小简介
“极端乐队”——这一头衔对那些对音乐本身持严肃态度的人来讲至少应该意味着以下几点：天才般的灵感与创意、出色的创作、演绎实力，执着的价值观以及听众疯狂的喝彩与掌声。Extreme正是以此区别于那些如Bon Jovi(邦·乔维)、Europe(欧洲)之类空洞无物的销量冠军，而成为新一代真正的重金属/硬摇滚乐迷心中的偶像。成立于1986年的Extreme由乐队灵魂人物、吉他手Nuno与主唱Gary阿低音吉他手Pat、鼓手Paul(后于1995年由Mike取代)组成。1989年他们的初试啼声之作《Extreme I》专辑与单曲“Kid Ego”(少年自尊)一推出，评论界即对这专辑推崇备至，认为这是一张高水准的摇滚乐专辑，可惜叫好不叫座，当时的乐迷们似乎更愿意看到他们心中的偶像在电视中口吐脏话，在舞台上叼着烟大摔吉他之类傲慢不驯的举止，而Extreme的小伙子们则显得过于文静，缺少花俏的包装与花边新闻，这也使MTV等娱乐业的宣传机器忽视了他们极高的音乐水准与严肃的立意。我行我素的乐队成员们坚持着自己的分格并没向媚俗的音乐传媒和乐迷们屈服，于1990年推出极为经典之作——《Pornograffitti》(风情画)。这张专辑被公认为最佳的重金属/硬摇滚唱片之一，在这张唱片中乐队成员们充分表现了自己的天才和技艺，树立了非常个性化的极端式重金属风格。然而，这张专辑并非是一张纯Thrash Metal(激流金属)专辑，其中也有一些风格大异其趣的曲子。如令人心醉的抒情慢歌“More Than Words”，Garry富于情感的嗓音在木吉他的伴奏下唱出了一位渴望爱情而又腼腆的年青人的心声，Gary的气息控制得恰到好处，而Nuno的吉他在这种抒情的曲目中仍不忘显示一下其技艺，干净而果断的切音，恰到好处的泛音无不反映出他良好的乐感。这首歌最后也被发行为单曲，而被电台广为播放最后竟打上Billboard单曲榜冠军的位置，成为流行乐迷们心中Extreme的代名词。整张专辑有令人叹为“听”止之感，销量高达300多万张。而Extreme事业上真正的高峰期并非如此而已，1992年的《III Side To Every Story》(故事的三面性)更加强烈地震撼了人们的心灵。这是一张概念性专辑，像Extreme这样一只年轻的金属乐队所创作的这张专辑，水准甚至超越了那些老前辈。新作推出后评论界好评如潮，专辑中除保持了上张专辑中Extreme特有的演奏演唱风格之外，在音乐铺排和作品内涵的深度上均达到了一个新的高度。Extreme在95年推出一张更为自我的专辑《Waiting For The Punchline》。
Although guitarist Nuno Bettencourt's style was derived from Eddie Van Halen, his heart remained with the progressive hard rock of Queen, as well as Beatlesque pop and touches of lounge jazz. Consequently, Extreme's music was never easy to classify, since it rarely confined itself to heavy metal, hard rock, or pop. The Massachusetts-based band formed in 1985; Bettencourt had already played in a local band with bassist Pat Badger, while singer Gary Cherone fronted his own group with drummer Paul Geary. The two bands merged, and Cherone and Bettencourt formed a songwriting partnership that would eventually place Extreme atop the Billboard charts (if only for a short period).
Coupling the technical proficiency of Bettencourt's guitar with a funky rhythmic base, the band issued a self-titled debut album in 1989. It peaked at number 80, a modest feat for a new band, and the song "Play with Me" was used to orchestrate the chase scene during Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Extreme had begun to earn respect in the heavy metal world, but it wasn't until the arrival of the band's follow-up effort, Pornograffitti (particularly the the Everly Brothers-style acoustic ballad "More Than Words"), that a mainstream audience latched onto the group's sound. "More Than Words" became a number one hit, while its follow-up single, an acoustic-based pop/rocker named "Hole Hearted," hit number four. Extreme were now one of the most popular artists in the pop-metal genre, but the looming arrival of grunge music — not to mention the band's own shifting tastes — combined to make Extreme's reign relatively short-lived.
The band's third album, III Sides to Every Story, was an ambitious effort whose sales (while strong at first) couldn't match those of Pornograffitti. Geary left the lineup soon after, seeking a career in music business instead, and a revised version of the band (featuring the percussion of Mike Mangini, formerly of Annihilator) returned in 1995 with Waiting for the Punchline. It, too, suffered from a lack of sales. Accordingly, Extreme's bandmates announced their breakup the following year. Bettencourt went on to launch a solo career, issuing the Schizophonic album in 1997, before forming the band Mourning Widows, which released Mourning Widows in 1999 and Furnished Souls for Rent in 2000. Meanwhile, Cherone enjoyed a brief stint as the vocalist for Van Halen, but his one album with the band, 1998's Van Halen III, was slammed by critics and fans alike, resulting in poor sales and Cherone's eventual exit. A 13-track best-of collection named An Accidental Collision of Atoms kept Extreme's legacy alive in 2000, and the band quietly reunited in 2004 for a small series of shows. The reunion gigs continued into 2008, when a new album, Saudades de Rock, marked the group's first batch of new material in 13 years.