Extreme - Pornograffitti

[Andi Rauscher]

Originally Posted by bob st john

i actually have all the recall notes for that song, right down to the last knob and mic cable used (thanks to carl nappa...who was my assistant at the time). it's strange looking at that and realizing it was 1992...

thanks for your interest...

bob

Bob, would you mind sharing these with us???

great to have you here, when III Sides came out I was 15 and I totally loved it, and heard it every day about 10 times! ;-)

[allencollins]

Originally Posted by hourglass

First, thanks to whoever dug up this thread.

I threw in my copy of Extreme II -- the very CD I bought back in the summer of 1990 -- while I was rearranging my control room today.

I followed that up with Skid Row's _Slave to the Grind_ and as always I gotta tip my hat to Michael - this shit STILL sounds amazing. The guitars on that Skid Row record are ****ing insane.

Second:




What are you smokin' dude? Cuz you should pass it along to the next guy, you've had too much.

I wish... shit, I would give my left nut if I thought it would help the cause -- I wish I could get someone as untalented as Gary Cherone to sing on my stuff. I've got a pile of metal songs waiting for a singer, and trust me, when I get carried away and daydream, Gary Cherone is at the top of the list (along with B. Dickinson and S. Bach...)

I managed to see Extreme live on the Three Sides tour and again on the Punchline tour. Both times he was absolutely on top of it. Sure, the first two songs were tuned down an extra half-step til his voice was in full swing, but he never missed a note.

Perhaps you're one of the people who think he "ruined" Van Halen. But - take a listen to the first Extreme record. That's proof enough right there that Gary Cherone can sing a Van Halen album. Maybe if EVH could have come up with a song half as good as Mutha then that VH album wouldn't have sucked so hard.

If you give a singer shit to sing, is it any suprise it sounds like shit?

ryan

First off I love nuno . I think pat badger was a great player and singer. Even Paul geary was a huge solid drummer.
But Gary............. hmmm. Horrible. He sings out of key. His lyrics are total cheeze
and he looks like a geek on stage. I know hes got gold records played on the same stage as eddie blah blah blah ....... but I still think he sucks.

I'm from boston I know Gary Ive played on the same stage as him. I was in several bands that either backed up 'Extreme' or got backed up by 'The Dream'

back in th 80's there was an enormous amount of talent in that city. Off the top off my head I can think of over 20 singers from the area/era that put him to shame

If nuno never joined that band they never would have made it.


whatever

[audiomichael]

Originally Posted by allencollins

First off I love nuno . I think pat badger was a great player and singer. Even Paul geary was a huge solid drummer.
But Gary............. hmmm. Horrible. He sings out of key. His lyrics are total cheeze
and he looks like a geek on stage. I know hes got gold records played on the same stage as eddie blah blah blah ....... but I still think he sucks.

I'm from boston I know Gary Ive played on the same stage as him. I was in several bands that either backed up 'Extreme' or got backed up by 'The Dream'

back in th 80's there was an enormous amount of talent in that city. Off the top off my head I can think of over 20 singers from the area/era that put him to shame

If nuno never joined that band they never would have made it.


whatever

Really...when does he sing out of tune? I saw some YouTube live stuff, and he sounded pretty on. Of course, if you don't like his voice, wiggly vibrato, or that he too often sings lyrics from the perspective of an 8 year old boy...well, that's something different all together.

[bob st john]

Originally Posted by Jay Kahrs

LMAO

Did you have a few of those moments where you’re looking at the razor & trying to figure out what might've been less painful…slashing your wrist or slashing the tape?

I've always wondered what went on with "There is no God." I can hear the guitar leakage that's buried on the left side during the solo & it pops out a little more at different points of the song, probably from another take. Just a punched solo or the whole tune in bits & chunks? Could you spill the beans & tell us what effect is on the backing vocals & some of the 'last' lines of the verse vocals? I've always loved that, whatever it is! Sounds like some kinda demented flanger! LOL Really anything you could volunteer about making that record would be killer!

