Power Ballads and Straight Up Metal taken to the Extreme!!!!
For most people the years of life that composed middle school (or Jr. High for some) are the hardest and most awkward years of life. However, for me these were some of the most fun and memorable years of my life. I loved it. It was the very first time where being different and unique made me one of the cool kids. At this period of time (1990 to 1991) were the last days of the commercial peak of the glam/hair metal scene and it was a way fun time to be 13 years old. During this period of time AC/DC, Rush, Ozzy/Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Kiss, Queensryche, Guns n’ Roses, Def Leppard, and Aerosmith were my favorite bands and from the hair metal scene I really loved Motley Crue, Great White, Cinderella, Slaughter, and Ratt. However, at this point in time the power ballad phase of heavy metal was in full swing which was both good and bad for the metal scene depending on your point of view.
I’ll be the first to admit that whether they choose to show it or not, all metal heads have a sensitive/romantic side. Or at least at age 13 during the awkwardness of puberty I figured out that trying to woo a girl with “Looks That Kill” by Motley Crue was extremely ineffective while “Every Rose has its Thorn” by Poison on the other hand made their hearts melt. On the surface because I had a reputation to maintain at age 13 with the exception of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Patience” by Guns n’ Roses and few other choice power ballads, I really did not like a lot of the power ballads of metal and the romantic side of me musically was being handled pretty well by the music of Elton John, Billy Joel, and the classic rock end of the realm (i.e. “Open Arms” by Journey, “Isn’t it Time” by the Babys, “Lady” and “Babe” by Styx, etc.). However, a heavy metal power ballad would immerge in 1991 that I tried so hard not to like, but the song was so great that it could not be stopped, the one and only “More than Words” by Extreme.
The music video for Extreme’s “More than Words” is one of the most unique of its era, it is filmed in black and white with bassist Pat Badger and drummer Paul Geary chilling in the background with guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and singer Gary Cherone performing “More than Words”. The video was simple and the song was way catchy. At first I did not really like the song, but there was just something about it that I could not ignore and the song very quickly grew on me. I think one of the things that really made “More than Words” stand out is its simplicity. In my opinion it is one of the first power ballads in the realm of metal and classic rock that was not an elaborate production. Later on in 1991 Extreme released the single of “Hole Hearted” which is a more traditional folk ballad, but just as awesome as “More than Words”. My older brother bought a cassette of Extreme II: Pornograffitti and very quickly became a fan of Extreme. As much as I very much loved both of these songs at age 14, however, because they were both power ballads, I just did not feel like there was much else to the band Extreme…however, my perception of Extreme would very radically change a few months later.
One of my very favorite bands of all time is ZZ Top and I especially loved Tres Hombres, Fandango, Eliminator, Afterburner, and Recycler when I was growing up. On August 1, 1991, my Mom, my brothers, and I went to see ZZ Top with Extreme opening the show at the Salt Palace. Prior to this show I was not expecting anything much out of Extreme; I was excited to hear them perform “More than Words” and “Hole Hearted”, but I felt like their show was going to be something I just had to get through to see ZZ Top. The lights of the Salt Palace went down and Extreme immediately took the stage. I have never forgotten how they looked, Gary Cherone was wearing a black tank top and warm up sweats, Nuno was wearing a black button up shirt and Levi’s, Pat Badger was wearing a leather jacket and leather pants, and Paul Geary was wearing a Boston Bruins t-shirt with shorts. They looked a lot little different than many of the metal bands I had seen live up to that point. They opened their show with “Decadence Dance” and then went into “L’il Jack Horny” and I was completely floored. I was expecting Extreme to sound more like Firehouse, Poison, or Bon Jovi, I was so wrong about these guys. I was almost double taking during their whole show because I was so surprised by how great they were live. I will never forget when the roadies set up the bar stools on stage and the crowd was going berserk in anticipation. The entire crowd sang along with “More than Words” and “Hole Hearted” at the top of their lungs and it was truly a very magical moment. Extreme ended their show with “Get the Funk Out” and the crowd was completely rocking and rolling. Extreme was one of the first openers I ever saw where I was still screaming for more when their show was over. To be honest their show made “More than Words” and “Hole Hearted” ever more awesome because I witnessed firsthand the depth and substance behind Extreme. ZZ Top had a hard act to follow that night. However, ZZ Top still lived up to everything I loved about them and put on a top notch show. This was one of the greatest concerts I have ever been to and holds a special place in my heart, especially because this was the last concert I saw in the old Salt Palace before it was torn down. After this concert I frequently borrowed my Brother Alan’s cassette of Extreme II: Pornograffitti and it very quickly became one of my favorites through middle and high school.
