Wouldn’t you know it… another band packs it in just as a
\nbreath of fresh air is injected into the band.<\/p>\n
In 1995, Extreme might not have been seen as the “hip” band that
\nscored a hit with “Hole Hearted”; their next effort,
\nIII Sides To Every Story<\/i> was seen as a bit of a commercial
\ndisappointment. Gary Cherone and crew had two choices: Go the
\ncommercial route and aim for the next hit single, or continue
\nmaking concept albums and hope for the best.<\/p>\n
With new drummer Mike Mangini in tow, Extreme chose the second
\nroad and made what turned out to be their most challenging album of
\ntheir career,
\nWaiting For The Punchline<\/i>. While this is not the easiest
\nalbum to get through (especially if you’re paying attention to the
\nlyrics), there are moments on this album that demonstrate how good
\nthe band was.<\/p>\n
I don’t claim to have perfect knowledge of the plot, but the
\nalbum seems to be the tale of an atheist who comes to discover God
\nin his life, yet still has difficulty accepting what he has now
\nseen. Right there, you know this isn’t an album aimed for radio –
\nnot with tracks titled “There Is No God,” a song guaranteed to make
\nPat Robertson cringe.<\/p>\n
What might be lost in the “controversy” of the material is the
\nfact that Extreme sound funkier than they had in a long time.
\nFormer drummer Paul Geary makes his final appearances with the band
\non
\nWaiting For The Punchline<\/i>, and his drumming finally moved
\naway from the robotic beat he seemed to be keeping on
\nIII Sides To Every Story<\/i>. Guitarist Nuno Bettencourt
\ncontinues to prove that he knows how to shred when the moment calls
\nfor it (though I did find myself wishing I heard a rhythm guitar
\nduring some of his solos), bassist Pat Badger acts as the backbone
\nfor the band’s rhythm section. And Cherone? His vocals are as
\npowerful as ever; no surprise there.<\/p>\n
What is surprising on
\nWaiting For The Punchline<\/i> is that it does seem difficult to
\nfollow the story line. “Cynical” obviously seems to be people’s
\ncriticism of the protagonist for his agnostic ways, while “Hip
\nToday” and “Midnight Express,” despite the latter featuring some of
\nBettencourt’s best guitar work, don’t really seem to fit in with
\nthe story.<\/p>\n
Be this as it may, most of the music contained therein is strong
\nenough to keep your interest. Cuts like “Tell Me Something I Don’t
\nKnow,” “Leave Me Alone” and “Shadow Boxing” all demonstrate why
\nExtreme gained so many fans in their career. Still, others, like
\n“Unconditionally” and “Evilangelist” don’t live up to their
\npotential.<\/p>\n
This brings us to the hidden title track – the final, confusing
\npiece in the puzzle. Does the song mean to suggest that the
\nprotagonist’s “revelation” scenes have all been a cruel joke? Or is
\nthe reason it was uncredited was because it didn’t fit with the
\nstory?<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, many fans found themselves waiting for the
\npunchline; the album hardly set the charts on fire. After months of
\nrumors, Extreme finally was laid to rest after this album, with
\nBettencourt pursuing a solo career and Cherone making the leap into
\nthe lead singer\/ejector seat in Van Halen.<\/p>\n
For a moment, let’s cast away the story that intertwines the
\nsongs on
\nWaiting For The Punchline<\/i>. What you’re left with is a
\ncollection of songs that, more often than not, hit the target, and
\nhit it hard.<\/p>\n
Ah, but the problem is that you
\nneed<\/i> the storyline in order to make this whole idea work.
\nToo bad the concept wasn’t explained a little clearer, and the
\nconnections made easier to follow.<\/p>\n
If you’re a fan of Extreme,
\nWaiting For The Punchline<\/i> is probably already in your
\ncollections. If it isn’t, it’s still worth picking up. Just be
\nprepared to give it several listens in order for everything to sink
\nin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5626],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-39269","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-extreme","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39269"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}