III Sides To Every Story

''III Sides to Every Story'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Extreme, released on September 14, 1992, through A&M Records. It was the follow-up to the very successful ''Pornograffitti'' album. It was the last album that fully featured the band's original line-up: Gary Cherone, Nuno Bettencourt, Pat Badger and Paul Geary; Geary later left, but after touring this album, and before the tour of the fourth album.

Overview

The album is structured as a concept album in three sections labeled as "sides", a play on the notion of "different sides to a story" and that of "sides" of an album (in LP and cassette media). The sides, mentioned in the song "Cupid's Dead" as "three sides to every story" are named "Yours", "Mine" and "The Truth", and each features a distinct musical style and lyrical imagery.

Although this was their third record, bootleg recordings from Extreme's earlier days confirm that at least two tracks for this album ("Warheads" and "Our Father") existed and were performed in almost identical arrangements several years prior, dating back to the time of their first record.

''Yours'' is made of hard rock songs, the guitar-centric style which the band had explored the most on their previous albums. Their funk-metal tendencies are present in tracks such as "Cupid's Dead", which also features a rap section performed by guest John Preziosa Jr. As a whole, this side deals with political subjects: war ("Warheads"), peace ("Rest in Peace"), government ("Politicalamity"), racism ("Color Me Blind"), media ("Cupid's Dead"). Summing up these matters, the side closes with "Peacemaker Die", a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., which features a recording of his famous 1963 "I Have A Dream" speech.

''Mine'', in total contrast, deals with introspective subjects. In accordance, the band departs from its guitar sound and experiments with different arrangements on this side, with Nuno Bettencourt playing keyboards in addition to (and in some tracks, instead of) the guitar. The side opening song, "Seven Sundays", is a slow waltz with prominent keyboards and no guitars. "Tragic Comic" is a mostly acoustic track telling a light-hearted love story. "Our Father" is sung from the perspective of the child of an absent father (although many interpret the song to be dealing with God as The Father). With "Stop The World", the album starts to delve into more philosophical questions, expressing existential doubts — a theme that leads to religion, with "God Isn't Dead?" (written with the verb form as an affirmation but with a question mark — the chorus says ''"Please tell me God isn't dead... I want to know"'') and "Don't Leave Me Alone", a dramatic plea. The latter was not included in the CD version because of lack of space; Bettencourt recalls leaving it out "was like cutting off my arm". Despite not being bound by the limitations of the CD format, the version of the album downloadable from iTunes also omits "Don't Leave Me Alone".

Finally, ''The Truth'' consists of a three-part opus, titled "Everything Under the Sun", ending the three-part album. This side nods to progressive rock not only in format but also in musical style, with changes in time signature and an intricate arrangement, featuring a 70-piece orchestra. Lyrically, the spiritual theme set up in the end of "Mine" is further developed and Christian imagery is very present.

The use of Roman numerals in the title is intended to denote "III Sides" as the band’s third album and to continue the theme from their previous album, the full title of which was ''Extreme II: Pornograffitti''. On the album cover graphics, the last ‘E’ in ‘Extreme’ is also the ‘III’ in the album title.

Production

Most of ''III Sides'' was recorded at New River Studios, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and the orchestral parts were recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London. The use of Abbey Road may be perceived as yet another nod to the Beatles, besides the various lyrical references throughout the album: "Cupid's Dead" quotes a line from "A Day in the Life"; "God Isn't Dead?" quotes "Eleanor Rigby"; and "Rest in Peace" quotes John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance". Additionally, Pat Badger is seen playing a Höfner 500/1 bass, similar to that used by Paul McCartney, in the music video for "Tragic Comic".

Reception

Despite being considered one of Extreme's best albums by fans and music critics, ''III Sides to Every Story'' was a commercial failure (only selling about 700,000 copies, compared to the double platinum ''Pornograffitti''), since it did not feature a hit single such as "More Than Words" (which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1991), from its predecessor ''Pornograffitti'' (although the single "Rest in Peace" reached number one on the Mainstream Rock chart). Also, the particular brand of hard rock for which Extreme was known was falling out of favor with the rise of the grunge movement around that time.

Track listing

Notes
* "Peacemaker Die" is not included on the Korean edition.
* "Don't Leave Me Alone" is available exclusively on the vinyl and cassette editions of the album, appearing between God Isn't Dead? and Everything Under the Sun, as well as on the '' Extragraffitti'' compilation album (3-CD edition), "Tragic Comic" single, "Stop The World" single, and as a separate promotional single.
* On some CD editions of ''III Sides To Every Story'', the tracks comprising the "Everything Under The Sun" arc were indexed and played as one track, whereas on others they are indexed separately (albeit with no break in the music between tracks). Running times are therefore listed for the combined track and for the separated tracks.

Personnel

;Extreme
* Gary Cherone – vocals, art direction
* Nuno Bettencourt – guitar, keyboards, piano, organ, percussion, orchestration, vocals, producer
* Pat Badger – bass, backing vocals
* Paul Geary – drums, percussion, backing vocals

;Additional musicians
* Geremy Miller – violin
* Thor (Steven) Sigurdson – cello
* Mike Moran – orchestral arrangements ("Everything Under the Sun: III. Who Cares?")
* John Preziosa, Jr. – rap ("Cupid's Dead")
* Chicolini Bros. (Carl, Jim, Nuno) – music box

;Voices
* Sgt. Philip Meyers – "Warientation" intro ("Warheads")
* Alex Andon – boy ("Warheads")
* Avery Andon – boy ("Rest in Peace")
* Ian O'Malley – newsman ("Cupid's Dead")
* Martin Luther King Jr. – speech ("Peacemaker Die")
* Dr. Edward de R. Cayia – priest ("Am I Ever Gonna Change")

;Production
* Bob St. John – co-producer, engineer
* John Kurlander, Carl Nappa – engineers
* Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
* Liz Vap – art direction, design
* Michael Lavine – photography

Charts

Certifications

References

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Extreme (band) albums
1992 albums
A&M Records albums
1990s concept albums