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Kritiken / Reviews
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(c) Frank Schuckelt |
In Deutsch
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| Extreme
- Saudades de Rock |
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Am 12.08.08 hat das Warten endlich ein Ende. Nach 13 Jahren "Extreme-loser"
Neuveröffentlichungen beweist Frontiers Records wiederum
ein feines Händchen und verwöhnt die Freunde satten
Rocks mit "Saudades de Rock".
"More than words" und "Hole hearted" waren
die Chartbreaker ihres 1990er Albums "Pornograffiti".
Mit ihrem Konzeptalbum "III Sides to every Story" begeisterten
sie Fans und Kritiker gleichermaßen.
Außer Neuling Drummer Kevin Figueiredo sind alle Originalmitglieder
wieder mit an Bord. Sänger Gary Cherone - nach seinem Kurztrip
in Van Halen Gewässern -, Saitenvirutuose Nuno Bettencourt
und Bassist Pat Badger präsentieren Powerrock mit abgedrehtem
Refrain wie "Stars", Balladen wie "Ghost"
und raue Funk-Hymnen wie "Learn to love".
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°°°°°
Saudade
- "ich habe etwas verloren, was mir viel bedeutet hat und
ich weiß nicht ob ich es je wiederbekommen werde".
Diese Sehnsucht war die treibende Kraft für Extreme sich
nach 13 Jahren Funkstille in L.A. zu treffen und "Saudades
de Rock" aufzunehmen.
Extreme ereilte in den 90ern ein ähnliches Schicksal wie
zuvor schon andere Rockformationen. Sie wurden auf ihre Charterfolge
"Hole hearted" und "More than words" reduziert.
In der Realität waren sie härter, vielfältiger
und unberechenbarer. Das repräsentative Material erschloss
sich nur den Longplayerhörern, leider verpasste da so manche/r
wirklich Bemerkenswertes.
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Als
wären sie nie weg gewesen blasen Extremes Cherone, Bettencourt
und Co. nun zum wiederholten Sturm auf den Funky-Heavy-Hardrock
Thron.
Mit einem pompösen Chorus in bester Queen Manier eröffnet
"Star" die Tour durch die Rockkulturen. Bettencourt's
virtuose Gitarrenfiguren und Cherones Shoutervocals beamen die
Hardrocknummer im alten Extreme-Spirit bemerkenswert ins Heute.
"Comfortably Dumb" lockt mit Van Halen und Led Zep Ingredenzien
und Extreme-typischen Choruseinlagen.
Der Schublade Hardrock wurde Extreme noch nie gerecht, sie waren
schon immer für Überraschungen zu haben. Trotzdem verblüfft
"Take us alive". Bettencourt pickt im treibenden Countryshuffle
Style und zitiert beiläufig mal kurz Vince Gill und die Dixie
Dregs; Höchst infektiöses Material.
"Run": Gitarrenbeladen hüpfen hypnotisierende Vocals
auf elektrisierendem Groove. Eine der stärksten Nummern des
Albums.
Das pianodominierte "Ghost" und das durch seine akustische
Gitarren an "More than words" erinnernde "Interface"
zeigen die balladeske Seite von Extreme. Im vokalen Duett leuchten
Cherones und Bettencourts Stimmen und zeigen wie perfekt sie zueinander
passen.
"Saudades de Rock" ist teilweise pures Testosteron.
Näher an "Pornograffiti" als an "III Sides
to everys story". Nuno Bettencourt zeigt wieder einmal, dass
er einer der besten Gitarristen ist. Der Saudades ist Geschichte,
Extreme is back.
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In English:
Extreme
is a US Rock band that achieved popularity in the late 1980s and
early 1990s. Some of Extreme's influences, Queen and Van Halen (the
latter of which Gary Cherone would eventually join and later leave),
are readily apparent from their music's multi-part vocal harmonies
and electric guitar tone and instrumental techniques. The band lends
the listener a sound that blends the genre of glam metal with the
shredding guitar work of thrash metal. Being asked about their style,
Extreme categorized their music as 'Funky Metal'. Extreme has released
four studio albums, two EPs (in Japan) and two compilations since
its formation. The band was one of the most successful of those
from the early 1990s, selling over 10 million albums worldwide.
Extreme rose to fame with its 1990 release Pornograffitti, which
peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200.
Extreme’s first album in thirteen years doesn’t just mark
the band’s hotly anticipated return to the studio and stage.
Saudades de Rock (pronounced “sow-dodge”) is a groundbreaking
record that reaffirms the beloved, Boston-bred foursome’s stature
as innovators in the world of rock & roll.
