Veteran hard-rock act Extreme have announced their first new studio album in 15 years. The band’s sixth LP overall is appropriately titled Six, and features the just-released raw rocker “Rise” as the first single.
Extreme — featuring Gary Cherone (vocals), Nuno Bettencourt (guitar), Pat Badger (bass), and Kevin Figueiredo (drums) — will release Six on June 9th via earMUSIC.
“Musically, it’s aggressive,” Cherone stated of “Rise.” “Lyrically, it’s a cautionary tale on the rise and fall of fame. You get seduced into it. Once you’re on top, they’ll rip you apart and tear you down. That’s the nature of the beast.”
“When Eddie Van Halen passed, it really hit me,” Bettencourt added. “I’m not going to be the one who will take the throne, but I felt some responsibility to keep guitar playing alive. So, you hear a lot of fire on the record.”
It’s good timing for Extreme to return, as the band’s 1989 song “Play With Me” appeared on the Stranger Things 4 soundtrack, which gave them a push of popularity. The band is best known for its ubiquitous early ’90s ballad “More Than Words,” as well as harder-rocking singles like “Hole Hearted” and “Rest in Peace.”
“With Extreme, there’s always a lot of passion and a little piss and vinegar,” Cherone said of Six. “We’re not in competition with anybody else, but we strive to outdo ourselves. There are some moments on this album where we did. We’ve managed to stay together after all of these years. We feel like we have something to prove when we get on stage or in the studio. Because of that, I believe some of these songs are among the best we’ve written.”
Bettencourt commented, “Whatever you think an Extreme album is after two or even three songs, it’s not. That goes for every record we’ve ever done. True Extreme fans know to ‘expect the unexpected.’ I feel like we need a good old school rock album. Six is definitely modern, but you can put on headphones and go on a journey from top-to-bottom. It’s like ‘Extreme 2.0.'”
Last month, Bettencourt performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show with Rihanna. He has served as the pop star’s lead guitarist for several of her world tours.
Cherone, meanwhile, will handle lead vocals for The Joe Perry Project during an upcoming spring US tour. Tickets for those shows are available here.
Check out the video for “Rise” below, followed by the album artwork and tracklist for Six. Pre-order the album here.
Six Artwork:
Six Album Cover
Six Tracklist:
01. Rise
02. #Rebel
03. Banshee
04. Other Side of the Rainbow
05. Small Town Beautiful
06. The Mask
07. Thicker Than Blood
08. Save Me
09. Hurricane
10. X Out
11. Beautiful Girls
12. Here’s to the Losers
