Extreme: Who was the leader of that band? or was it shared?

[NB_Terry]

Was it all Nuno, or Nuno + Gary? or the other guys as well.

Pretty cool that their 2nd and 3rd albums were concept albums.

Very adventurous for a young band.

It's unfortunate that their only big hits (More than Words and Hole Hearted) weren't their rock tunes.

Such a talented band.

 

[twoheadedboy]

I get the impression that it was Nuno and Gary. Great band, but they were a bit too late for that style of music.

 

[prodrigu]

Sounds to me like Nuno is the mastermind but who know…

Love the band!

 

[Infinite Radius]

Nothing against Gary, he could sing and his voice fit the songs. But could it have happened with a different singer?... But without Nuno, no Extreme.

 

[twoheadedboy]

Nothing against Gary, he could sing and his voice fit the songs. But could it have happened with a different singer?... But without Nuno, no Extreme.

Nuno has had his solo career. He made some cool music on his own, but it is clear that Extreme wouldn't have been what it was without Gary. He brought the lyrics, concepts, and theatrical qualities that were so important to Extreme's identity.

Still, I agree that it's interesting to imagine a world in which Nuno ended up in a different band. Hard to say what would have happened there. I imagine that in most of those scenarios, Nuno ends up in a Boston hair metal band that puts out one mediocre record and then breaks up, and Nuno spends the rest of his life in Boston.

 

[Kill 'Em All]

looks like they were a songwriting team, for better or worse. almost all songs are credited to the two of them.

 

[Infinite Radius]

Don't get me wrong, Gary was the right guy for their sound and he could sing, wrote clever lyrics, etc. But I highly doubt we'd have ever heard of him if he hadn't found Nuno.

 

[Frond]

i’m getting a Diamond Dave & EVH dynamic with those two. both essential for the “magic”

having played in bands for the last 35 years… it’s never about a leader per sey … there are dominant personalities, but there’s always the push / pull between the 4 (or 5, or 3 etc) people in the band

 

[sws1]

Don't underestimate the importance of the guy who handled the primary business decisions...and that was the drummer Paul Geary.

Without someone with a smart brain, they'd still be playing in basements. (Look at the mess that happened when Chris Degarmo walked away from Queensryche...he was the guy who "ran the QR business".)

He was so good at it, he walked away to start his own artist management company.

 

[handyman11]

Great band, saw then twice in Poughkeepsie, first time Nuno had a fit about 5 songs into the show, threw his guitar down and walked off stage ...the drummer started a 20 minute drum solo, then the rest of the band got Nuno back on ...played 3 minutes and wrapped up the show ...alot of shocked people there ...

Next show , after Gary had left VH, Gary stated something like 'we owe you guys', and they put on a great show ... They brought Nuno's brother's band with them, not sure they were actually invited, or part of the original show, but they squeezed them in before Extreme, and they were actually pretty good ....

Actually have Nuno's solo CD, and listen to it occasionally ...different, but good ...

 

[Defendant]

I suspect Gary could write -Mutha existed before Nuno, albeit missing all the Halen-ish-ness. Witness this er, masterpiece:



...so there you have it. Now, when another 50 year old asks you: what's more cheesy than Extreme -you have an answer. Early Extreme.

 

[Kill 'Em All]

omfg

yeah, great band. totally.

 

[Tele-Vision]

I suspect Gary could write -Mutha existed before Nuno, albeit missing all the Halen-ish-ness. Witness this er, masterpiece:



...so there you have it. Now, when another 50 year old asks you: what's more cheesy than Extreme -you have an answer. Early Extreme.

Thank goodness that era is over.

 

[cram]

Are you talking about artistic output or their whole thing?
The songwriting ease between the guitarist and singer was what started the band. Nuno bailed on something he perceived as a big deal to be with Gary because of this. They were like chocolate and panutbutter trying to achieve the harmony they loved in queen.

Business hustle/approach to getting things out there? Paul was huge. You could tell in local press way back when they were hitting. You can find the other guys talking about him like this.

 

[Tele-Vision]

I suspect Gary could write -Mutha existed before Nuno, albeit missing all the Halen-ish-ness. Witness this er, masterpiece:



...so there you have it. Now, when another 50 year old asks you: what's more cheesy than Extreme -you have an answer. Early Extreme.

I love that Nuno and the drummer essentially prove Hollywood mostly gets the Boston accent right. That drummer, man.

 

[Matt L]

Nuno was the only thing I liked about that band.

 

[cvansickle]

Pretty cool that their 2nd and 3rd albums were concept albums. Very adventurous for a young band.

I have heard that they actually wrote Pornograffitti first, but the record company didn't want to release it as their first album. Instead, they were encouraged (which is a nice way of saying coerced) by the record company to take more of a Van Halen approach with the first album.

 

[taez555]

It was Gary's band Dream first, without Nuno. Dream (get it... they're called EX Dream.... Extreme)

But once Nuno joined the group it really became the 2 of them.

 

[monty]

Def. Gary and Nuno's band, IIRC they are basically paying the other 2 guys less than they are getting these days.
The original drummer was huge in where they went too.

 

[Rob G]

I love Extreme.
The last studio album they released 'Saudades de Rock' was excellent, very underrated IMO.

To me Nuno seems like the boss, as Gary offstage is a quiet shy character. Case in point, he wasn't able to tell EVH that the vocal melodies Ed had written on VHIII were in the wrong range for him.

Looking forward to the new Extreme album which has been finished for a while.