Extreme

Extreme is the first studio album of Boston funk-metal band Extreme, released on March 14, 1989. Despite being released on a major label, the album did not sell very well. It produced four singles: "Little Girls", "Kid Ego", "Mutha (Don't Wanna Go To School Today)" and the radio-only "Play with Me". It was not until their next album, Pornograffitti, that the band become well known Musically, the record is influenced by muscular metal guitar riffs, often with funky, syncopated timing, and incendiary, high-speed metal solos. The record foreshadowed the extraordinary technical guitar-playing prowess of Portuguese-born guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, which was more fully revealed on the band's subsequent release, Pornograffitti. Songs such as "Watching", "Waiting" and "Rock a Bye Bye" are more in the vein of Queen, with three-part harmony and focus on slower, melody-based guitar solos from Bennencourt. The band later noted Queen as a major influence on their style. Extreme was formed in, Malden, Massachusetts in 1985. Vocalist Gary Cherone and drummer Paul Geary were in a band called The Dream ("Extreme" is a derivation of Cherone and Geary's former band "The Dream", meaning "Ex-Dream"). Guitarist  Nuno Bettencourt was in a band called Sinful, and bassist Pat Badger was playing with a Berklee-based outfit called In The Pink. Following an altercation between the rival groups over communal dressing rooms, the four decided to form a new band together. Cherone and Bettencourt began writing songs together and the band played numerous shows in the Boston area. They gradually developed a strong local following, and were named "Outstanding Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Act" at the Boston Music Awards  in 1986 and 1987.The band had accumulated several original songs by the time A&R director Bryan Huttenhower signed them to A&M Records in 1988. The band then recorded their self-titled debut album which was issued in 1989. The first single was "Kid Ego," a song that Cherone would later admit made him cringe. The final track on the album, "Play With Me," was used as the "mall chase" song in the film Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Extreme (1989)

Track List

Little Girls" (3:45)

Wind Me Up" (3:35)

Kid Ego" (4:02)

Watching, Waiting" (4:54)

Mutha (Don't Wanna Go To School Today)" (4:49)

Teacher's Pet" (3:01)

Big Boys Don't Cry" (3:34)

Smoke Signals" (4:13)

Flesh 'N' Blood" (3:30)

Rock A Bye Bye" (5:56)

Play With Me" (3:38)

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Extreme Pornograffiti (1992)

Track List

"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)
"Homey (In God We Trust)" (4:11)
"It ('s A Monter)" (4:25)
"Pornograffitti" (6:16)
"When I First Kissed You" (4:00)
"Suzie (Wants Her All Day What?)" (3:39)
"He Man Woman Hater" (6:19)
"Song for Love" (5:55)
"Hole Hearted" (3:39)

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Extreme III-B Side Stories (1992)

Track List

"Warheads" (5:18)
"Rest in Peace" (6:02)
"Politicalamity" (5:04)
"Color Me Blind" (5:01)
"Cupid's Dead" (5:56)
"Peacemaker Die" (6:03)
"Seven Sundays" (4:18)
"Tragic Cimic" (4:45)
"Our Father" (4:02)
"Stop the World" (5:58)
"God Isn't Dead?" (2:02)
"I Rise 'N Shine" (6:23)
"II Am I Ever Gonna Change" (6:57)
"III Who Cares?" (8:19)

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