Say what you will about its corny message and lulzy ’90s in-your-faceness, but let us all face facts about Extreme’s “Get The Funk Out”: Holy ballz this jam is the work of superstuds. For starters, drummer Paul Geary just rips on it, esp on those big entrances to the choruses (i.e. on the “If you”s); the second one (at 1:53) is what a renowned musicologist may describe as mega-bonerz awesome. With Geary in charge, the whole band locks ass-tight into the swing. I love!
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 11:30am by Axl Rosenberg
Yesterday we ran a very silly post in which we hypothesized about possible new vocalists for Killswitch Engage, except that the majority of candidates we named are not realistic possibilites (more on that in a second). I know that there are people who were bummed that we didn’t consider more realistic potentialities, but there was a reason we didn’t do that — it seems to us that Jesse Leach is really the only man for this job. (And, yes, we know that Leach just told fans via Facebook that “If I have something to say, I WILL say it. For the moment I have no comments on KSE.” But what do you expect him to say?)
Leach isn’t just the obvious choice — he’s really the best choice. Because his voice is still in great shape; because he’s a great performer; and because in 2012, we’d like to think that bands have learned from the Gary Cherones, Blaze Bayleys, and Dan Nelsons of the world. Being the third singer for a really famous band is a thankless task, even if you’re really talented. Tommy Vext, for example, is a great vocalist — but if he really did join KsE, he would face a momentous uphill battle to be accepted by fans and come out from under the shadow of Leach and Jones. And history teaches us that he — or any other singer, for that matter — probably would not win that battle.
So. This message on Killswitch’s official website certainly caught me by surprise…
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 at 2:30pm by Anso DF
Interview and live pics by Emily Eve; girls on stage pic by Friedia Niimura
In one sense, making records is like using the toilet: It takes more to do number two than number one. And in the case of L.A. heavy metal semi-parodists Steel Panther, a follow-up to their wildly funny and compulsively banging 2009 debut Feel The Steel is an even bigger, stinkier challenge: This time, fans can see them coming, um so to speak. But in the spotlight’s glare, before expectant ears and faces poised to smile, lead singer Michael Starr and crew deliver a bigger, dirtier, and awesomer mass of heavy metal hilarity called Balls Out (available Tuesday). The 14-track tour de farce covers 47 amazing minutes, a range of hot-button rocker issues (drugs, gender roles, boners), and a load of singalong mega-choruses and nip-scorching guitar solos unheard since pro tools was just an aisle at Sears. To those somehow able to resist Feel The Steel, I say: You’re fucked now. Balls Out is stronger than you and your feeble protestations. Crank. It. Up.
This feat of skill and cocksmanship on display in Balls Out begs for investigation, so last week I went to hear firsthand how Steel Panther achieved the equivalent of making a Ghostbusters II better than its Ghostbusters I. And though it was a rainy, gusty Autumn night, the huge Steel Panther dressing room was buzzing heatedly as I sat down with Starr and lead bass player Lexxi Foxxx to get answers. Just nearby were lead guitarist Satchel (at whom I gazed lovingly whenever his inattention allowed) and lead drummer Stix Zadinia (with entourage) as the three of us gabbed highly about Balls Out, drugs, vaginas, immaturity, maturity, the guy from Nickelback, shaving stuff, the responsibilities of being Steel Panther, and much more.
For all the shit we give hair metal bands we once admired around here, not all of them have aged so terribly. Sometimes they even surprise you and release something terrific. Last year, Ratt’s Infestation knocked us on our asses; just recently, Whitesnake caught us off-guard when their new album, Forevermore, actually turned out to be a whole lotta fun. (Extreme’s 2009 release, Saudades de Rock, was also quite good, although they’re not really hair metal.) My point just being that you have listen to these albums with an open mind, because sometimes these bands really pull their shit together and remind you why you ever liked them to begin with.
And sometimes they turn into Warrant.
