Extreme - Extreme II: Pornograffitti

Extreme really got a bum rap. In the 80's, everyone shrugged them off as carbon copies of Van Halen. In the 90's, they tried to make relevant concept albums. ... And maybe had it not been for Nevermind, people would've actually listened to them. ... But, alas, much like Def Leppard and the Crue and others who need not be mentioned, Extreme found their albums in bargain bins and basement boxes. ... Because, let's face it; they weren't from Seattle.

If anyone ever took time to listen to their records in the early 90's, particularly Extreme II: Pornograffitti and III Sides to Every Story, they're actually not that bad. ... And listening to them in 2007, they're surprisingly not dated.

While conceptually the "fairy tale" of Extreme II: Pornograffitti isn't as tight as it could have been, the album really shows Extreme leaping from arena hair metal into any genre you could imagine. Yes, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt's solos are here, but they take a back seat in the horn-laden "Get the Funk Out" or the crooner throwback, "When I First Kissed You." Of course, the real highlights of this disc are the two hits, "Hole Hearted" and "More Than Words," the latter showcasing one of the best acoustic guitar tones to this day.

So if you're looking for a throwback record that you can crank up in the Camaro on the way to your high school reunion, this probably isn't the record for you. However, if you are looking for one of the more musically interesting and boundary-pushing albums of the hair-metal era, I definitely recommend this.