Released: 1990
Tracks: Decadence Dance; Li’l Jack Horny; When I’m President; Get the Funk Out; More Than Words; Money (In God We Trust); It (‘s a Monster); Pornograffiti; When I First Kissed You; Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?); He-Man Woman Hater; Song for Love; Hole Hearted
Best track: too hard to say, there’s not one real track that stands out above the rest; all are good
Track to skip: none
It’s been a few years since I’ve dug this out, but I still think it’s a great thing. I think Extreme brought a good bit of fun to heavy metal, as well as musicianship and song arrangements that were a nice kick in the butt. This album, and band, got incredibly popular thanks to the ballad, More Than Words, that was ALL OVER the radio back in 1990/1991. I like the song, I think it’s really nice and a wonderful change of pace from every single other power ballad ever released. Only 1 acoustic guitar (no string overdubs or drums kicking in for the chorus) and 2 voices. Sparse and very beautiful. It’s too bad that most of the people who bought this CD for that song didn’t bother paying attention to the rest of the album.
It definitely wasn’t cool for a metal band to be eclectic back in the late 80’s, so these guys were really taking a lot of risks by doing their thing. Of course the risks and eclecticism pay off in a huge way. It really makes Extreme a bigger and more important band than all their contemporaries (Poison, Motley Crue, Warrant, etc.). Extreme also understood the need of having great background vocals, thanks to their influence from Queen.
It’s kinda hard to find much negative about this album; they always keep everything fresh and flowing for the whole disc. Of course it should be noted that Nuno Bettencourt is a fantastic and amazingly mature songwriter, in addition to his guitar skill which was better than nearly anybody’s in 1990. His songs are impressive and ballsy…oh, he also plays nearly all the instruments on here (minus drums and bass) Of course I recommend this, it’s a great album. If you’re not into Cherone’s vocals or lotsa high-flying guitar work, you may not enjoy this too much. However, if you really get into creative, fun, super-musical, and eclectic music you should dig this.
Rating: 94
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