The band’s new album, Rockaholic, comes out next month, and now they’ve released a video, “Life’s a Song,” to promote it. And the song totally fucking boring, the video so cheesy that Dino Cazares tried to eat it, drummer Steven Sweet apparently invented a time machine, went back in time to the 70s, doped a woman, shaved her bush, and used it as a wig, and — perhaps worst of all — the band has the cojones to use lots and lots of vintage footage — “Hey, remember when you loved us? YOU FUCKING LOVED US!!!” — despite the fact that Jani Lane, their most recognizable member, is no longer in the fold. (And this new dude, Robert Mason, is no Jani Lane. I mean he sounds like he can sing, but his vocals have as much personality as the name “Bob Mason” would suggest.) I think I even saw an old still featuring Jani in there, although my eyes may be playing tricks on me. What a load of crap.
Rockaholic comes out May 17 on Frontiers Records. It features a song called “Sex Ain’t Love,” so I guess we really are a long way away from “Cherry Pie.”
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 at 11:30am by Axl Rosenberg
Do you guys know Electric Six? I guess they fall into the category of ironic hipster indie douche band, but they made at least one album, 2003′s Fire, that I thought was pretty good — and, certainly, the videos they made in support of that album are excellent.
Don’t turn this off before the 1:22 mark
Well, Electric Six’s new album is called Zodiac, and as you may have heard, the signs of the Zodiac recently changed — in other words, your sign may not be what you thought it was. (This is assuming you care about any of this shit. I don’t pay it much mind, although it can be fun to think about when trying to self-induce a coma.) And so Electric Six, those merry pranksters, have decided to have a little fun with their fans. From their official website:
Thursday, January 13th, 2011 at 4:00pm by Leyla Ford
Yesterday, Sergeant D. posted a Metal Edition of the classic parlor game Marry, Fuck, or Kill, and you guys responded, uh, enthusiastically, surprising no one. And because we’re equal opportunity offenders — don’t forget that this is the site which posts leaked naked pictures of women and men alike — we decided that today we should post a metal d00dz edition.
So we sat down with the Mansion’s resident feminist, Leyla Ford, and presented her with some hot metal d00dz for a new game of MFK. Check out the results after the jump…
Friday, December 3rd, 2010 at 4:00pm by MetalSucks
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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.
This week, Anso DF suggested the Question of the Week; unfortunately, he did so before Slipknot announced that they’re headlining the Sonisphere Festival this year, so it doesn’t seem quite as relevant anymore. Still, it was a fun question to answer, so:
TO WHAT EXTENT WOULD A SLIPKNOT BREAK-UP BE BAD FOR METAL?
Well, guess what? Here we are, three months later, and Extreme have debuted another video via Noisecreep, “Run.” And, once again, I really dig the song (especially Nuno’s drunk-sounding, warbly solo), and once again, I still haven’t listened to the fucking record. What is wrong with me?
So I’m gonna listen to Saudades de Rock. I’m totally serious this time. I’m gonna listen to it right now.
Vince, if you’re reading this and you have a copy in your wing, please dispatch it to me via MetalSucks Mansion Monkey. Thanks, dude.
This video is actually to promote a new Extreme live DVD/CD set, Take Us Alive, which is out now. I guess after I finally listen to Saudades de Rock, I should check that out, too.
Since its inception by the typings of some clever music journalist in the 80s, the categorization “hair metal” (or “glam metal”) has been as amorphous and, consequently, as misused as “metalcore” has been in the aughties. And since it’s hair metal week here on MetalSucks, we thought we’d try to address this issue by pointing the spotlight on ten bands that are often, and incorrectly, deemed “hair metal.” And to that end…
If Van Halen set the standard for the flashy guitar techniques and outrageous frontman theatrics that would later come to define hair metal, then it’s only fair to call Extreme their proverbial nephews and similarly disrobe them of the “hair metal” tag. At their peak more than a full decade after EVH and DLR changed the face of heavy music forever, the Boston duo of Gary Cherone on vocals and wunkerkind Nuno Bettencourt on guitar channeled the vintage feel-good VH vibes into three killer albums that still stand up today. Nuno’s unabashed EVH worship was on display at all times both in his supersonic leads and intricately voiced, highly rhythmic rhythms — I suppose one could argue that he stylistically one-upped EVH and took everything he’d done to the next level, but I don’t think I’m gonna go there — and Cherone, though not as outrageous as David Lee Roth, certainly summoned his whacky / feel good on-stage personality, and not for nothin’ was definitely a better vocalist. And of course there’s that little thing where Cherone sang for Van Halen for a minute… but we don’t talk about that.
