Customer Reviews

20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Extreme, happens to be one of the best musical artists I have ever had the privilege of listening to. This collection, consisting of 10 of their songs out of a track catalogue that is almost in the hundreds, let's us hear their musical diversity. "Kid Ego" which is obviously about egotism of some form, start's off the CD. Immediately noticeable is Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt's guitar wizardry and Gary Cherone's dazzling lead vocals as well as the musicianship of the rest of the band. "Kid Ego" is classic Extreme. "Decadence Dance" the second track, I believe the meaning of this song being about society's bad habits and decadent values (drinking, drug use, smoking, fighting, clubbing). The song begins with a thunderstorm (which actually on Pornograffitti happens to be a prelude to the final track on that album "Hole Hearted" which ends with a thunderstorm in the mix) than keeps on transforming until Nuno's guitar is heard than the track takes off from there. Fancy musicianship is displayed by the band here, with a killer uptempo melodic rock like structure that reaches for outer space and beyond. Again, Gary Cherone does a fantastic job and Paul Geary's drumming is very good. "Decadence Dance" is classic Extreme. "More Than Words" is the third track and features beautiful acoustic guitar work from Nuno Bettencourt, and gorgeous singing from both Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt. Both of them, when they sing together create this kind of eternal calm that places them both IMHO as one of the best sounding vocal duos in musical history. We can get intimate with their voices and feel like we are almost in the room with them, especially on this track "More Than Words". This is the kind of song that could mean many different things to so many people. "Hole Hearted" is the fourth track and it is an uplifitng Extreme masterpiece, with a message and the song is almost larger than life because of it's message. The message I believe is that no matter what we do in life, it's never good enough for us, we are always trying to find piece of mind, something to fill that hole in our heart. A song with great depth, excellent musicanship, and great harmony is probably one of the best songs ever made.

"Get The Funk Out" is the fifth track, and is an all out funk rocker. The horns, Nuno Bettencourt's guitar wizardry, Pat's bass playing, Paul's drumming, and Gary's soulful voice all add up to one very solid performance. Nuno's guitar actually says the words, "i don't like what I see here", all I can say about that is WOW. Classic Extreme in every sense of the word. "Rest In Peace" is the sixth track and happens to be one of Extreme's best songs. Also one of their most meaningful songs. After the beyond sad and evil events of Sept 11th, this song has greater purpose and means more to the listener. The song addresses the issues of peace, world peace and why we can't ever build enough trust to have it. That's because peace comes from the hearts of us all, and that is the only place where it can be found. There can only be peace if there is peace inside and coming from the person. That is what the song is about. This is one of the most meaningful, thought provoking, intelligent songs ever made. It of course features their trademark funk metal, but if you ask me, this is Extreme at their creative best. A very powerful musical masterpiece. "Stop The World" is the seventh track and is yet another very deep, thought provoking Extreme song. This is by far one of their most diverse tracks because it has many sides to it. The message here is about wanting to be in a world where there is love all over. So Stop The World, I wanna get off. A classic Extreme song. "Am I Ever Gonna Change" is the eigth track on this disc and is best heard on their album, "Three Sides To Every Story" which I strongly recommend you buy, because it is part of a three sided song titled, "Everything Under The Sun". Which is also one of the best, very deep, thought provoking, moving songs ever made. "Am I Ever Gonna Change" is a rock opera like masterpiece of a song. "Tragic Comic" is the ninth track and it should have been a #1 hit like "More Than Words" and "Rest In Peace" on the rock radio charts, overseas though it was huge. It features excellent acoustic guitar work from Nuno Bettencourt and great vocals from Cherone & Bettencourt, and good bass work from Pat Badger and drum work from Paul Geary. The tenth and final track on this 20th Century Masters Collection, is "Hip Today" which is also a very powerful, chunk of melodic rock. The song is about fads in all aspects of life, especially the world of music.

I highly recommend buying all four of Extreme's major albums, but this features all of their hits from MTV and the radio and would make anybody interested in this band quite happy.