Thanks much!

hey look! i found one of the 104,000 people in the usa who actually BOUGHT punchline! go look at that =)

a few notes...although i could go on indefinately about extreme IV. "there is no god" was the first song recorded on the record. at the top of the cut, you can hear superflous fluff going on (it's pat asking me to say "rolling" so he can mimic me, as it had become a big joke due to my total lack of enthusiasm some days). we were in the old big studio a at criteria in miami, long before the hit factory bought it out and gutted the room. there was a HUGE cyclorama with a curtain in the room. from the control room mix position to where the drums were set up? over 100 feet away..easily. again, we were TRYING to do this record with a "live" vibe to it (i KNEW the perfectionist in nuno wasn't going to go 100% for that but we tried). the way it was set up...nobody had to wear headphones. drums on a riser...nuno on the right; pat on the left...lots of oriental carpets and candles around. incense too, of course =)

95% of the drums on punchline were made from a 3 channel premix i created on the rear busses of the 8078's jukebox. compressed gently through a dbx 162 and laid back onto 3 tracks of the 24 tk master. we rarely used the actual individual drums...it was almost always that 3 channel mix. minimal eq (none used in mixing save for the GML dual parametric on the mix buss) and ssl G 384 compressor (since that album the 384 and me are inseparable...i still use it daily on my protools setup).

mix recalls were easy...you just put the tape on the machine and ran the mix. of course, the songs we later recorded in boston didn't work that way (hip today, leave me alone and no respect). those sound OBVIOUSLY different. and in deference to wanting to slit one's wrists? when i was finishing the record (after 7 months) in nyc at the hit factory...it DID cross my mind only the three aforementioned cuts were mixed in new york, the rest of the mixes were done at crescent moon in miami.

to this day...i saved these little "edit lists" that nuno would prepare from the mulitiple full band takes. my estimate was that i spent 50 days in front of two multitracks creating the composites...completely by hand. no protools. no digital. no...anything. me, a china marker, a razor blade and a lot of splicing tape.

because nuno didn't want to keep all of his live takes, we had to re-record some of the parts (most of them). believe it or not...nearly all the ambience you hear in the drum track came from ONE mic...an neumann 87 set up behind the bass rig. if you really listen to the record, it has a very one dimensional quality (as the drums are barely in stereo). it was an approach we were definately going for...works on some songs and not on others. best drum take on the record was "naked." the most tinkered with was "evilangelist." i'm particularly proud of "evilangelst" as it was comprised of several loops of paul playing and loaded into the H 3000. it's fairly seamless...although it would have been easier to just have the song performed properly.

the bleed you hear is nuno's live track, coming through that one room mic...or perhaps the drum mics. the way we were set up...you didn't need headphones...everybody could hear each other. sorta worked. sorta didn't. sorta sounded bizarre, too...that bleed is a typical artifact, and you can find that all over the record, especially if you listen in headphones.

i actually had to hear the song to know what effect you mentioned; several are used in the song. gary sang part of the lyric through nuno's vibraverb early in the song; at the end of the bridge (after the damned 32 bar guitar solo...major fights over that) nuno is singing backgrounds through a leslie cabinet...we were changing the speed of the cab as we recorded it. this is the kind of crap you get into when you spend seven months doing a record that uh, simple.

lastly the flanger was an eventide instant flanger. i personally prefer the old fashioned two tape machine version...but we were figuring "hey, man...vintage." yeah right.

that vibraverb was a charmed piece of equipment...it had one BADLY microphonic tube (you can hear it quite clearly when you hear nuno hit the pickup switch in the first break of cynical f*&^) we used that on nuno's schizophonic album as well...it always sounded good...until the tube died.

i have to say that pat was a star player on this record...a good amount of his parts were the actual live performances. gary stood in the middle of the whole thing singing (he kept trying to make everybody laugh) and you can hear that from time to time, also.

hope that clarifies it for ya...it's been fun reliving some of this and answering the questions. of course doesn't help me get much mixing done today but i might be a bit bored

bob

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by bob st john

a few notes...although i could go on indefinately about extreme IV.

