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EXTREME
Six
Frontiers/earMusic

To many fans of the well-esteemed Boston hard rock quartet EXTREME, it's something of a shame that despite their legacy of multi-platinum album sales and subtle and direct collection of both rockers and ballads, that they've only ever amassed such a small catalogue of albums throughout their 35+ year career. Indeed, their latest album titled Six being their sixth studio album, had ended a 15-year wait since their last release Saudades De Rock - a lengthy time-marking period which puts them on par with GUNS 'N ROSES in the category of historically deep musical gaps.

So what had prompted such a mass delay in between albums for this particular foursome? While it's a safe bet that frontman Gary Cherone hasn't been receiving any calls back from the VAN HALEN PR camp for some time, he'd been otherwise busy with a few side projects of his own at the time, notably releasing two studio albums with HURTSMILE and a WHO tribute band known as SLIP KID which he'd formed with his brother Mark. Guitarist Nuno Bettencourt landed a lucrative two-year gig touring with pop sensation Rihanna which would've also seen him contributing to her first-ever hard rock album had her record label not vetoed the idea, citing a loss of her fanbase demographic; otherwise, he dabbled in a side project of his own titled SATELLITE PARTY with Perry Farrell of JANE'S ADDICTION and almost recorded a follow-up album with the lineup before he got the call from Gary to put the band back together along with bassist Pat Badger. Drummer Mike Mangini, having been a member of EXTREME since he'd replaced original stickman Paul Geary in the mid-90's, defected to DREAM THEATER and his replacement Kevin Figueiredo, who'd played in both Cherone and Bettencourt's respected side projects, officially joined the band in time for the recordings for Saudades De Rock and has remained a member ever since.

In summary, the reason for the mass delay between EXTREME's fifth and sixth studio albums were, in fact, the band itself. Moreso, Saudades - whose translation from Portuguese means "nostalgic yearnings" - just wasn't quite the proverbial banger that matched up to the band's earlier material despite its best intentions; their hometown paper had even compared one of their newer songs at the time to COLDPLAY for Chrissakes. Global sales weren't as strong as their predecessors despite countless promotional tours and the band members went their separate ways once more. As it turned out, EXTREME's playing on Saudades appeared to be catering to just about everyone except for themselves as they tailored and even sacrificed much of their original sound to become more modern to a fault. With one listen to Nuno's crunching riffs on Six's opening number and lead-off single "Rise", what you're hearing is a band finally discovering its comfort zone after a nearly 25 year long chase. And while "Rise" is strong enough of an anthemic-sounding earworm for the listener to nearly dismiss the remainder of the album, to do so would be at their peril. Follow-up tracks such as "#Rebel", "The Mask" and "Banshee" showcase some of Cherone's most diverse and powerful registers and Nuno's most heaviest and dynamic-sounding solos - some which would've fit in nicely on the band's 1989 self-titled album. Even the ballads such as "Other Side Of the Rainbow", "Hurricane" and "Small Town Beautiful" harken back to EXTREME's raw acoustic sound from the "More Than Words"/"Hole-Hearted" era. Elsewhere, the band take on new musical avenues with their foray into experimentation with electronic sounds in the form of "Thicker Than Blood" and "X Out" and even attempt a bit of upbeat funky reggae on "Beautiful Girls", the latter sounding more akin to TROOPER's 1"We're Here For A Good Time" than to the breezy VAN HALEN classic it borrows both its vibe and title from.

Musically overall, Six is quite possibly the tightest-sounding EXTREME album in ages. And despite their catalogue not being as more bountiful than those of some of their hard rock/metal peers due to the monkey business of the ever-changing musical jungle, EXTREME are finally in their natural habitat having explored new terrain while aping much of their classic sounds which yielded bananas of fame in the number of their new beast called Six.

4.5 Out Of 5.0

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