Extreme - III Sides To Every Story (1992)

Extreme's brand of hard rock balanced ambitious, progressive tendencies with catchy melodies owing more to the Beatles than anthemic arena rock; on III Sides to Every Story, the former tends to dominate. The album is divided into three "sides of the story" -- roughly speaking, "Yours" concentrates on politically oriented rockers showing off Nuno Bettencourt's virtuosity; "Mine" leans toward pop songs with warmly romantic sensibilities, plus an occasional philosophical lament; and "The Truth" tries to wrap things up into a coherent whole but dissolves into indigestible prog-rock excess. Thus, the thematic material can be likened to a less focused version of Pornograffitti. The album is wildly uneven, but amidst the indulgences there are some fine songs to be found: "Rest in Peace" displays both Bettencourt's technique and melodicism as a soloist, while "Seven Sundays" continues in their occasional lounge ballad vein, and "Tragic Comic" and "Stop the World" are two more intelligent, wounded-romantic pop gems.

Tracklist:
1 01. Extreme - Warheads (05:18)
1 02. Extreme - Rest In Peace (06:01)
1 03. Extreme - Politicalamity (05:04)
1 04. Extreme - Color Me Blind (05:00)
1 05. Extreme - Cupid's Dead (05:55)
1 06. Extreme - Peacemaker Die (06:03)
1 07. Extreme - Seven Sundays (04:18)
1 08. Extreme - Tragic Comic (Album) (04:44)
1 09. Extreme - Our Father (04:02)
1 10. Extreme - Stop The World (Album) (05:57)
1 11. Extreme - God Isn't Dead? (02:02)
1 12. Extreme - Rise N' Shine (06:22)
1 13. Extreme - Am I Ever Gonna Change (06:56)
1 14. Extreme - Who Cares? (08:19)