I wouldn't complain! Doubt anyone else would either! LOL

95% of the drums on punchline were made from a 3 channel premix i created on the rear busses of the 8078's jukebox. compressed gently through a dbx 162 and laid back onto 3 tracks of the 24 tk master. we rarely used the actual individual drums...it was almost always that 3 channel mix. minimal eq (none used in mixing save for the GML dual parametric on the mix buss) and ssl G 384 compressor

What was the 3-channel mix? Kick/snare on 1, stereo mix of everything else on 2 & 3?

I almost always print a stereo mix of the kit back to two-tracks these days...seems like I can never quite get the same balance at 'mix' that I had during tracking, plus it makes overdubs & the process of guys taking stuff home to work on their own little rigs eaiser too! I've never done three tracks through, it's almost always 2 or 4.

of course, the songs we later recorded in boston didn't work that way (hip today, leave me alone and no respect). those sound OBVIOUSLY different.

Right right...weren't they cut with a different drummer? How did that go?

my estimate was that i spent 50 days in front of two multitracks creating the composites...completely by hand. no protools. no digital. no...anything. me, a china marker, a razor blade and a lot of splicing tape.

So much for "live off the floor" with a couple three fixes!!! So whudda we got? 190 edits per song?!? hahahaha

Ugh.

because nuno didn't want to keep all of his live takes, we had to re-record some of the parts (most of them). believe it or not...nearly all the ambience you hear in the drum track came from ONE mic...an neumann 87 set up behind the bass rig. if you really listen to the record, it has a very one dimensional quality (as the drums are barely in stereo). it was an approach we were definately going for...works on some songs and not on others.

I dunno...overall I think it works.

The production on 'Punchline' seems VERY deliberate, a complete 180 from the production style of the previous records. It struck me (and still strikes me) as a 'throwback' to the days of things like Van Halen 1. But 'ya know...I was thinking it was a 30 or 60 day record...NOT seven months! Geeezzzzzzz....

Was it seven months of 5 day weeks or was there some time off here & there? I'd imagine that ya'll had to break for a bit with drummer auditions & moving around from shop to shop...but maybe not.

i actually had to hear the song to know what effect you mentioned; several are used in the song. gary sang part of the lyric through nuno's vibraverb early in the song; at the end of the bridge (after the damned 32 bar guitar solo...major fights over that) nuno is singing backgrounds through a leslie cabinet...we were changing the speed of the cab as we recorded it. this is the kind of crap you get into when you spend seven months doing a record that uh, simple.

So THAT'S it!!! Backwards Leslie! I'll have to try that someday...

Bob, thanks for shedding some light into the making of these records, and especially 'Punchline' since it's the only Extreme record I liked. But 'ya know...I'm one of the Jersey guys who can't fukkin' stand Bon Jovi so there 'ya go!

Feel free to keep talking about this it! None of us are going to complain!

Thanks again!

[gracejames]

III Sides was one of my 'era' discs. A time that brings back memories of school and traveling to Palm Springs on Hwy 5, etc. It is a special disc for me. I guess i am more in the minority in that i liked it more than pornograffiti. I am more of a fan of Nunos voice then Gary. I remember some of his solo material which was very cool. I wish i kept my ADA.......

[maq]

On a personal note, Bob is one of the main reasons I got into engineering. Back when I was a young, green guitar player tracking a project at Courtlen, Bob could not have been more forthcoming and generous with his knowledge and insight. We've all had that one teacher that changed the way we looked at things, and given the opportunity, would have liked to say thanks............

Thanks, Bob

[allencollins]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Really...when does he sing out of tune? I saw some YouTube live stuff, and he sounded pretty on. Of course, if you don't like his voice, wiggly vibrato, or that he too often sings lyrics from the perspective of an 8 year old boy...well, that's something different all together.

