Inicia sesión en tu cuenta
Estadísticas
Biografía
You know you’ve made it when you create a cliché, and Boston’s very own Extreme are perfect examples of this. The band had their fans back in the day, with some small radio hits and a decent selling debut album. However, might have remained nothing more than a surprisingly awesome curio had they not inadvertently perfected the longstanding tradition of hard rock bands releasing a preposterous, over the top acoustic ballad that can still get you singing along no matter what the occasion might be. Yes, they are partially responsible for “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”, “November Rain”, and “To Be With You”, and let’s be honest, is the world not a brighter place with them in it?
Of course it is, and in a spectacular display of good things coming from insane pettiness, the band began with three different hard rock groups arguing about sharing a dressing room. Singer Gary Cherone and drummer Paul Geary both played in The Dream, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt was playing in a group called Sinful and bassist Pat Badger (not a stage name) played in “In The Pink”. These four men were the first four people in all three groups to get over themselves and struck up a friendship with each other, they started jamming together soon afterwards and decided to form a new group together.
Since Geary and Cherone both were late of the band The Dream, that obviously made the two men “Ex-Dream”, and in a stunning display of punning ability (pundamentalism? Sorry.), they named their new group Extreme as a result. The new group started writing, rehearsing and gigging soon after that, building a strong enough following around the Boston rock scene to with the “Outstanding Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Act” at the Boston Music Awards two years running before they’d even released their first album or signed to a record label. Their label deal would come in 1988 when they signed to A&M Records, and their self-titled debut album was released one year later, in1989.
All things considered it was an ideal first release, big enough to make a name for themselves, strong selling enough to secure a second album, but not so big that they had nowhere else to go but down. In hindsight, no-one at all could have predicted what happened next. Come August 1990, their second album, the preposterously titled “Extreme II: Pornograffiti” was released. Like their first effort, it sold modestly but unlike their second effort, the band had an ace up their sleeve. At first the album’s third single, “More Than Words” charted at number 81. However, then it started to climb, and climb and climb the charts until the band realized they had a bona-fide smash hit on their hands, hitting number one in June 1991.
In the dying days of hair metal, Extreme were the biggest deal of them all. They even had a second top five hit with the other acoustic ballad on their second album “Hole Hearted”, and ever since then they might not have ever been able to emulate that kind of success but then again, who has? What other rock band has had that kind of chart success ever since for that matter? The band split in 1996 but got back together in 2004, and their reunion shows have been a must see for any fan of 80’s metal. Yes it’s silly, yes it’s cheesy and yes, there are probably more tasteful ways of spending your time and money but the fact remains that no-one can deny Extreme’s charms, no matter how cool you might be. And twenty years after their heyday, they still come highly recommended.
Críticas en vivo
Never thought I'd be able to see them live, and especially not so close to home! Still going strong in 2014 A.D., playing their repetoire as if it was still 1993. Now many of you know "More Than Words", maybe not by name, but you'd definitely recognize it if it came on the radio. Off of their second album, Pornograffitti, the rest is chockful of driving guitar riffs, memorable solos, amazing vocals, and musicianship across the board. Truly a masterpiece. The band played the entire album front to back on their last tour, and I was astounded at how tight, controlled, and energetic these guys still are. Then at the end, as a little treat, they played some fan favorites to round out the night. Seeing the opening "He-Man Woman Hater" solo played note-for-note (and I mean note-for-note) live in front of you and the dual bass/guitar 'battle' of Pat Badger and Nuno Bettencourt during "Cupid's Dead" were just two of the many highlights during the night. Gary Cherone's definitely still got those vocals, hitting some astounding highs, and Kevin Figueiredo should not be left out of the equation: he's definitely got the chops to drive things home and then some, which I was extremely pleased to find. If you even slightly remember these guys and still find yourself rocking out to old Def Leppard, Boston, or even Dokken tracks, do NOT pass them up. You might not find them together much longer. Come back to Buffalo when you can guys! It was killer!
JC_V
Going to an Extreme concert is an "EXTREMEly" immense experience. Not only are you going to be listening to Extreme, but you get to watch Nuno Bettencourt shred on the guitar. The man is an incredible musician - I wish I could play half as well as that guy.
The atmosphere is always very lively. The audience is always pumped up; they dance to the music, the jump around, they sing along with Gary Cherone, etc. The band themselves don't dress extravagantly, instead opting for casual clothing. The stage set-up, like the clothes they wear, is very minimal, so as to remove all distractions from the music.
The band is present on the stage, with nothing but their equipment and various lights above them to make them visible to the audience. Now for the music itself. Extreme is a metal band. As their name suggests, they are not afraid to experiment with various subgenres; funk, glam, hard rock, heavy metal, you name it.
When the band performs "Get the Funk Out," Bettencourt starts off with a really cool solo. When the rest of the band joins in, the crowd goes nuts and screams with excitement. Watching Nuno play those solos live is reason enough to want to go see these guys live in concert. It is definitely an experience that takes you back to a time when metal music was much more popular.
This concert was amazing. I was quite surprised and happy that such a HUGE crowd showed up to support the group. Nuno never fails to delight with his incredible guitar playing. He was definitely the star of the show!!! Gary's voice was decent tonight as well. He's a great front-man. I could do without the "When I First Kissed You" song. I've hated that since the first time I heard it. It kind of put us to sleep. That was the ONLY bad part of the show...take that one out guys...it sucks. If I wanted to see Frank Sinatra...well, I never would actually.
One other thing...I really hate that people are holding up their cell phones and recording the entire show. STOP AND ENJOY THE SHOW PEOPLE!!!! It makes it hard to see over you. Kind of sad that people are doing that.
The bottom line...Extreme is AWESOME and they are DEFINITELY worth seeing live. I would go see them again and again and again.
SteelerTom
SteelerTom
I got hooked on Extreme my senior year in college when I took Pornograffitti for a spin and they have been my favorite since taking over my fandom of VH. I have seen them multiple times over the years and recently saw them in February 2024 at Austin and Houston. They are on fire and clicking on all cylinders. Aging like fine wine! Never sounded better and thank God we got new music last year with an incredible masterpiece SIX. Please go see this band. They are the best band going now and Nuno is the heir to the throne left vacant by EVH and Nuno is a guitar Gawd! My hope is very soon come out with more new music to keep this run going!
jcmcallister
The Band sounded amazing. The original 3 members, Gary,Nuno,and Pat were as tight as ever. The set list was so deep it was amazing that there were still like 3 songs I would have liked to hear. Crazy thing was I wanted them to do Queen's Hammer to fall, but got We are the champions so I can't really bitch there. Only thing else missing was if the boys would have done a couple of Van Halen III songs. Other then that AMAZING SHOW!! boys were dead on
john-kelly-38
