‘Extreme’ Excitement Over BMA Rock Reunion

‘EXTREME’ EXCITEMENT OVER BMA ROCK REUNION:

November 26, 2007

Twenty years ago, Extreme was named Outstanding Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band at the Boston Music Awards.

And this weekend, the local rockers – except for drummer-turned-manager Paul Geary – will reunite and return to their rock ‘n’ roll roots.

On Saturday, Nuno Bettencourt, Gary Cherone, Pat Badger and new sticksman Kevin Figueiredo will take the stage at the Orpheum to blow the roof off of the BMAs – the first step to a 2008 world reunion tour and new album.

“We weren’t gonna do it until we had a record out,” said the raspy-voiced Bettencourt from his home studio in Los Angeles. “But (Aerosmith drummer and the BMAs honorary chairman) Joey Kramer reached out to us. He wanted to make the BMAs special like they used to be, so we figured why not?”

The as-yet-untitled studio album with all-new material – the band’s fifth – will drop sometime in spring 2008. A massive tour will follow, said Nuno.

Bettencourt described the new album as a “straight up rock record” that expands on Extreme’s funk-metal sound.

The new album was the key to getting back together as a full-time band, he said. Extreme did a handful of gigs this summer, including a gig at the Bank of America Pavilion in July, but Bettencourt wasn’t interested in becoming a permanent part of a nostalgia act.

“Even though we wanted to do something for years, we had to have something new to offer,” he said. “In the last six months we started writing some great songs. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be doing this.”

Malden’s own Gary Cherone, a former frontman for Van Halen, and bassist Pat Badger are Extreme-ly happy to get back together with Bettencourt, but original drummer Paul Geary, who manages Godsmack out in L.A., decided to opt out of the reunion. But there’s no hard feelings.

“Paul’s a manager now, he doesn’t play much,” Bettencourt said. “He knew straightaway he wasn’t able to do it, (but) the blessing is definitely there.”

Filling in for Geary is Figueiredo, a Hudson homey who jammed with Bettencourt in his previous project, the Perry Farrell-fronted Satellite Party.

“It felt a little-bit lacking from a rock ‘n’ roll aspect,” said the diplomatic Bettencourt of his short-lived stint with Satellite Party.

Courtesy of news.bostonherald.com