I dunno he just always sounded sour to me.
they are playing this weekend here in boston for a reunion
show

[The Beatsmith]

the ONLY time i've ever heard him be off a little is 'love of my life' at the queen tribute

kinda unlucky as it's such a big platform to be a little off - i think people are taking that one and running with it

would be great to see a reunion!

[bob st john]

Originally Posted by maq

On a personal note, Bob is one of the main reasons I got into engineering. Back when I was a young, green guitar player tracking a project at Courtlen, Bob could not have been more forthcoming and generous with his knowledge and insight. We've all had that one teacher that changed the way we looked at things, and given the opportunity, would have liked to say thanks............

Thanks, Bob

wow. thanks andre...and you're more than welcome!

that seems like a million years ago (it was actually 75,000 years ago but i'm not really counting). i remember you guys very well...especially that last project; ready? the songs..."she comes for me," "lonely," et al..i never forget a song and of course the whole album we did a few years before that...

i can't remember what i did this morning, but back in 1988? yeah..total recall.

"if i'm not me, who am i"

i digress (as usual)

to me, the essence of what we ALL do as artists is to inspire others...i'm flattered by your comments...thanks! make sure to email me when you get some time

[bob st john]

Originally Posted by Jay Kahrs

What was the 3-channel mix? Kick/snare on 1, stereo mix of everything else on 2 & 3?

ok...the stereo mix was everything...including the kick. we just added kick as we needed from the individual kick track...rarely used in the mixes.

the kick was an interesting predicament. we were using paul's DW kit; and believe it or not, we used the kick with both front and back heads on. no hole in the front side of the kick. it sounded great...but there was no attack. so, there was (i believe although for this session i don't have the notes) there was a 47 fet on the front head; and a 421 on the back (beater) side of the head. it sounded great...but as you can imagine, there was an abundance of the snare's strainer in the kick mic..no matter how it was placed. the two mics were mixed to one track on the jukebox...although tracked to two separate tracks; the reason is as follows:

the output of the two tracks were brought up on two faders; one fader with a gate, the other one without. the gated fader, had the phase reversed, so that whenever the gate opened, no sound came out of the combination. it was keyed off the top snare mic. this way, the actual kick and it's attack didn't need to be gated (that never sounds good), and we could still get the nice warm tone of the two heads together. the songs on extreme IV weren't all that complicated, so we rarely had a situation where kick and snare played together (which would have had bad consequences in this setup). in the event the snare and kick had to play together, i would just bypass the setup, or drop in the mixture of the actual ungated tracks. i know it sounds TERRIBLY manual...but worth it in the end. if you listen to the beginning of "naked" you'll understand how well it worked. i always loved how dry that song was...and it's one of the 3 extreme songs i've always used on my demo reel ("stop the world," "more than words," "naked,"). i actually have a version of naked that was about 45 seconds longer. to me, it's obvious that the song was edited after the solo, the energy level makes such a bizarre twist. there actually was an extra prechorus after the solo, where gary spits out an expletive ("you wanna hear the f'n truth?") and well, it got cut. i always hated that...because it completed the track...both thematically and energywise...

ok...i'll continue...long answer to a simple question!

weren't they cut with a different drummer? How did that go?