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 12:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Slash allegedly plays on the new Rihanna single, “Rockstar 101.” I say “allegedly” because there’s barely any guitar in the damn song, and what guitar there is sounds like it could have been played by just about anyone with fingers and five free minutes to spend in the studio. But apparently the guitars are by Slash, and he was supposed to be in the video, too, but couldn’t make it ’cause I guess he afraid he was gonna make Fergie jealous. So Rihanna decided she was just gonna dress-up as Slash, which is, uh, an interesting solution.
Meanwhile, Nuno Bettencourt is part of Rihanna’s band now, and he’s in the video, but he never gets a close-up. In fact, most of the time he’s either in the background or out-of-focus.
So, to review: Rihanna would rather have a fake Slash in her video than a real Nuno.
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 4:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
You know what? I was pretty stoked to hear that Extreme were getting back together, and then I never even sought out their reunion album, Saudades de Rock. Why? I have no clue. We even ran a positive review of the damn thing, and I still didn’t listen to the record. But I can’t for the life of me remember what my thought process was behind that decision. Huh.
Well, Noisecreep have now debuted the band’s new video, for “King of the Ladies,” and suddenly I kinda wanna hear the album. The song is catchy but silly, and certainly better than anything from Van Halen III, or that Rihanna has ever recorded. But the clip… I guess I’d describe it as “charming.” It was clearly made by dudes who are, um, of a certain era, let’s say, but I can get behind that. I think if I was twelve years old, this would probably be my favorite video of the year.
After more than a year of procrastinating, this week I finally fixed my record player (which I bought in Fall 2008 simply needing a new needle) and I am so so so so happy! Before that, it’d been four years before I lived with anyone who had a record player and my vinyl collection just sat on a shelf, sad, lonely. It’s been a LONG time since I got to spend any quality time with my records (save that one time Axl and I used my copy of Shout at the Devil for, um, illicit purposes) and part of the fun has been rediscovering just which records I even have.
Apparently one of those records is Extreme’s Pornograffiti with which I had an extensive bonding dancing session last night. Extreme always manage to get my hips shakin’ and my feet movin’; Nuno and Gary may have been the poster boys for Extreme, but more credit is really due to their rock solid rhythm section of Pat Badger (bass) and Paul Geary (drums). And not for nothin’, I’ve always felt Nuno’s excellent rhythm guitar work was way, way, way overshadowed by his flashy leads. That rhythm section is what made this band pulsate, rock and groove… unstoppable, no doubt one of the best ever. When Extreme reunited in 2008 and toured without Geary the difference was noticeable.
Extreme hasn’t done anything in the past year, but fear not: Nuno is currently utilizing those scintillating rhythm (and hey, lead too) skills with… Rihanna. Get the funk out.
Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 10:00am by Axl Rosenberg
Someone on the SNL writing staff must like metal. Just a couple of weeks ago, Dave Matthews did a pretty killer Ozzy Osbourne impression; now, this past Saturday, the show, which is usually pretty terrible these days, did a spot-on satire of that infamous Gathering of the Juggalos infomercial. If every sketch on SNL were still this funny, I’d say the show was actually worth watching.
This same episode also saw the debut of Nuno Bettencourt as Rihanna’s new guitar player. I’m not going to post video of that here, though, because Nuno’s talenters were just as wasted as you’d imagine they’d be playing in Rihanna’s back-up band.
Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 3:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
“Make love not war sounds so absurd to me.” But not as absurd as the idea of Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt touring with Rihanna, and trying to pass it off as “a high-energy experience” that really fits “‘my’ style.” Because “Umbrella-ella-ella” really requires someone who can shred. I’d almost have more respect for him if he just said “The Extreme reunion tour didn’t pay as well as I hoped and I got rent to pay.”