Extreme II: Pornograffitti is in many ways a quasi-concept album. To me the story is simple, the songs follow revolve around a male character living a decadent lifestyle entering the battlefield of love. His experiences entail lust (“L’il Jack Horny”), power (“Decadence Dance” and “When I’m President”), greed (“It’s A Monster” and “In God We Trust”), attraction and falling in love (“More than Word” and “Song for Love”), the bitterness of breakups (“Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)” and “He-Man Woman Hater”), reminiscing and remembering the positive experiences in his love life (“When I First Kissed You”), and finally regret for love lost and finally putting his best foot forward again in his love life (“Hole Hearted”). In my own love life I have experienced in one way or another all of the emotions in these songs. All story concepts aside, musically this is a truly superb album. Nuno Bettencourt’s guitar playing is completely amazing, Gary Cherone’s voice is amazing, and Paul Geary and Pat Badger are the perfect rhythm section. Plus the ballads “More than Words”, “Hole Hearted”, “Song for Love”, and “When I First Kissed You” perfectly complement and balance the straight up metal of the rest of the album.
I think it is very unfortunate that Extreme is not held in much higher regard than they are in the realm of heavy metal. They will always be remembered for “More than Words” and “Hole Hearted”, but I think it’s a huge shame that they are not remembered for “Decadence Dance” and “Get the Funk Out” which are two of the best rock songs of the hair metal era. Through my life Extreme II: Pornograffitti is an album that has very much passed the test of time and still sounds amazing even today. In my opinion this album is just as great as Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood, Ratt’s Out of the Cellar, Poison’s Open Up and Say…Ahhh, Great White’s Once Bitten and for that matter I think it’s up there with Van Halen’s 5150, Whitesnake’s Whitesnake (self-titled album), Def Leppard’s Hysteria, Guns n’ Roses Appetite for Destruction and Slaughter’s Stick it to Ya as one of the greatest albums to come out of the 80’s and early 90’s (pre-grunge) metal era.
Of course, that being said I am going to take a moment to talk a little more about “More than Words” and take a very rare and open glimpse into my love life; one of the reasons why this song resonates with me so much is that it very much taps into a side of my life that I tend to hide from the outside world which is my romantic side. In my serious/romantic relationships with women this song really sums up how I express love. Saying ‘I love you’ is an important step in the relationship, but there are so many other non-verbal expressions of love which to me speak much louder than words and those are the moments I cherish the most, especially the moments when I know that I am in love with a girl when we look into each other’s eyes and it just shows. There are not very many songs that adequately describe at least my perception of how I feel when I am in love, but “More than Words” certainly does a good job. It makes me happy today that this song is not only played on classic rock and metal radio stations, but it is also played on soft rock and pop variety stations. In addition, I feel like “More than Words” is viewed more as a standard that everyone loves. To be bold, I hold this song in the same regard as “Everything I Own” by Bread, “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John, “She’s Got A Way” by Billy Joel, “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers, “Yesterday” by The Beatles, and “Words” by the Bee Gees as one of the greatest love songs in history. As much as I feel like Extreme has a bad rap within metal because of “More than Words”, they have created one of the most loved love songs in history and I am glad that it’s associated with metal.