mike mangini was the drummer for the 3 other tracks ("hip today," "leave me alone," and "respect"). we recorded those in the A studio at sound techniques in boston...still using the DW kit in nearly the exact same setup. i'll never forget that session as i called my assistant carl nappa and told him i'd be late and to get the drums setup. when i got there...everything was set up, ready...mics in the right position (carl knew me well), console labelled...faders up and it had to be the most incredibly NEAT setup of mic cables i've ever seen. mike is a great drummer...just never been one of my favorites...and nuno and i beat him up on those tracks. that kind of focus on straight grooves was a new thing for him; he was very much a "chops" drummer with a lot of tricks. of special note, is the drum fill that plays at the end of the solo section of "no respect." it's NOT an overdub...he played that in one take along with the rest of the track. nuno and me soloed it and tryed to figure it out endlessly...it literally sounded like two drummers. but mike was a determined guy...and when he puts his mind to it...he can pull it off. yes, those takes were all comprised of many edits, as well...just wasn't as painful as the only thing in the edits was DRUMS instead of the band playing live...of course those songs sound completely different...they couldn't be MORE different from the album, actually. mike is a great drummer...but to me, the sound of extreme will always be paul geary. nuno and paul rarely saw eye to eye, but without paul's business sense, we wouldn't be even having a conversation about extreme. ah, the famous art vs. commerce debate..........

So much for "live off the floor" with a couple three fixes!!! So whudda we got? 190 edits per song?!?

typical song had around 30-40 cuts. i imagine if we threw those reels up on the machine now we'd have a mess...it made the funniest sound as it went flying through the studer...just a clickety-clack.

one of the songs, was made up of around 70 cuts; i used two multitracks when assembling the takes (some of them took days to complete); one multitrack to assemble the finished master, another multitrack to locate the takes; and hung up the odd pieces on the wall, numbered and tagged with a china marker. thank GOD for protools...these days are OVER! i know it sound incredibly romantic and oh-so-analog...but it's not as much fun as it sounds like. add to that, that nuno really doesn't read or write music (notation) and he would hand me this obscure charts that were essentially edit decision lists...making little x mark where he wanted cuts (i actually did the cuts where they worked...everybody knows you can't get away with editing a finished analog drum take on a ride cymbal accent). i only recently told nuno that i actually did what i had to do to make it work. that was a good laugh...

The production on 'Punchline' seems VERY deliberate, a complete 180 from the production style of the previous records.

this concept of recording is something i VIVIDLY remember talking to nuno about. we wanted to do something simple...and little more live. of course (like on extreme III) i suggested that they do an acoustic ballad, but again i was referred to as a sellout. hey...ya gotta try. whenever we saw people from the label, i referred to the album NOT as "waiting for the punchline" but "waiting for the single!" either way...nuno and me were talking about having just a 2 track mix of the drums...and how everybody would perform to that mix...and what happens when you've got everything tracked to a certain mix THEN you go and change it...and what it does to the feel when suddenly the mix becomes kick heavy and the rest of the band never played to it that way. talk about overthinking something! LOL but that was our concept, either way...oh yes...and we just wanted to be there for 2 months. so much for THAT!

I was thinking it was a 30 or 60 day record...NOT seven months! Was it seven months of 5 day weeks or was there some time off here & there?

6 months. 6 damned months. at criteria. 6 days a week. 14-18 hours a day. sometimes carl would go work with nuno on sundays on solo projects. be actually had the studio locked out the whole time so we wouldn't have to strike our setup. i STILL can't believe it took that long to do it. we played an awful lot of video games and ate too much sushi and indian food! and usually spent all our free time together...strip clubs, shopping, eating...one big dysfunctional musical family. it's why florida has always been a second home to me (and part of why i live here now). even on sundays, we'd be upstairs in nuno's apartment playing madden football. got vicious sometimes...but mostly fun. the other month was divided between the tracks recorded in boston and mixed in nyc. i don't even want to SAY what that record cost...except that it was more expensive that extreme III (and that was including the orchestra)! not the most expensive record i've worked on (the two duran duran records i've worked on have that dubious honor, hands down)but a close 3rd and 4th!

i'm proud of extreme IV...but some days, it just sounds like an elaborate demo. personally, it would have been nice to hear those lovely background vocals that gary, pat and nuno did together SO well. i have a feeling it was just a bit TOO stripped down for most everybody. the near total lack of eq was a new thing for me...something i've continued through my career (everything i read about making the right mic choices actually works...go figure). of course...we all gotta do what we gotta do, i'm sure if we tracked it on a mackie we'd have needed the eq. there is nothing as sweet as those neve mic pres...just amazing...

hope this cleared up a few mysteries for ya...

bob

[ptbbos]

Great timing on this thread. Been listening to all the albums, singles, etc. a lot lately, gearing up to be at the shows this weekend - never got to see them live before this.