The announcement follows Bettencourt’s cameo on How I Met Your Mother, which is being called “the best show on television” by people who can’t find their remote and are too lazy to change the channel manually.
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 11:00am by Axl Rosenberg
Nuno Bettencourt is apparently going to be on CBS’ How I Met Your Mother. How I Met Your Mother is a shitty show, but I guess I should just be happy that Nuno is on television again? And I liked Jason Segel in Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, so there’s that.
Anyways, I have no idea at what point this video will actually air on the show, or how it ties into the plot of the show, or why anyone would watch the show to see if now that you can just watch it on the net anytime you like. Take what enjoyment you can from this.
And just for fun, here’s Extreme’s video for “More Than Words,” which was the inspiration for the above.
Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
So. Unless you live under a rock, chances are you’re aware that the movie adaptation of Watchmen opens tomorrow. The reviews are decidedly mixed and I’m still not convinced it won’t suck, but it’s already apparently making a ton of bank in ticket pre-sales, so, uh, yeah, people wanna see this bitch I guess.
Anyways, this week iTunes had some members of the cast do their celebrity playlist thing. A few actors chose a few metal songs – Patrick Wilson (who plays “Nite Owl II”) has some Van Halen and Extreme songs, Malin Akerman (“Silk Spectre II”) has some Nine Inch Nails, Jeffery Dean Morgan (“The Comedian”) was apparently pals with Layne Staley and included “Rooster” in his mix, etc.
But Jackie Earle Haley – the Oscar nominated actor playing the ultimate right wing sociopathic fascistic badass, Rorschach – created a list that is almost entirely comprised of metal.
Extreme’s first record in thirteen years, Saudades de Rock, is as complex and satisfying as it is simple and somewhat disappointing. The bad news is, in no particular order: the production is dry and raw, singer Gary Cherone more or less screams his way through a good deal of his vocals, and some of the songs are just downright bizarre (see: Take Us Alive). The good news, however, far outweighs the bad, as the band really has put together an unusually delicious collection of songs that are as likely to be categorized as ‘hair metal’ as Slipknot would be considered ‘country.’
Seeing Extreme on Monday reminded me of the sheer awesomeness of the He-Man Woman Hater / Play With Me combo. Enjoy this vintage clip of Nuno (in painter’s cap!) shredding it up live in Copenhagen circa God knows when.
Sometimes it’s nice to go to a show just to rock the fuck out, and last night’s King’s X / Extreme show at New York’s Irving Plaza was just that (other than the abysmally embarrassing “Rock Band Fantasy Camp” opening act). No schmoozing, no interviewing bands, no worrying about guest list comps — just buying a ticket and rocking it solo, the old fashioned way. I only ran into one person I knew all night, and no fewer than 5 random people commented on my Saigon Kick t-shirt (I mean, if ever there was a show to wear it at, it’s this one, right?). Both bands stormed through sets that mixed material both old and new and proved why they’re still around and vibrant 15+ years after their heyday in the spotlight.
Rocklahoma, the three FIVE day hair metal festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, kicks off its second annual event tomorrow. Hard to believe it’s been a year since last year’s massively successful event, but it has, and this year’s lineup is even more extensive than the last.
Pretty much every hair band ever — both those still on the touring circuit and a bunch of recent reunions — are playing. This year’s headliners are Queensryche, Warrant, Triumph, Bret Michaels and Ratt. Even bands that were peripheral but related to the ’80s hair scene have joined in the party, such as Extreme, Living Colour, Jackyl and Armored Saint. There are also two sidestages with a smattering of lower-level national and regional bands, though the Rocklahoma website makes this info hard to find.
Apparrently 100,000 people attended last year’s event; this seems crazy to me, but I guess it speaks to this music’s longevity. New MetalSucks columnist Michael S. Robinson plans to write a piece about this topic later in the week.
Any of our readers going to Rocklahoma? I know at least one person who is SUPER psyched!
