic rock vibes proving Extreme is more than the acoustic ballads MTV made them known for. It’s a hell of a song, with a touch of venom in the delivery. “#REBEL” continues that theme, with a chugging guitar riff and singer Gary Cherone singing something about hashtags. It’s an attempt to bring the band into the current, yet even hashtags are dated these days. “Banshee” sounds very Sunset Strip-y, all glam rock strut and worshiping at the alter of Van Halen. Not bad, but even when the Sunset Strip was booming with spandex and teased hair Extreme always had their own sound. They were always a cut above what was happening there.

That’s the vibe here; amazing guitar chops, big vocals and harmonies, and the occasional ballad thrown in for good measure. No concept album, just a bunch of rock songs made by four amazing musicians. There are a couple interesting tracks, like the atmospheric “Save Me”. “X Out” is also a cool track with modern touches that don’t take away from the band. “Thicker Than Blood” is a catchy tune with touches of electronics that give it a modern feel.

I would like to have heard more of that vibe, and less of songs like “Small Town Beautiful” and “Beautiful Girls” which honestly sound like workshopped ballads written with song doctors. And “The Mask” really doesn’t sound like Extreme at all, with the exception of Cherone’s howl in the chorus.

I can still appreciate Extreme’s Six. There aren’t a lot of 80s rock bands still writing quality songs, or that have honed their chops to as fine a point as Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone have. Six is the sound of Extreme doing what they do best, and while it doesn’t rise to the level of Pornograffiti or III Sides To Every Story, it’s a quality shot of guitar-heavy adrenaline.