Fostered by the same unwavering songcraft and diverse musical approaches
that first earned the band – vocalist Gary Cherone, guitarist
Nuno Bettencourt, bassist Pat Badger and new drummer Kevin Figueiredo
– multi-platinum albums with chart topping hits and sold-out
tours the globe over, Extreme’s fifth studio offering just
may be its finest hour yet.
“A record is what makes a band vital,” says Bettencourt,
who recorded Extreme’s comeback disc at NRG Studios in Los
Angeles and served as the project’s producer and mixer. “For
the fans, it’s like, ‘Show me if you still got it.’
And we’ve done that. I really think this is the best record
we’ve ever done.”
Boasting badass, groove-laden, swaggering numbers (“King Of
The Ladies”), raw funk metal (“Learn To Love”), expressive
ballads (“Interface”) and soulful, piano steered winners
(“Ghost”), the raw, organic Saudades de Rock is the next
logical step in a catalog that’s as ambitious and expressive
as it is thought provoking.
Anchored by the amazingly memorable “Star” where Cherone’s
vocals launch the forceful song before giving way to a brilliant
hook and a topical observation of starlets falling from grace. Elsewhere,
the anthemic rocker “King” is similarly lighthearted,
as its mojo works a chorus that just won’t quit. “It’s
one of those songs made for driving around with the top down,”
Bettencourt asserts.
If the arc of Extreme seems surprisingly in synch, considering the
large decade-plus gap between records, it’s because Bettencourt
and Cherone kept in touch during the years when the band was dormant.
Then, in 2004, a series of hometown reunion gigs planted the seed
for what has ultimately become the outfit’s official regrouping.
When the pair came together to pen the tunes that would comprise
Saudades de Rock in late 2007, the creative floodgates were open.
Says Nuno, “The chemistry was there from day one, as we suspected
it would be.”
To which Cherone marvels, “I’ve spent my whole life trying
to keep up with Nuno. There was actually too much material! We were
doing a song or two a day, and we wound up with 23 or 24 songs in
a two week writing session.”
“We knew within an hour of Gary and I getting back together
to write, that we still had something relevant to offer,” Bettencourt
continues. “And while there are great bands out there, from
Muse to the Raconteurs, we felt like there was a void as far as
straight up rock and roll goes.”
Consider that hole filled by the blistering, Zeppelin-minded riffs
and powerful rhythms that that elevate “Slide” into a
raw rock opus. Less bombastic, but equally scorching is the passionate,
blues-y “Last Hour,” which Nuno describes musically as
“something you’d hear in the 1960s. It reminds me of “House
of the Rising Sun, but heavier.” Bettencourt also calls the
latter “Gary’s shining moment,” insisting, “he’s
reached the mountain vocally.” Meanwhile, the two piano-steered
numbers, the important, Lennon-minded “Peace” and the
aforementioned atmospheric “Ghost,” exhibit Extreme’s
broad stylistic abilities.
And for those still pining for the approach of Extreme’s chart
smashes, “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted,”
where Cherone and Bettencourt harmonized with such effortless grace,
look no further than “Interface,” which celebrates that
proven formula while arguably trumping it.
Based on the enthusiasm of the rock aficionados and diehard fans
that have followed the band since its self-titled debut, Extreme’s
2008 ‘Take Us Alive’ world tour is destined for success
and will bring the band to an exclusive gig in Europe at Milan’s
Rock of Ages festival on September 13th. Showcasing material from
the majestic new album and classics from discs like 1990’s
multi-platinum, Pornograffitti, not to mention 1992’s critically
acclaimed III Sides to Every Story, the members of Extreme are thrilled
to be heading out on the road. Saudades de Rock finds the men of
Extreme excited to be back together and playing to their collective
strengths. And clearly, the accomplishment is not lost on them.
“It didn’t take long for us to be reminded of what we
were capable of,” Cherone enthuses. “We always knew Extreme
was special. We always knew it was a matter of time.” It’s
a sentiment that carries over to the title of Extreme’s phenomenal
new disc. “’Saudades’ was always a beautiful word
to me,” Nuno explains. “It expresses a longing; an underlying
sadness for something or someone that’s been missing in your
life, and never quite sure if it will ever return. In this case,
for us, it’s Rock and Roll. Saudades de Rock.”
Or as Gary concludes, “I like how it expresses that longing
we’ve been feeling to play for our fans and be together again.”
Amen. |
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= Must hear : Anspieltip |
Tracklist:
1. Star *
2. Comfortably Dumb
3. Learn To Love
4. Take Us Alive
5. Run *
6. Last Hour
7. Flower Man
8. King Of The Ladies
9. Ghost
10. Slide
11. Interface *
12. Sunrise
13. Peace (Saudade)
14. Americocain (Demo 1985)
[Interview]
Nuno Bettencourt
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Frank Schuckelt |
