Extreme (the band) - Official Thread. V. SIX

[hefdaddy42]

Add to that that I think you could make the argument that Living Color was probably higher profile in their prime than Extreme was. Pretty sure they had more hits on the radio. Cult of Personality, Open Letter, and Love Rears Its Ugly Head were all over the place when they were new, and I think they won a Grammy for best new artist??

I don’t think Extreme has a Grammy, and I’m pretty sure the only thing the *public at large* has heard is More Than Words and Whole Hearted.  I mean, yes Get the Funk Out and Rest in Peace had some MTV airplay when they were new, but I never heard them on the radio and on “in department store” overhead music and sport stadiums like I did the LC songs.

Not to argue, and this COULD be a coastal thing, but Living Color is a one-hit wonder around here.  Cult Of Personality, and that wasn't even that big a hit.   Extreme really only has one hit too, but it was a biggie, and they have a couple other radio play songs ("Mutha", "Kid Ego").

Same around here.  Extreme is a LOT bigger than Living Color, as far as I can tell.

[bosk1]

Add to that that I think you could make the argument that Living Color was probably higher profile in their prime than Extreme was. Pretty sure they had more hits on the radio. Cult of Personality, Open Letter, and Love Rears Its Ugly Head were all over the place when they were new, and I think they won a Grammy for best new artist??

I don’t think Extreme has a Grammy, and I’m pretty sure the only thing the *public at large* has heard is More Than Words and Whole Hearted.  I mean, yes Get the Funk Out and Rest in Peace had some MTV airplay when they were new, but I never heard them on the radio and on “in department store” overhead music and sport stadiums like I did the LC songs.

Not to argue, and this COULD be a coastal thing, but Living Color is a one-hit wonder around here.  Cult Of Personality, and that wasn't even that big a hit.   Extreme really only has one hit too, but it was a biggie, and they have a couple other radio play songs ("Mutha", "Kid Ego").

Same around here.  Extreme is a LOT bigger than Living Color, as far as I can tell.

Same, except that I would say Extreme was a two-hit wonder.  More Than Words and Hole Hearted both blew up the charts and are still played.  That isn't to say both bands don't have a lot of good songs.  They do.  But as far as top-charting singles and, thus, popularity outside the hardcore fanbases, I think Extreme is top dog by a pretty wide margin.

[jammindude]

I will concede that, most likely for reasons of “being well connected” as Samsara pointed out, Extreme seems to currently have the upper hand in popularity. But I will double down that, in the late 80s and early 90s (when they were both in their heyday) they were of equal popularity.

It wasn’t local radio (regional) it was MTV where I saw Open Letter (To a Landlord) seemingly every hour without fail. (It’s one of those where the title isn’t in the song. So you might not recognize the title, but you’d recognize the song.)

And again, they won best new artist at the MTV video music awards, which actually meant something back then. (we all know it’s a joke now)

[hefdaddy42]

I will concede that, most likely for reasons of “being well connected” as Samsara pointed out, Extreme seems to currently have the upper hand in popularity. But I will double down that, in the late 80s and early 90s (when they were both in their heyday) they were of equal popularity.

It wasn’t local radio (regional) it was MTV where I saw Open Letter (To a Landlord) seemingly every hour without fail. (It’s one of those where the title isn’t in the song. So you might not recognize the title, but you’d recognize the song.)

And again, they won best new artist at the MTV video music awards, which actually meant something back then. (we all know it’s a joke now)

I mean, whatever you say, but I have NEVER thought that LC was in Extreme's neighborhood as far as popularity or anything else, and I was along for the ride in the 80s and 90s.

[bosk1]

I'm squarely with Hef. 

[TAC]

I don't remember either band being all that popular. I feel like In Living Colour struck first with Cult Of Personality, and in 1988, they stood out.
I don't ever remember Extreme standing out from the pack despite More Than Words. I think most people knew it was their "Beth", and while I remember Hole Hearted and Kid Ego being played on the radio, neither were what I remember as being a hit.

[King Postwhore]

Extreme has sold more albums and can fill a venue better than Living Colour. Though, I love both bands.

[TAC]

Extreme has sold more albums and can fill a venue better than Living Colour. Though, I love both bands.

Yeah, that's probably true. But how wide of a margin? LC had 3 albums back in the day ('88, '90 & '93) and Extreme had 4 ('89, '90, '92, & '95).
According to Wiki, they each had one double platinum album.

[King Postwhore]

10 million to 4 million worldwide.

[jammindude]

Extreme has sold more albums and can fill a venue better than Living Colour. Though, I love both bands.

