Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone is featured in a new interview with MyGlobalMind.com, discussing the band’s new release, how Pornograffitti changed the band’s career, and how performing it night-after-night has influenced the writing for their 2017 CD release. An excerpt follows:

Q: Reflecting back, how did the impact of Pornograffitti change the band’s career?

Gary Cherone: “For starters, we wouldn’t be having this conversation 25 years later if it wasn’t for the success of Pornograffitti. We were nine months into Pornograffitti and put out a couple of videos on MTV and playing clubs with no real traction. Suddenly a radio station in Philadelphia started playing “More Than Words.” It then started to get played across the country. The song became bigger than the band. The next thing we are on tour for the next year and half opening for Bon Jovi and ZZ Top. In a way, we were just trying to ride the wave. Of course, that’s the good; the bad was that we followed it up with “Hole Hearted”. There was a misconception with people regarding what this band Extreme was all about. Was it an acoustic band? Two acoustic tracks and here we are with a record called Pornograffitti so there was a little confusion. At the end of the day, that success gave us the liberty to do what we wanted to do on the third CD. No holds barred.”

Q: I’ve read there is a new Extreme CD in the works, since revisiting Pornograffitti and touring with it, how have those classic songs influencing the writing for the new CD?

Gary Cherone: “I think it had an effect with Nuno on some of the new material. We aren’t rediscovering our roots or anything like that. It’s just that with the past couple of years touring that record, all of those elements are there in the new material. It’s driven by guitar riffs with the harmonies and the big choruses. So it has influenced the new material.”

Q: Do you have a title or release date that you can share.

Gary Cherone: “No we haven’t had those fights yet. [laughing]. Usually, the title will come during the process of writing the songs. So nothing is there yet. I would like to give you dates, I just don’t know dates. There will be new music by the time we go out again as we just concentrating on new materials before we do go out on the road next year.”

Read the full interview at MyGlobalMind.com.

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Extreme’s classic multi-Platinum, Grammy nominated Pornograffitti, the definitive album of the band’s career. To mark the anniversary, Pornograffitti Live 25 / Metal Meltdown was released October 28th by the award-winning production company Rock Fuel Media in association with Loud & Proud Records as part of their four-part “Metal Meltdown” DVD series. The concert film captures the Boston band performing the album Pornograffitti in its entirety.

On Black Friday, November 25th, the audio from the DVD was made available via Loud & Proud Records as a limited edition double album pressed on red vinyl.

Directed by Brian Lockwood (Bon Jovi, Metallica, Motley Crue), the Pornograffitti Live 25 / Metal Meltdown package includes a Blu-ray, DVD, and audio CD of the complete concert that was filmed on May 30th, 2015 at The Joint at the world famous Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. It also features Rockshow, a bonus documentary that takes fans through Extreme’s story, with exclusive interviews, ‘80s archive footage, and an exclusive photo gallery.

“It was a great thrill to perform Pornograffitti in its entirety,” says singer Gary Cherone. “Some of these songs were never played live before so we had to go back and relearn them for the tour. The album was a watershed moment in the bands career…it’s when we came in to our own and it will always be special.”

As guitar virtuoso Nuno Bettencourt continues, “The band always prided itself on its live performance. Over the years, some of these songs have evolved where the band actually plays them better now than when we had recorded them. Hope you enjoy it. “

Extreme achieved their greatest success with their 1990 album Pornograffitti, which peaked at #10 on the Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, and was certified multi-Platinum. Musically, Pornograffitti is dominated by blistering guitar riffs, often with funky, syncopated timing, and incendiary, high-speed rock/metal solos. The record provided Bettencourt with widespread admiration from rock guitar enthusiasts and continual exposure in leading guitar playing publications. But it was the acoustic ballad single, "More Than Words,” that reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.” The subsequent single, "Hole Hearted,” another acoustic track, was also successful, rising to #4 on the same chart. "Decadence Dance" and "Get The Funk Out" were also released as singles both landing on Billboard's Rock chart and becoming fan favorites.

To date, the Grammy-nominated Extreme have released five albums, plus a greatest hits set - selling over 10 million records worldwide. The band’s trademark sound is a mix of hard rock funk in the spirit and style of their predecessors Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Queen and Van Halen - fueled by Bettencourt’s signature guitar flights and Cherone’s resonant vocals - and matched with a social consciousness in their lyrics.

Award-winning producer Barry Summers of Rock Fuel Media commented, “It was a real privilege to produce Pornograffitti Live 25 / Metal Meltdown in celebration of Pornograffitti, to have the opportunity to work first-hand with such high caliber musicians and audio purists. Over 25 years after this iconic album was released, we captured the band at their very best. Watching Nuno Bettencourt's off-the-charts guitar solos is simply mind-blowing, as confirmed by Queen's Brian May and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, whom we filmed paying homage to the Guitar God himself in the RockShow documentary. One of the highlights of the documentary is a moment where Gary and Nuno are sitting on the doorstep of Gary’s childhood home, and they perform a spontaneous version of “More Than Words”.”

Pornograffitti Live 25 / Metal Meltdown tracklisting:

“Decadence Dance”
“Li’l Jack Horny”
“When I’m President”
“Get The Funk Out”
“More Than Words”
“Money (In God We Trust)”
“It (‘s a Monster)”
“Pornograffitti”
“When I First Kissed You”
“Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)”
“Flight of the Wounded Bumble Bee”
“He-Man Woman Hater”
“Song For Love”
“Hole Hearted”
“Play With Me” *
“Cupid’s Dead” *

* Songs do not appear on the audio CD.

"Get The Funk Out":

"More Than Words":

“Decadence Dance”:

"Money (In God We Trust)":