Extreme
III Sides to Every Story

THE REVIEW

Strange story that of Extreme: practically unnoticed at their debut in 1989 with the self-titled album, they rose to fame thanks to "More than Words", a ballad that immediately became a number one hit in the charts around the world, but also unfortunately a sort of curse, labeling them as a "one-hit wonder" band and consequently leading them to find less and less success and appreciation with their subsequent works, until their premature demise within 4 years.

No impression was ever more wrong, because that song does not represent what Extreme were at all: an extremely underrated band, with a thousand facets, composed of serious and capable professionals able to blend rock, metal, funk, and... yes, even more "banal" and commercial pieces like "More than Words" indeed.
This is more evident than ever with "III Sides...", their third album and sign of their definitive maturation: courageously, the Boston quartet decided not to ride the wave of success (it would have been much simpler and more profitable to churn out a CD in the style of the predecessor, including a chart-topping single and living off its success), but chose to continue on their path, daring as they have always done, going against the tide, perhaps disregarding easy money and charts.

The album in question is a kind of concept: it is divided into 3 parts ("Yours", "Mine", and "The Truth"), which represent a sort of triple vision of the music of the group: indeed, never like in this CD is it possible to find elements ranging from their trademark funk-rock to properly heavy metal accelerations, even venturing into symphonic opera (and here the definition of those who saw them as the heirs of Queen is apt). Extreme prove capable of moving with absolute naturalness from one genre to another: to the fast and adrenaline-filled "Warheads" that opens the platter, a calm and thought-out "Stop the World" (excellent ballad and one of the singles) opposes, to the lighter and carefree atmospheres of "Tragic Comic" (another single, dominated by acoustic instruments) responds a splendid orchestral composition like the ballad "Seven Sundays", up to bold experiments like the rap inserts in "Cupid's Dead", perhaps the most challenging track to interpret, but featuring an applaud-worthy guitar-bass unison instrumental section.

Over all, the work on the six-string by Nuno Bettencourt stands out, one of the best rhythmic guitarists around, capable of mastering the most disparate techniques and genres and blending them into thought-out solos that never represent a pure display of technique, so much so that the two best can be found in "Rest in Peace" (first single from the album), where the blues references are evident, and in "Who Cares?": few notes, but of intensity and expressiveness difficult to imitate.
Also standing out is the bass work by Pat Badger, both in the rhythm section in the company of Paul Geary behind the drums and as a worthy support to Nuno, also starring in several episodes: the already mentioned duet-duel in "Cupid's Dead" and the solo in "Stop the World", another small gem of expressiveness that few single notes can deliver!

The work concludes with the final opus (it cannot be called otherwise) "Everything Under the Sun": 22 minutes of suite, in which all the souls of the group converge: the intro of music box notes opens "Rise 'n' Shine", an acoustic track where we find the inevitable Gary Cherone - Nuno duet on vocals, then moving on to the more sustained rhythms of "Am I Ever Gonna Change?", with its catchy chorus flowing into the concluding "Who Cares?", dominated by piano and symphonic orchestra masterfully directed by the usual Nuno, where there is also room for Cherone's excellent interpretation, inspired and guided by his passion for theater opera; a suite that also features the most serious and profound lyrics written by the duo Cherone-Nuno, the true thinking minds and composers of the combo. Lyrics that depart from the playful and sometimes borderline censorable ones of previous works, to embrace more mature, social themes, touching on the sphere of human feelings and even the religious realm (the moving "God isn't Dead?" is the perfect example).

Ultimately, an album undoubtedly difficult to listen to from beginning to end, also due to the considerable overall length (about 76 min.), but undoubtedly better than any other showcasing all the talent the four were masters of: a work certainly not very commercial and almost impossible to play on the radio or MTV and therefore did not achieve the success it deserved, marking the beginning of the descending path for the group; however, an excellent album capable of satisfying various tastes, and it is precisely this characteristic that makes it even more of a true masterpiece.

P.S.: in the cassette edition there is an additional track, namely "Don't Leave Me Alone": it is a sweet piano ballad with a Gary-Nuno duet on vocals, and it is a real shame that it was not included on the CD…