Yeah, that's probably true. But how wide of a margin? LC had 3 albums back in the day ('88, '90 & '93) and Extreme had 4 ('89, '90, '92, & '95).
According to Wiki, they each had one double platinum album.

And according to several websites, both had 1 Gold album (500,000 units… Time’s Up for LC and 3 Sides for Extreme) and neither band has any other certified albums.

[jammindude]

10 million to 4 million worldwide.

This may be true, but every statistic shows that US numbers are very nearly a dead heat. That is a provable fact.

But I have already acknowledged that for reasons Samsara mentioned, Extreme definitely seems to have the upper hand in connections and exposure.

[King Postwhore]

Extreme II: Pornograffitti was certified double platinum.

[King Postwhore]

Extreme plays in 2,000 seat arenas. Living Colour plays in clubs. Nothing wrong with that.  Just the facts.

[jammindude]

Extreme II: Pornograffitti was certified double platinum.

This is just repeating what Tim said. Both bands have had one album that sold 2 million copies. Pornograffiti for Extreme and Vivid for Living Color.

Both bands had one album that went gold.

US sales of albums are almost dead equal between the bands. That’s all I’m saying. Not sure why that’s an issue. It is a provable fact so I’m a little confused as to why it’s so controversial.

[King Postwhore]

So other fans from other countries don't count?  Let's discount what I said about their touring in the states then. Extreme pulls in more fans live.

[jammindude]

So other fans from other countries don't count?  Let's discount what I said about their touring in the states then. Extreme pulls in more fans live.

I just expressed initial confusion as to why extreme was headlining in the US when the popularity of both bands in the US according to album sales appears to be nearly a dead heat. Samsara bought out a good point that extreme seems to be better connected, and currently seem to have more exposure for some reason. That seemed to make sense to me so I thought that was probably a pretty good reason. But suddenly it turned into a dispute as to who was more popular in the US and I was simply pointing out that the numbers don’t reflect that.

[jammindude]

And I want to further clarify, that, of course, the recent sales of tours heavily lean in favor of extreme. But according to US album sales between 1989, and circa 1994, both bands were on a perfectly equal footing. So it seems strange to me that somehow one of them came out 30 years later, somehow far more popular than the other. But again, Samsara’s explanation makes perfect sense.

[King Postwhore]

You are not looking at the full picture. I love both bands but worldwide,  Extreme is a bit bigger. Also but have released albums after 1994. I know.  I own them all. As a matter of fact, Living Colour actually released more albums. I can't tell you why Extreme is a little more popular but it shows in ticket sales which means more than album sales since that's a thing of the past with streaming.

[TAC]

Joe, did you ever see Extreme back in the day? Where and when?

[King Postwhore]

III Sides tour and Waiting for the Punchline tours at the Orpheum. 

I saw Living Colour at the Channel twice.

[TAC]

III Sides tour and Waiting for the Punchline tours at the Orpheum. 

I saw Living Colour at the Channel twice.

Cool. I remember In Living Colour playing The Living Room. I never saw them, but I did see Extreme at Great Woods in the summer of '91 opening for DLR/Cinderella.

[King Postwhore]

I got to see Living Colour at Tupelo in Derry. Fantastic show.

[TAC]

Yeah, I think they're two bands that were really good that just didn't fit in anywhere at the time.

[Stadler]

III Sides tour and Waiting for the Punchline tours at the Orpheum. 

I saw Living Colour at the Channel twice.

I saw the III Sides tour at the Palace Theater in New Haven.  GREAT show.

[HOF]

I would probably have thought of Extreme as the somewhat more popular band. Growing up I remember hearing More Than Words, Rest In Peace, and Hip Today on the radio, where the only Living Colour song I’ve ever heard on the radio was Cult of Personality. That’s also pretty much the best song I’ve heard from them, so I guess I did sort of think of them as a one hit wonder (not that Extreme had lots of hits either).

I like Vivid well enough, but have never followed through with picking up any of LC’s other albums. What’s the next best one to check out?

[Indiscipline]

I would probably have thought of Extreme as the somewhat more popular band. Growing up I remember hearing More Than Words, Rest In Peace, and Hip Today on the radio, where the only Living Colour song I’ve ever heard on the radio was Cult of Personality. That’s also pretty much the best song I’ve heard from them, so I guess I did sort of think of them as a one hit wonder (not that Extreme had lots of hits either).

I like Vivid well enough, but have never followed through with picking up any of LC’s other albums. What’s the next best one to check out?

I don't know your tastes, but personally I find Stain extremely interesting and enjoyable.

[King Postwhore]

As do I.  MTV played the hell out of the video for Open Letter (To a Landlord).

[Samsara]

A couple thoughts.

