For the first time in 15 years, the Boston, Massachusetts hard rock band, Extreme released a brand new record titled “SIX.”

The band consists of lead singer, Gary Cherone, guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt, bass guitarist, Pat Badger, and Kevin Figueiredo on the drums. Cherone, Bettencourt, and Badger have been in the band since their first record was released in 1989, “Extreme.”

There’s a lot to like about this album from a musical perspective. There’s a lot going on and there are a lot of different styles whether that be hard rock, classic rock, and a pop-infused style of rock.

The first track, “RISE” sets the tone for a lot of the songs on the record. Bettencourt enters the song with a very heavy riff that I would not expect from an Extreme record since they came onto the scene in the late 80s.

“RISE” is one of the better songs on the album from a vocal perspective but my favorite part of the song is Bettencourt’s Eddie Van Halen style of guitar solo. You can see how Van Halen and other guitar slingers like Steve Vai have impacted Bettencourt’s playing.

Track two, “#REBEL” is very much like the previous track as the band does not get out of your face and they continue with the heavy riffs and beat.

Overall “#REBEL” is a pretty good song as was “RISE.” They both have that hard rock aggressive feel to them which a lot of hard rock fans appreciate.

Track three, “BANSHEE” is one of my favorite songs from the entire record. There’s something about the chunky riffs of the bass from Badger and the rough chords of Bettencourt’s guitar that really show their aggressive side.

Cherone’s isn’t the same as it was at the beginning of the band’s career but whether it’s with Extreme or fronting The Joe Perry Project, his voice has held up well and has changed for the better. If you are interested in reading more about The Joe Perry Project, click here OR here.

Cherone’s voice has toned down a bit and as I said before, it isn’t as it was at the tail end of the 80s. What I like about Cherone’s voice now is that it’s deeper and even though he sings in a lower register, he makes a point to hit some of the higher notes.

The deepness and roughness of his voice on the chorus of “BANSHEE” as he is backed up by the rest of the band is so cool and the harmony is amazing. We will come back to the harmony of the band in a bit.

The next song, track four, “OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW” is a completely different song from the previous three songs on the record.

It’s a soft acoustic song that really is an exciting break from the loud guitars that appeared at the beginning of the record. I really enjoyed this song a lot and it is the other song that is my favorite from this record.

Everything about this song is perfect, whether it’s the vocals and harmonies on this song or the quality of the sound of the guitars, it’s really a great song.

The following song, “SMALL TOWN BEAUTIFUL” is a continuation of the acoustic, softer side of the band that we saw on “OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW.”

What I liked about this song is the trade-off on lead vocals between Cherone and Bettencourt as they trade off between the chorus and melodies of the song. To further add to the song, Bettencourt then plugs in an electric guitar and goes to work on the solo.

The next three songs, “THE MASK,” “THICKER THAN BLOOD,” and “SAVE ME” continue with the aggression and hard rock style of the record and carry the listeners into tail end of the album.

As the listener prepares for the fourth to last song on the record, “HURRICANE,” they might be prepared to listen to no prisoners taken, a go-all-out song with shredding guitars and loud vocals that greeted them all over the record.

This is where they are wrong. “HURRICANE” is an extremely (no pun intended) quiet, lullaby song. In every way possible, it’s beautiful and as I sit down and write this section of the article, it gives me goosebumps, it’s just such an amazing song.

If there is any song that you listen to today, please make it “HURRICANE.” It’s just beautiful and I can’t emphasize that enough.

The last three songs, “X OUT,” “BEAUTIFUL GIRLS,” and “HERE’S TO THE LOSERS,” are all different styles.

“X OUT” is more electronic in style. That could be because Bettencourt is part of pop icon, Rihanna’s backing band which to me, is really cool.

“BEAUTIFUL GIRLS” is a fun four-minute song that is a real feel-good song that can put even die-hard hard rock fans in a good mood. This is the complete opposite of “HERE’S TO THE LOSERS” which is a slower ballad-style song that caps off the entire record.

One of the only negative comments I have about the record is that I didn’t care for how the record ended. I think they needed one stronger song to end the record. I really think a great record is about how you start an album and how you end it and unfortunately, Extreme missed the mark on that one.

The other minor comment I have is that I was not vibing with the album cover at all, it feels like I’m looking at the soundtrack album for 2017’s movie Kong: Skull Island. It was a bit of a head-scratcher.

As “extreme” (see what I did there) as this record was, let’s take a look at The Singer’s Thoughts:

1. I really liked the direction of this record, I really hope there is a follow-up
2. I loved the mix of style of songs, it gave a lot of room to breathe and let each song sound unique
3. I wish there was a stronger song to close the record. If there was another style of ballad, acoustic-wise, I think that would have capped the record off beautifully. 

Overall Grade: 7.5/10