Extreme was:
Extreme began as a
Boston area band called
The Dream, which released a six-song
EP in 1983. In 1985, The
Dream became Extreme due to a naming
conflict with a
television
station. In November of 1987, the band signed with
A&M Records, the
label on which they released all four of their albums. Their first album,
which was self-titled, was released in March of 1989, and gained the band
a fair amount of critical acclaim, but little
mainstream attention. Even so,
about 300,000 copies of the album were sold. In September of 1990,
II Pornograffitti
was released, once again garnering little attention outside of hard rock publications (although the album went
gold in
Canada) before...
..."More than Words" was released as a single in May of 1991. Its sudden success was
a surprise to both the band and the label, to say the least. The song had, after all, been
sent to radio stations as an afterthought, and the band was touring Europe at the time of
release. But, for a couple of months, Extreme was the king of the airwaves. The band also
had a couple of minor hits in "Hole Hearted" and "Get the Funk Out," the latter being the
follow-up to "More than Words".
Then, later that year, Nirvana's Nevermind hit, and the great radio shift from L.A. Glam
to Seattle Grunge began. With the music-buying public demanding angst, Extreme made the mistake
of releasing a thoughtful, mature, and fleshed-out album as a follow-up to Pornograffitti.
Most damning, though, was that 1992's III Sides to Every Story was hard rock, as the window for
that style of music had come and gone. Radio didn't even take a nibble, and what should have been
the defining statement of Extreme's career was overlooked by almost everybody.
The band channeled their disappointment at the reception of III Sides... into their
next (and final) album, 1995's Waiting for the Punchline. Scathing in both a lyrical and
musical sense, the CD became a staple of clearance bins within a few months of its release.
Tentative plans were made for a fifth album, but, in 1996, guitarist Bettencourt decided to
pursue a solo career. Later that year, Cherone joined Van Halen, making the band's demise
official. Rumors of a reunion have surfaced every couple of years since then, and Cherone
and Bettencourt have said nothing in interviews to discourage the idea, but, as of this writing,
there's no hard evidence suggesting that a second incarnation of Extreme is imminent.
Discography
Extreme (1989)
- Little Girls 3:47
- Wind Me Up 3:37
- Kid Ego 4:04
- Watching, Waiting 4:54
- Mutha (Don't Wanna Go to School Today) 4:52
- Teacher's Pet 3:01
- Big Boys Don't Cry 3:34
- Smoke Signals 4:14
- Flesh N Blood 3:31
- Rock A Bye Bye 5:57
- Play With Me 3:29
II Pornograffitti (1990)
- Decadence Dance 6:49
- Li'l Jack Horny 4:52
- When I'm President 4:22
- Get the Funk Out 4:24
- More than Words 5:34
- Money (In God We Trust) 4:11
- It ('s A Monster) 4:25
- Pornograffitti 6:16
- When I First Kissed You 4:00
- Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?) 3:39
- He-Man Woman Hater 6:19
- Song for Love 5:55
- Hole Hearted 3:39
III Sides to Every Story (1992)
- Warheads 5:18
- Rest in Peace 6:02
- Politicalamity 5:04
- Color Me Blind 5:00
- Cupid's Dead 5:56
- Peacemaker Die 6:03
- Seven Sundays 4:18
- Tragic Comic 4:45
- Our Father 4:02
- Stop the World 5:58
- God isn't Dead? 2:02
- Don't Leave Me Alone (only available on the cassette version of the album)
- Everything Under the Sun I.Rise 'n Shine 6:22
- Everything Under the Sun II.Am I Ever Gonna Change? 6:56
- Everything Under the Sun III.Who Cares? 8:19
Waiting for the Punchline (1995)
- There is no God 6:08
- Cynical (orig. titled "Cynical Fuck") 4:42
- Tell Me Something I Don't Know 6:26
- Hip Today 4:42
- Naked 5:47
- Midnight Express 3:59
- Leave Me Alone 4:48
- No Respect 3:52
- Evilangelist 4:49
- Shadow Boxing 4:35
- Unconditionally 11:27
Sources: http://pages.infinit.net/extreme4/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Coffeehouse/2726/ExtremeEsteem.html