Living Colour got a lot more attention from the media on their debut album, and second album, in comparison to Extreme's first record. Living Colour was really spotlighted at the time because they were an all-Black hard rock/metal band, which AT THE TIME, was a bit of an oddity for the genre. In addition, Living Colour wore is politics on their collective sleeves, talking about issues facing Black men and women.

But as time went on, and Extreme hit big with Pornograffiti, they eventually eclipsed Living Colour. Particularly since Living Colour split up in 1994, and didn't reunite until 7 years later. Yes, Extreme broke up in 1996, but Gary Cherone fronted Van Halen, and Nuno was doing his thing on a larger scale, so that contributed to Extreme still being "more popular" even when not as active overall. Sure, Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish played (plays) for some huge acts (just like Nuno), but apart from him, the other Living Colour guys really just stayed local and did small time projects here and there (and still do).

But in the 1988-1990 timeframe specifically, Living Colour was by far more popular. When Extreme put out their second record and it blew up, they ultimately eclipsed Living Colour in terms of worldwide popularity, and that continues to this day. Both bands, however, have similar qualities, and really are outstanding live acts.

[HOF]

Listing it to Stain, and I just don’t think the songs are there. About half of Vivid felt that way as well. I do think Vernon Reid is an amazing player, and the band has chops for sure. Just don’t love their songs so much.

Checking out Time’s Up now, and I like it better than Stain so far. Elvis Is Dead sounds really familiar, but I wonder if it’s just because it’s similar to Extreme’s Cupid’s Dead, LOL.

[King Postwhore]

Elvis Is Dead was a single they released.  I remember seeing them play it on Arsenio Hall's show.

[jammindude]

I’m told that Stain is a grower. But I felt the same way. It felt like the songs just weren’t there. Other than Leave It Alone (which I love) I walked away remembering almost nothing from that album. Although I’ve been meaning to revisit it.

[TAC]

As do I.  MTV played the hell out of the video for Open Letter (To a Landlord).

They did??

[jammindude]

As do I.  MTV played the hell out of the video for Open Letter (To a Landlord).

They did??

Absolutely.  At the time, it was probably in heavier rotation than Cult of Personality. Cult had the staying power, but Open Letter was pushed heavily. 

Personally I think it’s a better song. The riff for Cult is awesome, but Open Letter has a lot more going on in it.

[bosk1]

A couple thoughts.

Living Colour got a lot more attention from the media on their debut album, and second album, in comparison to Extreme's first record. Living Colour was really spotlighted at the time because they were an all-Black hard rock/metal band, which AT THE TIME, was a bit of an oddity for the genre. In addition, Living Colour wore is politics on their collective sleeves, talking about issues facing Black men and women.

But as time went on, and Extreme hit big with Pornograffiti, they eventually eclipsed Living Colour. Particularly since Living Colour split up in 1994, and didn't reunite until 7 years later. Yes, Extreme broke up in 1996, but Gary Cherone fronted Van Halen, and Nuno was doing his thing on a larger scale, so that contributed to Extreme still being "more popular" even when not as active overall. Sure, Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish played (plays) for some huge acts (just like Nuno), but apart from him, the other Living Colour guys really just stayed local and did small time projects here and there (and still do).

But in the 1988-1990 timeframe specifically, Living Colour was by far more popular. When Extreme put out their second record and it blew up, they ultimately eclipsed Living Colour in terms of worldwide popularity, and that continues to this day. Both bands, however, have similar qualities, and really are outstanding live acts.

To add to that, I think (1) the timing of each band's "big" album, and (2) the degree of crossover appeal of their respective hits, also play a huge role in how popular overall these two bands are/were.  People going out and buying rock albums for "one-hit-wonder" bands was much more a thing when Cult of Personality hit than when More Than Words and Hole Hearted did.  But those two songs from Extreme had crossover appeal that LC's songs did not.  The hard rock and metal fans who would take the time to appreciate the talent of a band like LC might continue to appreciate and follow them, but your average pop fan likely wouldn't bother, which is why I think they ended up being a "flash in the pan" type of band that burned up the charts and then (relatively) disappeared.  But you had the pop fans, the housewives, and the business suit wearing guys humming More Than Words while walking down the street, and radio stations outside just the hard rock stations playing it round the clock, and muzak versions being played in department stores that gave Extreme a wider audience and more longstanding popularity. 

EDIT:  And I'll repeat that I can't remember hearing/seeing Open Letter being played even once.  Not saying it wasn't, but I think it was played less than the fans are remembering.  Nostalgia is a funny thing.

[King Postwhore]

As do I.  MTV played the hell out of the video for Open Letter (To a Landlord).

They did??

Hell yeah they did.