In Defense of Extreme

Extreme in 1992: (l.-r.) Paul Geary, Pat Badger, 

Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt

Yes, you read that right. Extreme.

Inspired by the VH1 Classic series The Music Video Exposed's segment on the video for the song "Get the Funk Out", I've been listening to a lot of Extreme lately. A high school bud turned me onto this band early, and I bought Extreme II: Pornograffiti the day it came out. It was my favorite album of 1990, with its funky cross-rhythms, guitar-hero antics and concept about men, women, and the dark side of porn, exploitation, and relationships. And guitar geeks like me plotzed over Nuno Bettencourt's metronome tour de force, "The Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee!"

And yes, that's the same album that has "More Than Words" on it--a song that hit number one but also destroyed Extreme's career. Their record label wanted more acoustic balladry, and people who play this song at their weddings miss the bitterness and cynicism in the lyrics:

Saying I love you
Is not the words I want to hear from you
It's not that I want you
Not to say, but if you only knew
How easy it would be to show me how you feel
More than words is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
Cos I'd already know

Some love song, huh.

Personally, I thought Extreme's finest hour was their over-the-top third album, Extreme III Sides To Every Story. This three-sided concept record ("Yours", "Mine" and "The Truth") had a track removed from the CD for space considerations. From Side II, the epic ballad "Don't Leave Me Alone." (later released as a b-side to the "Tragic Comic" single) was a key bridge between the "Mine" side and the tremendous twenty-minute suite with full orchestra (ambitiously titled "Everything Under the Sun") that closed the record.

I only saw Extreme once, at an amazing show at the Beacon Theater. Here's some footage from Youtube of the band bringing down the house with a blazing ten-minute "Cupid's Dead." Watch it, listen to it, and remember that this band was more than two pretty dudes with long hair and acoustic guitars.




Extreme reunited in 2008, releasing a new record, Saudades de Rock. And it's pretty good. The band will release a new live DVD, Take Us Alive, comes out on May 4. For more information, check out their official site,