Extreme

1989

Personnel:
Gary Cherone – Vocals
Nuno Bettencourt – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Pat Badger – Bass, Vocals
Paul Geary – Drums, Vocals

by Extreme

Track by Track

1. Little Girls (Bettencourt and Cherone)

The opening is a nice funky little number that showcases the talents of the band even if it, like most of the first album is very derivative of Van Halen and Aerosmith.

B-

2. Wind Me Up (Bettencourt and Cherone)

A mediocre pop rock song that isn’t very memorable. It is decent enough but overall forgettable.

C-

3. Kid Ego (Bettencourt and Cherone)

Another solid but forgettable number. Some fun lyrics and some good punch but fairly mediocre.

C+

4. Watching, Waiting (Bettencourt and Cherone)

A very cool track. Singer Gary Cherone is a known Catholic who lets his religion into his lyrics in a very non preachy way. The story of Jesus Christ in a rock ballad. It’s fairly unique and some great vocals by Gary and Nuno elevate this into a very solid tune.

A-

5. Mutha, Don’t Wanna Go To School Today (Bettencourt and Cherone)

The track itself is a ripoff of Van Halen’s Unchained but the guitar solo that precedes it is worth the price of admission. Nuno Bettencourt can flat out shred and this track is proof. And despite the rip off, the rest of the track is a fun singalong.

B

6. Teacher’s Pet (Bettencourt and Cherone)

Well it’s lyrically the spiritual successor to Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher. It’s another great showcase for Bettencourt but also some great vocals from Gary Cherone make it worthwhile.

B-

7. Big Boys Don’t Cry (Bettencourt and Cherone)

Another track that is mediocre. It’s not horrible, the lyrics are playful and Nuno is a great guitarist but there just isn’t much special about the track.

C

8. Smoke Signals (Bettencourt and Cherone)

This is a great track and a real portent of things to come. Bettencourt starts it off with some great accoustic blues. Cherone rocks out with some very cool vocals and as usual the lyrics are clever and playful.

A-

9. Flesh and Blood (Bettencourt and Cherone)

A vampiric rock track but without the sensuality you would assume. Brutal and frank. And overall a filler track.

C+

10. Rock a Bye Bye (Bettencourt and Cherone)

Wow. A very powerful track. An anti-abortion epic full of strings, piano, and vocals. Great lyrics and powerful lead vocals from Gary Cherone leads into a tremendously powerful guitar solo from Nuno Bettencourt worthy of attention.

A+

11. Play With Me (Bettencourt and Cherone)

The epitome of early Extreme. Fretwork not to be denied by Nuno, classic bass grooving from Pat Badger, workmanlike drums from Paul Geary, and great vocals and lyrics from Gary Cherone. Famously in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

A-

Overall:

It is a fairly mediocre debut that merely hints at the talent and power that Extreme would develop. This album could have pigeonholed them into a Van Halen wannabe but they were far far better. Luckily they were in an age where they were able to sustain a little bit of momentum.

C+