A one star for the remastering job done for these ten great Extreme classic songs. A few of the songs suffer from poor treble and bass levels, and at times way to high bass levels. "Get The Funk Out" has been very poorly remastered, there is way to much bass and it sounds awful. On "Decadence Dance" at the start, there is a thunderstorm in the mix and the mother says, "francis, francis be careful" there seems to be an audio dropout for about a half a second. "Rest In Peace" sounds overly remastered, and the treble levels are off. Most people will likely not notice anything. Actually, all the other songs on this release sound fine and accurate. Besides buying this for nostalgia purposes, if you are at all serious on discovering this band through a Best Of Collection, then buy "The Best Of Extreme: An Accidental Collication of Atoms?" instead. Speaking of a great remastering job, on that Best Of Extreme release at least they got it right. How about a greatest hits CD with some of their better songs that never made any catalog release. For instance, "Never Been Funked", "Better Off Dead", "Sex 'n' Love", "Where You Going?", "When Will It Rain", "Nice Place To Visit". Their Kiss cover of "Strutter" is mind blowing. The "Get The Funk Out" 12' dance remix is so, so, funky. Extreme deserves a better release!

For all intents and purposes, Extreme was a one-hit wonder. The band got a lot of attention in a short period of time for their beautiful acoustic ballad "More than Words", and then largely disappeared from most people's radar. This despite the fact that Extreme was an extremely talented band with a real gift for writing catchy (but relevant) rock music.

They were also somewhat inconsistent, however. Once you get past their excellent debut album, the rest of the band's output is a bit uneven. It seems like for every standout song, there are 1-2 tracks that can only be described as filler. I hate to sound like I'm knocking the band. When they got it right, they were fantastic, but I can't be the only one to snooze through large chunks of III Sides to Every Story or Waiting for the Punchline.

That's where a collection like this one comes in handy. You get the absolute best songs the band had to offer (though a couple more songs from the debut would have been nice), all with digitally remastered sound, all for about half the cost of the average CD. Hearing all of these fantastic songs in one sitting is the perfect way to look back at this great band, and the song selection is sure to keep you from even considering the fast forward button.

While it could have benefited from a few more tracks, the Best of Extreme - 20th Century Masters CD is a great overview of a too often overlooked band, and is hard to beat in terms of both sound quality and price.

What can you say about Extreme? didn't they do it all in those four fantastic albums? They swept the musical boundaries the 90's tried to enforced upon eveyone and blasted there way through a sonic explosion of eclectic genres to produce some of the most overlooked songs ever written. This album focuses on the most mainstream side of Extreme which is still better than alot of what is still out there today. If you want to discover the band for real though and in particular the mastermind that is Nuno Bettencourt check out any of there albums.

It makes no sense that this band is not making music anymore. Extreme, which was called the Dream originally formed in Boston, MA and their creative musical brotherhood ended when Nuno decided to show the world what he can do solo. Thing is, all four of the musicians in this band now have struggling careers. Gary Cherone has formed a fresh, Nine Inch Nails like, industrial/rock band called Tribe Of Judah (with two exExtreme band mates Pat & Mike, and the band looks like their on the rise to stardom). Nuno Bettencourt continues to try to be successful away from Extreme - with his solo disc Schizophonic, and now Mourning Widows (who have been rumored to have broken up now). Both have been commercial disasters, despite being decent rock albums. So it seems to me that this band is on the verge of getting back together maybe. Just listen to the 10 tracks on this Best Of Extreme release and you to will realize the potential that this band had to grow with. It remains to be seen what else this band can do together musically. Whatever it may be though, I am sure it would be of the high standards set by this amazing art rock progressive funk metal band from Boston. Again, high crime there is no more new Extreme music in the making.

If you were ever an Extreme fan, this CD is a definite must-have for your collection. It is a combination of several of the great ones, though anything Extreme put out should have been included on this "Best of" since they had so many spectacular songs to choose from. The pictures are great - definite "big hair" moments! Loved it!

A good blend of Extreme's old numbers. I have quite enjoyed listening to it. The photos are a hoot....serious big hair.

I disagree with the last review given. First of all this greatest hits version is ok. 10 good songs! But it is not there best. Extreme's first album is generic rock of the 80's. It has 4 stand outs that are never mentioned "Rock A Bye Bye, Watching Waiting, Mutha, and Play With Me. These songs give a glimps of there future. There best IS 3 Sides To Every Story. These guys aren't about 1 record that is hard and fast. THere to talented for that and the 3 Sides album shows this. Very versitile and has been my favorite album period!!! It is not boring. If You know what Extreme was about then You will love it. Excellent concepts, styles of music, lyrics, and over all sound!
As for this greatest hits...its ok. The albums are cheap now so I recommend either getting those (only 4) or look into another greatest hits with more songs!

This album is pointless. Get the greatest hits. It has more songs and the track selection is more representitve of their career.