I think I speak for all of us, Extreme fanatics when I say: "FINALLY". For the last two weeks, we've been teased with short, cryptic music clips on social media, leading us to believe a new record was coming. The Boston based legends kicked off the month of March by dropping their first new single and video in almost 15 years. You've got to go back to 2008 for Saudades de Rock. An album which flew criminally under the radar and gave us some fresh material and songwriting we hadn't heard from them before.
Although the band continued to be active on the Tour/Festival/Rock Cruise circuit, there was no follow up for us to feast on. Then, rumors started to swirl, pre-covid, that they had been working on a ton of new songs and kept adding to this catalog to make it the best it could be. Years continued to pass and still nothing. I think it was this dude Benny Goodman I know, who jokingly referred to the ongoing project as: "Extreme Democracy" . (A tip of the cap to the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy which took Axl Rose and Co. 14 years to complete)
Safe to say, if this lead single is any indication, it was worth the wait. Nuno Bettencourt took to instagram this morning to announce that the aptly-titled sixth album, SIX will be released on June 9th of this year. After watching the video and listening to the track "Rise" on repeat, a few things stuck out. 1) The classic riffs, vocal harmonies and songwriting Extreme is known for, are as strong as ever. 2) I didn't know it was possible, but I think one of my biggest guitar influences has somehow gotten ....better. Nuno unleashes some jaw-dropping stuff in (and after) the solo section/bridge. Feast your ears: