Picture it, two years after the band’s most successful album, 1990s Extreme II: Pornograffitti, the Massachusetts native rock band, Extreme released their third record, 1992’s III Sides to Every Story. After the success of Pornograffitti which reached double platinum status, “III Sides to Every Story” reached the No. 10 position on the Billboard 200 and features 14 songs with a total run time of one hour and 16 minutes. This record is one of Extreme’s best and features some of my favorite songs still in their setlist today.
At the time of the band’s release, the band was comprised of lead singer Gary Cherone, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, bassist Pat Badger and drummer Paul Geary. Two years after the release of this record, Geary would leave Extreme to pursue a career in artist management.
The record starts with the fast-paced song “Warheads.” This song is the perfect opener for the record due to Geary hammering away on the drums. One thing that has worked well for Extreme over the years is the harmonies on their studio records. Throughout the chorus of “Warheads,” the harmonies are simply amazing.
Track two, which is my personal favorite on the record is “Rest In Peace.” The track starts with a strings section that was recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London and features a slight nod to John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance,” on the bridge before the first chorus.
“Rest In Peace” is the first song on the record that features Bettencourt’s Van Halen-like shredding and melodic solos which further enhances the song. Again, the beautiful harmonies are apparent on this track. Between the chorus and Cherone’s voice throughout the song, he showcases his talented vocal range.
The next three tracks, “Politicalamity,” “Color Me Blind,” and track five, “Cupid’s Dead” continue the hard rock that has been featured at the beginning of the record. While “Politicalamity,” has jumpy lyrics, “Color Me Blind,” is a return to Bettencourt’s shredding solos and “Cupid’s Dead” features the album title during the chorus of this drum-driven song.
Track six features the catchy “Peacemaker Die,” which is extremely (no pun intended) catchy. The chorus and monstrous beats have fans playing air drums and head-banking for days after listening to this song.
III Sides to Every Story is truly a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of all rock albums. The first half is all hard rock and in-your-face guitar while the second half, starting with track eight, “Tragic Comic,” is all soft ballads and love songs.
“Tragic Comic” is the strongest ballad on the album. It’s a great acoustic tune and could be viewed as the harder version of the band’s classic ballad, “More Than Words.” As the song moves along to the chorus, it’s great to hear Bettencourt’s voice so high up in the final mix showing how he isn’t just a skilled guitarist, he’s a gifted singer as well.
Some of the other highlight ballads on the bottom half of the record include “Our Father,” “God Isn’t Dead?” and “Rise n’ Shine” before the album comes to a close after the eight-minute long “Who Cares?” Each song compliments each other beautifully taking listeners on their own journey.
Extreme is one of those bands that have a massive following as they continuously sell out venues wherever they go, yet are always in the discussion of the “most underrated band ever” conversation. While the band is currently touring in support of their new album Six, fans should dive into some of their more underrated material. III Sides to Every Story stands up to some of the band’s well-known records like Extreme II: Pornograffitti and if you take a listen to this record, I just might bet that you’ll find a new favorite song from a band that’s certainly “More Than Words.”
This album rates an 8.5/10
Tracklist:
1.Warheads
2. Rest In Peace
3. Politicalamity
4. Color Me Blind
5. Cupid’s Dead
6. Peacemaker Die
7. Seven Sundays
8. Tragic Comic
9. Our Father
10. Stop the World
11. God Isn’t Dead?
12. Rise n’ Shine
13. Am I Ever Gonna Change
14. Who Cares?
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My love for live music started with my first concert ever, Guns N’ Roses back in 2016. Since then, I’ve been able to capture photos of some amazing artists like Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Ace Frehley, and Post Malone. I am based in New York/New Jersey and go to school in Connecticut majoring in Journalism and I am always looking for the next concert to attend.
