Extreme
Extreme
A & M Records, 1989
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/13/2000
In some ways, Extreme was a band who never got the recognition
they truly deserved. Musically, they often proved themselves to be
a sharp group, thanks in no small part to the work of vocalist Gary
Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. Maybe they were stigmatized
by the success they eventually had with two ballads, "More Than
Words" and "Hole Hearted" - a fate that sunk other bands of that
time, like Mr. Big (who are still together) and Saigon Kick.
But in other ways, Extreme might have been so much hype. They
never were able to repeat the success they had with
Extreme II: Pornograffiti, former members have had
difficulties with post-Extreme work (I'm not commenting on drummer
Pat Badger's new project, only because I have yet to listen to it),
and most of their albums have disappeared into the realms of
obscurity.
The group's self-titled debut from 1989 has moments of
brilliance, but to borrow a phrase a certain TV show once used,
Extreme often sounds like they're not quite ready for prime
time.
In a way, this disc tries to mimic some of the biggest cliches
in rock at that time. You have your song that sounds like it was
lifted from Nazareth's "Hair Of The Dog" ("Flesh 'N' Blood"), you
have your stereotypical paeans to good ol' T&A ("Teacher's
Pet"), you have your Van Halen-clone (uh, maybe we shouldn't go
there) in "Mutha (Don't Want To Go To School Today)", and you have
Bettencourt proving he studied the Eddie Van Halen book on guitar
licks. You even have the sign of things that were to come in the
ballads department with tracks like "Watching, Waiting" and "Rock A
Bye Bye".
Click here to read complete Review