Music: Extreme - Rise

[ManwithNoIdentity]

It’s out

 

[Smelling Salt]

It’s out

Listened to it four times. I will say...the second half of the album goes a bit "out there". Couple songs I'm not crazy about but there are some growers. I'll post some more thoughts in a few hours.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Yeah the second half of the album is wild

Sugar Ray type song and an industrial song they very obviously want to be used in a commercial

 

[Smelling Salt]

OK here we go I guess.

TLDR: The singles you heard sound nothing like the rest of the album, but give it a try if you have a moderate interest in the band

Rise - I was always "OK" with this song. Not their best work but pretty decent. Obviously the solo lifts it into the stratosphere. A good start after a long time away at any rate

#Rebel - I might argue it's the best song on the album. Awesome riff, and the guitar solo SMOKES, especially when Nuno is playing off the vocal harmony at the start of it, and the descending chromatic tapping part. Well done

Banshee - Killer groove. Catchy vocal melody. Awesome, flashy and melodic guitar solo. Fantastic. This song f***s

Other Side of the Rainbow - Beautiful song. This is the kind of harmonies I love from the band. Also could argue it being the best song on the album. Perfect. Would be a radio hit by any popular modern band

Small Town Beautiful - First ballad. Acoustic song with Nuno and Gary sharing vocals. I like the verses alot. Nice melody and harmonies and the pre-chorus is also great, but I find the song is brought down a bit by the chorus. Not bad, but not great for that reason which is a bit of a shame because I think they had something here, but still a nice song

OK, here is where the band goes way off into left field for the rest of the way...

The Mask - This was the first curveball with the sound and Nuno's exaggerated vocal in the verse so I was a little WTF. Sounds a bit like Muse. It has grown on me a bit and I can appreciate a little experimenting, but this is not what I was expecting after the previous songs for sure. Then the break in the middle sounds like classic rock from the early 70s. Hmmm...

Thicker Than Blood - Kind of an electronica thing happening here. I like the groove generally. This one is growing on me a bit as well but again, not what I was expecting. The guitar solo sounds like something Nuno would have done on his solo projects (Population 1/Dramagods) but ultimately I'm not sure why they are doing this haha

Save Me - Alice In Chains-like in spots. Kind of industrial. Pretty cool verses IMO. Chorus doesn't lift the song up though which is too bad. Fun guitar solo, but that's not enough to not make it my least favourite song on the album

Hurricane - Another acoustic ballad with Nuno and Gary sharing vocal duties. Sounds like Simon and Garfunkel. I like this song alot, especially after the weirdness of the previous three tunes

X Out - My first thought was "Oh boy here we go again with more electronica stuff". But wait, I think I actually like this one a fair amount. It sounds like it should be on the Stranger Things soundtrack. It's the best song out of these electronica/industrial curveballs they have been throwing out in the second half of the album. And the guitar solo fits the song super nicely

Beautiful Girls - This is a pure pop song lol. The band has never released anything like this before and quite honestly if a more currently relevant band wrote this, it would be all over the radio. Acoustic, kind of calypso, with steel drums. Should I be sipping a margarita? Sounds like Sugar Ray like @ManwithNoIdentity said, but if Sugar Ray and LFO "Summer Girls" had a baby lol. And the guitar solo is short, but awesome. I see this song is dividing fans of the band, but I like it and it's fun

Here's to the Losers - OK, I REALLY like this one. Like Beautiful Girls, this is nothing like what the band has done before. At least with some of the more industrial/electronica stuff you could argue they have done a bit of that on various side projects. Yeah it's for sure a tribute to We Are the Champions, but its got a nice sing along chorus, Brian May should be suing for royalties on the guitar solo, and I love the key change after the solo. This one is great