Thanks Bob and Mike for the insight into these albums, some of my all-time favourites.

[bob st john]

Originally Posted by Andi Rauscher

Bob, would you mind sharing these with us???

hi andi...

actually haven't scanned them...been a while! anything you want to know...go ahead and ask and i'll do my best...if i can get them scanned i'll gladly share.

go figure. $200,000 worth of computer gear and no scanner LOL

thanks for your reply...

bob

[Crash]

I remember running out and buying the last CD the day it came out. To say I almost stripped a gear when I gave it a first listen would not be far from the truth. It was so stripped down compared to the very polished III Sides and Pornografitti, it was a bit hard to digest. The funny thing about it is now, I think it is a great CD. It has an organic groove that the others don't have.

I have to go on record and say that this is a bit surreal talking with Bob and Michael on this. Who would have thought we could get the real skinny on the recording process of all the different albums.

I had always heard that Extreme had started IV with the intent of going more along the lines of the previous albums and then Nuno decided to ditch all of it and start over with what became the more stripped down simple recording. Having read all of this, I guess that was not true at all. It is good to get it cleared up from those involved.

[bob st john]

Originally Posted by Crash

I remember running out and buying the last CD the day it came out. To say I almost stripped a gear when I gave it a first listen would not be far from the truth.

i had a feeling when we were recording it that this was a scary move. sure, it was a cool concept...but who could tell where any of this was going? like a lot of fans...i would have been perfectly content with doubled guitar and big vocals just like the other records. i think that that still could have had a raw edge...but the band had other ideas.

It was so stripped down compared to the very polished III Sides and Pornografitti, it was a bit hard to digest. The funny thing about it is now, I think it is a great CD. It has an organic groove that the others don't have.

stripped down is the word. it IS organic...but for a lot of die-hard fans...it's a bit hard to digest. heck, i worked on it and helped give birth to it and it's hard for ME to digest. there are some cool moments...but it is a very unfocused effort in my eyes. sounds some like a fading rock band's last album but i could be wrong...

I have to go on record and say that this is a bit surreal talking with Bob and Michael on this. Who would have thought we could get the real skinny on the recording process of all the different albums.

god bless the internet it's actually surreal to talk with michael after all these years...so the feeling here is mutual. regarding what you read...well you never know what somebody else's agenda is...strange but very true. what's weird...was that i remember nuno and i talking about zeppelin when we were coming up with this concept...might have been a LITTLE off the mark there

thanks for your response...

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by bob st john

i had a feeling when we were recording it that this was a scary move. sure, it was a cool concept...but who could tell where any of this was going? like a lot of fans...i would have been perfectly content with doubled guitar and big vocals just like the other records. i think that that still could have had a raw edge...but the band had other ideas.



stripped down is the word. it IS organic...but for a lot of die-hard fans...it's a bit hard to digest. heck, i worked on it and helped give birth to it and it's hard for ME to digest. there are some cool moments...but it is a very unfocused effort in my eyes. sounds some like a fading rock band's last album but i could be wrong...



god bless the internet it's actually surreal to talk with michael after all these years...so the feeling here is mutual. regarding what you read...well you never know what somebody else's agenda is...strange but very true. what's weird...was that i remember nuno and i talking about zeppelin when we were coming up with this concept...might have been a LITTLE off the mark there

thanks for your response...

Hi Bob

I am not a huge Nuno or Extreme fan (nothing against them or anything just never really took a lot of notice I guess) I just wanted to say what a treat it is to have you hanging around here and getting a chance to read your great posts.

Really very cool of you to stop in. I hope you stick around and check out a few other threads, your input would be most welcome!

