Nuno Bettencourt, as we all know, has bounced around the music scene, releasing solo efforts and forming moderately successful groups like Dramagods and Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party. Gary Cherone had a short-lived career as the frontman for Van Halen where he was resoundingly rejected by critics and fans alike. He seems to have been doing a fair bit of solo work over the intervening years too.

Most alarmingly, Pat Badger, Extreme’s long time bassist, went on to become an alpaca breeder.

Completing the reunited line-up will be drummer Kevin Figueiredo, who was also a member of Dramagods.

No word on any official channels to confirm this, but I’m sort of hoping for the return of this great band. I’m still listening to their albums even now.

After Gary left Extreme, he joined Van Halen for a short while, although I think he joined the band at a bad time in their career and wasn’t particularly well received as frontman.

He’s done some solo recording, and been involved with his brother in a The Who tribute band. (He’s not the only rocker to do the cover tribute band thing – Joe Elliott from Def Leppard had a side project called Cybernauts)

Recently, Gary seems to be involved with a band called hurtsmile, a group which also features his brother Markus. I listened to a few of their tunes on MySpace, and it’s great to hear Gary’s distinctive voice again. It seems to be more straight rock than his solo material, I’ll be interested to see how they develop. I think it’s seriously early days for the band, because they don’t have any group shots, logos or identity yet.

I’ve written quite a bit about Extreme in the past – they were one of my favourite bands of the 90’s, and Nuno Bettencourt was my idol as a guitarist. I knew he was still performing, so I discovered his new band Dramagods and managed to get my hands on a copy of their album, Love.

It seems that the focal point of Dramagods is Nuno. But although he’s recognised as a guitar god, Nuno also fronts the group and he’s a surprisingly good vocalist. He carries off a range of material on this album, from hard-edged rock to more sensitive material.

Another surprising aspect of this album is that it isn’t filled with extended guitar solos. Instead, the guitar solos only appear where they’re suitable – they’re not the focus of the songs as I sometimes felt they were in Nuno’s earlier work.

Love: The Best Bits

Best bits? The whole album pretty much kicks ass! The strongest material on Love is the uptempo stuff. The opener, Megaton, is an explosive start to the album – and makes brave use of synth alongside a dirty, grinding riff, alternating between this and a soaraway chorus.

Lockdown is a little more laid back, but features a blistering solo from Nuno. One of those frantic, palm-muted, ascending solos that are his signature. I’m also loving Fearless Leader – it has this chiming, pretty intro that descends into grinding guitar and merges into a dreamy-sounding chorus. Heavy is in the same vein, hard grinding riffs with an irresistible groove.

By far my favourite track is Pilots. Not only is it the most infectious track on the album, it’s the one that sticks in my head most regularly. Great singing from Nuno, and tongue in cheek lyrics – “Red-eye girls you are the best/time to dim the lights my stewardess/think we’re gonna feel some turbulence/relax”. My only gripe is the 57 second long organ intro. Cut that shit out, I just wanna hear the song!

The Balladry

Oh, Dramagods have been around long enough to know that ballads pay the bills. I’m please to report though that every ballad on Love kicks the arse of More Than Words. Ten times over in fact.

What have we got? Interface does heartbreak well, with tender verses and big, heartfelt choruses. This kind of stuff gives me a lump in my throat. Seriously. Something About You is one of those tunes that plays over a big emotional scene in…Grey’s Anatomy or something like that.

Oddball acoustic track is Broken, which is slightly out of place on the album, but a fantastic showcase of the band’s diversity and a very raw, throaty sound from Mr Bettencourt.

In Summary

Although the final 3 or 4 tracks are relatively forgettable, the rest of the album is a joy to listen to. Another blogger sums it up perfectly:

Great arrangements, great songs with hooks and twists. Emotional and upbeat, beautiful and dreamy, it’s highly recommended! It deserves your attention, no doubt!

Love is one of my absolute favourite albums of the moment. Go and get yourself a copy (on iTunes) or listen to the guys on MySpace. Other bloggers with praise for Love are Louropa and enroutre66.

1989 at was the tail end of some major rock music releases, Def Leppard had released Hysteria, Bon Jovi’s New Jersey, Alice Cooper’s Trash and many other stadium-fillers had filled the rock charts. There was certainly a market for Extreme’s music, but in retrospect it may have got lost among the noise of the larger acts.

Maybe for that reason, Extreme’s debut isn’t as adventurous an affair as their later albums would suggest – it’s more of a straight-ahead hard rock effort with a few hints at the band’s potential. Nuno Bettencourt’s amazing guitar work is the central feature of the album, but the band exudes unstoppable energy throughout.

Still, Extreme is an outstanding rock album, opening in an explosion of harmonica, thundering drums and intense riffing with Little Girls, one of the singles from the album. Little Girls is an excellent showcase for what this band can do, but I’ve always been uncomfortable with the lyric in the second verse:

Some may say I’m too old for her
Old enough to be her father
Incestual blood is thicker than water

There’s just something creepy about that, and I’ve never been able to rationalise the line. What do you think?

Wind Me Up is a passable second track, but it’s Kid Ego that has it all: Memorable guitar work, catchy chorus and the fantastic drumming that are the signature of Extreme’s best work.

Watching, Waiting is a definite low point – a too-slow attempt at a power ballad that doesn’t quite hit the spot, but again shows a taste of some of the vocal harmonies that would develop in later work, most notably III Sides To Every Story.

Another outstanding track is Mutha, Don’t Wanna Go To School, which (when I had the tape) rounded off side one of the record. It begins with some light fretwork from Nuno over the sound of a baby burbling and works into a screaming crescendo of feedback and distortion before Gary Cherone comes in for the first verse. Again, Nuno proves himself a worthy adversary for Eddie Van Halen on the solo for Mutha.

What I fondly recall as ‘Side B’ of Extreme is mostly filler material, which ends with an almighty bang in the shape of Play With Me, another frenetic guitar-driven tune that showcases the band at their tightest.

Summary

While widely acknowledged to be their weakest material, Extreme demonstrate the songwriting and playing styles that would evolve over the following two albums. Gary Cherone’s voice is powerful and the perfect counterpoint to Bettencourt’s guitar playing, and the rhythm section of Paul Geary (Drums) and Pat Badger (Bass) provides a fantastic launchpad for Nuno’s fiery soloing.

Overall, Extreme is a strong rock effort, let down by some less-than-inspired album tracks. At a time when the rock charts were flooded with strong material, Extreme could easily have been buried. Thankfully they got a second chance with Pornograffitti….