And for what it is worth, when my bank account recovers from my last gear purchase the stripped down Extreme CD is now on my list to buy because you have got me interested in hearing it.

Thanks again.

[JamesNylen]

Hey Bob, I am a huge extreme fan and going to see them this friday. I was wondering if you could give any info on who played the drums or any random memorys on the song's "When will it rain", "Better off dead", And "never been funked" and why they didnt make it onto punchline. I mean the album always seems short to me and while "never been funked" sounds like maybe b-side material, "When will it rain" was almost in the "This should be a single" category. Both "When will it rain" and "better off dead" are very strong songs and I think even shine better then some of the songs that made it on punchline. Another weird thing was they played "never been funked" on the punchline tour instead of playing a song that made it on the album.

[bob st john]

Originally Posted by JamesNylen

Hey Bob, I am a huge extreme fan and going to see them this friday. I was wondering if you could give any info on who played the drums or any random memorys on the song's "When will it rain", "Better off dead", And "never been funked" and why they didnt make it onto punchline. I mean the album always seems short to me and while "never been funked" sounds like maybe b-side material, "When will it rain" was almost in the "This should be a single" category. Both "When will it rain" and "better off dead" are very strong songs and I think even shine better then some of the songs that made it on punchline. Another weird thing was they played "never been funked" on the punchline tour instead of playing a song that made it on the album.

wow. i completely forgot about those songs...but lived every moment. you're right...the album is a bit short. not to mention, "tell me something" was originally 2 minutes longer; there is a mass of last minute edits shortly after the solo that reduced the length of the song; we did the edits in new york at clinton studio where we actually compiled all the composites on 1/2 inch of the finished album (3 days of editing finished mixes on 1/2 inch) while beginning work on nuno's solo album, schizophonic. better off dead and never been funked were just dropped off the album when hip today, no respect and leave me alone were added.

at this point i'm struggling to remember when will it rain...pretty dim in my memory. as far as why the songs were dropped? something from my memory was that the label wanted a single. of course, the label wanted an acoustic ballad; and the band actually had one, but a peculiar argument over who was writing the lyrics for the ballad caused it to never see light of day (no confidences revealed here).

enjoy the show...as crazy as this sounds...i've seen extreme live a grand total of 4 times! while doing live sound a the channel in boston (pre their A&M days); twice at hammersmith in london (recording live shows during the extreme II tour); and at the A Concert for Life at Wembley Stadium in 1992. pretty pathetic, i know...but i was a busy guy in those days. they put on a GREAT show...and i'm sure friday will be no exception!

thanks for your interest...hope this answers your questions!

[Crash]

Talk about timing.....

http://www.thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=16059&page=1

There is some mention of the split and sort of why.

[bob st john]

cool article...gary has always been a well read, well spoken guy...

what he said was right...it's not something that went down in flames. but the last two songs gary and nuno wrote appear on nuno's schizophonic ("you" and "pursuit of happiness"). something tells me that "pursuit of happiness" (which we recorded in sydney, fall 1995 for nuno's solo album) was well, a true story. nobody ever told me one way or the other...so i can't speak with much authority.

i'm sure the shows are going to be great...i would expect nothing less i always loved the way those guys voices sounded together...

[Andi Rauscher]

can anyone please post links to info about the reunion????

thanks a million!

[The Beatsmith]

There seems to be promise of a proper tour and album from the sound of that interview!!

Hopefully nuno will be up for it... he seems to be the deciding factor here

Thanks for the article!

[Crash]

http://www.nuno-bettencourt.com/

There are shows coming up on June 30th, July 1st and 2nd it looks like. I believe they are doing just the three shows. I believe the 30th show is in Boston and the other two are in New Hampshire.

[Andi Rauscher]

Originally Posted by bob st john

hi andi...

actually haven't scanned them...been a while! anything you want to know...go ahead and ask and i'll do my best...if i can get them scanned i'll gladly share.

go figure. $200,000 worth of computer gear and no scanner LOL

thanks for your reply...

bob

Bob,
I am generally interested in the whole setup for that record.
There are no special questions, it´s just that this is one of my favourite of all times album and I must take the chance of being able to talk to you about it!

For a starting point:
how was everything set up, what equipment was used, what was the workflow like, are there any special stories you can tell etc etc...

Thank you so much for being here!

PS: I like the sound of 3 sides more than porno.... sorry michael

[Andi Rauscher]

Originally Posted by bob st john

hi andi...
go figure. $200,000 worth of computer gear and no scanner LOL

PM me your adress and I´ll ship you a brand new scanner!

[bob st john]

Originally Posted by Andi Rauscher

Bob,
I am generally interested in the whole setup for that record.
There are no special questions, it´s just that this is one of my favourite of all times album and I must take the chance of being able to talk to you about it!

For a starting point:
how was everything set up, what equipment was used, what was the workflow like, are there any special stories you can tell etc etc...

Thank you so much for being here!

PS: I like the sound of 3 sides more than porno.... sorry michael

andi, i'm flattered. extreme III was a major record in my career...it has some moments i'm proud of and a few NOT so proud moments. like all records. but i'll gladly share the info; i'll start a new thread for extreme III, how's that sound? oh there's a million stories...but i'll try to keep them to the actual recording. that record...god...talk about giving birth

i like the sound of both extreme II and III...although extreme II definately bears michael's inimitable sonic fingerprint. what michael probably didn't know...was what an inspiration the early dokken records were to me...for that time period...there was nothing like it...and for just play raw aggression, you can't beat the first skid row record. that guitar sound...just...macho

but to each his own...extreme II and III couldn't be any more different. for good reasons (one is that i was still trying to get a clue i may still be clueless now but at least i've figured it out

[The Beatsmith]

a new thread about 3 sides would be good bob... i still need to find out who's idea it was to put seven sundays on there , and i don't know how to get the tone you got for the first solo on 'stop the world yet'

[bob st john]

a quickie...

i personally thought seven sundays should have been a single...but paul (geary) hated the song so much...i never really got that. it's a demo...all we did was add some vocals and little fluff to the finished 2 tk mix that nuno made (namely the vocal ad-libs and the "1-2-3-4-5-6-7" background vocals at the end). i know that they had played that song for herb alpert in his office at a&m during the extreme II era...to the best of my knowledge they sang it live for him...)

the solo in stop the world?

that entire section, was taken from the demo...everything. again, it was a 2 tk demo mix that nuno made; we tried to recapture it...but there was no way. the guitar tone was made with one of those battery powered marshall amps (the little tiny portable version). nuno explained to me that he was in a hotel room (all of these demos were recorded during the extended extreme II tour) and he wanted to do the solo so BAD. but all the microphones were packed away...all he had was the multitrack equipment, the portable amp (and the batteries were nearly dead) and a pair of headphones.

he was desparate...he had an idea and he need to do it NOW. so, he plugged the headphones into the mic input on the console...duct taped the headphones to the little marshall amp; and started to play the solo. that is why that tone is so bizarre...as the amp was on the verge of shutting off. listen closely and it will make perfect sense. hey, i'd like to take credit for it...but that was nuno's inventiveness on that one. true story

more to come on extreme III...got a busy day ahead of me here

bob

[The Beatsmith]

hahaha!

do you mean one of these?



if so.... i'm ordering one tomorrow!

edit: crap man, now you say it, it sounds so obvious when i go back and listen to it! one of my favourite ever guitar sounds was made on a $40 battery powered amp. quality. i guess it must have been 'DI'd' out of the headphone jack, into his tape recorder if the mics were packed away!

[bob st john]

hahahaha

it's the little one, btw...not the "stack."

now the outro solo, was the soldano like most of the record...

there are little secrets to unlock galore...

like you said. "real quality." what...kinda like that rat pedal direct track that's all over "am i ever gonna change?"