Customer Reviews

Mourning Widows

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

People, go buy this album! It's brilliant. It's something of a mix of Nirvana, Radiohead and Van Halen, with some extra rhythmic influences added. The songs sound a bit less `poppy', or catchy, than on 'schizophonic'and everything sounds like it's been recorded live, which is a good thing if you ask me. Also, Nuno makes more use again of the brighter, sharper guitar sound as opposed to the darker sound used on Schizophonic. As for the tracks; instantly likeable are tracks 1, 2, 8 and 9, with catchy tunes and great music. The opening riff of `paint the town red' is the best one I've heard in a long, long time. On all songs, the rhythms are great. I wish more bands would pay attention to that aspect of music. Only downside of the album I can think of is that most solo's sound like improvisations over one or two chords. Nothing bad really, but no `miniature compositions' anymore, as was the case with Extreme every now and then. It does make it sound very spontaneous though, and it shows Nuno's extreme musicality.

When purchasing this CD, I knew that I would not be disappointed because Nuno has not done it yet. I love his Extreme work and "Schizophonic" is a brilliant album. Mourning Widows is better than I could have hoped. It contains the kind of material that drew me to his work originally. It is nasty, aggressive, and at the same time, very melodic. I can not stop listening to this disc. I think that its his best work to date. If you are a fan of his "Extreme" work in particular, BUY THIS CD!!!

It's definitly worth a listen. It's definitly worth a purchase. It's simply an amazing guitar outfit for the Portugese born guitarist, and Boston native Nuno Bettencourt. While lacking the imagination that was always displayed in his music with Extreme, Mourning Widows carry's it's own bag. The album starts off with the rocker All Automatic. It would put artists like Santana & Metallica to shame. It's a dizzy, rowdy, musical track. The highlight's of Mourning Widows would be Paint The Town Red (great sound, like the Smashing Pumpkins), The Air That U Breathe (echos of Red Hot Chilli Pepper's here), Hotel Asylum (clearly the most original track on the record), Love Is A Cigarette (an all out Guitar flexing circus), Too Late (Nuno at his best since leaving Extreme), True Love In The Galaxy (atmospheric in sound, has a super-natural feel to it, the guitar solo at the end of the song is breathtaking). Though, ironically the best tracks on this record are the bonus tracks. Sex In A Jar & And The Winner Is... are both solid tracks. The Temp which is not a bonus track is fat as well. My overall rating is 9/10. 5 stars here at Amazon.com.

Love him or hate him, Nuno is a pure genius in the realm of song writing. If you are looking for the perfect songs, they are here. If you are the kind of person who has followed him since the early days of Extreme and are looking for the amazing guitar solos, they are here. If you are looking for songs with unbelievable melodies where you can just sit back and let the song itself take over...they are also here. If you are a musician you will find yourself constantly wondering how he came up with `that idea'. Nuno is truly one of the best song writers I've ever had the pleasure to learn from. (from the music). Don't spend your money on college if you want to play guitar and learn how to write music, just buy this CD. You will learn how to write, arrange, sing, solo and harmonize for one low price of this (and his other CD's). Not since The Beatles have I personally been so moved by a song writer. Do yourself a favor and get some Nuno!

When is Nuno Bettencourt going to receive the respect from the music industry that he rightfully deserves? First, he and the rest of extreme put out 3 awesome albums, all severely different than the other (I know they put out 4, but "Extreme" isn't really up to their potential). Then, after they break up (I'm still not over that, I miss that band more than anything), he puts out a killer solo album (Schizophrenic). And Now Mourning Windows. Another masterpiece in the Nuno Library. Great from top to bottom, I have the import with the two extra tracks - you can never get enough Nuno!- it hasn't left my cd player in months. Anybody who enjoys Nuno's past efforts will not be disappointed. Trust Me! GO GET IT!!!

Thank You for reading this post!
Now to the cd. This cd is great and is a must for any Extreme fan. This cd was abused, misused, & re-used. Could not take the cd out of player. Nuno is the Man! The entire album is really good with a kick ass intro to the first song "all Automatic" that really lets the listeners know right from the get go that this cd was gonna rock hard. The one thing I want to point out was that I really hated Nuno's solo album "Schizophonic" and that cd was horrible. This cd, and all his other works, are just all solid great works of musical genius and can not recommed them enough.
One thing like to point out about NUNO is that he is already worldly known as a great guitarist, but he is also much more than just that. What separates Mr. Bettencourt from a lot of other guitarist out there is the fact that he is also a great producer, songwriter and singer. Plus, just like his former Extreme band he is very versatile in his musical range. This guy is gonna be around for a long time.
The best songs on the album? Ask not which songs are the best.....ask which ones are not...Yes, it is that good with great rhythms and some long soloing..not to mention the demos are *gulp* awesome *gulp* yeah the demos of all things. Cheers Mate! Cheers!!

This CD is Nuno just getting even that much better. Who would have thought it? All Automatic kicks this off in an aggressive fashion and he never lets up. If you prefer the harder-edge of Extreme -this takes it one step further. True Love In The Galaxy is the only 'sort-of' ballad -it's more ambient than a ballad. As a die-hard Extreme & Nuno fan -you cannot miss this one -I chanced upon it and didn't regret the price for a second!

Ok so let's fore-go the surface funk rock sound of the album, and talk to the people that can see through this exterior to the silver beneath the surface. Each and every track featured immediately sounds severe, off-beat and certainly unorthodox yet after a mere second listen the true colors begin to shine. As a long term fan of Nuno and a student of music, the melodies, harmonies, perfect phrasing and phonetics of the album are undeniable. It will grab you and refuse to drop you. If you can HEAR Nuno and don't just LISTEN to him ... you will find this one of the most hypnotic albums of the decade.

Where do you start with describing this album? Firstly it has one of the funniest intros ever which leads into the brilliant opening track ALL AUTOMATIC. Things slow down a bit for the excellent I JUST WANNA BE YOUR FRIEND and the very emotional OVER AND OUT before getting very funked up with a near 4 minute guitar solo in LOVE IS... Put simply if you like music in general you will like this. If not your loss on one of the last great albums of the 20th Century. Buy this and love it

Nuno Bettencourt. Greatest guitarist of all time, as far as I'm concerned.

Mourning Widows, Nuno's new group, is quite good. This particular CD is also very good.

I gave this CD a 4 instead of a 5 because I think all of the older Extreme albums were 5s. Nuno's own stuff hasn't quite matched the quality of Extreme. It's a different sound, and I'm a little disappointed at times with the quality of Nuno's performance. Still excellent, mind you, but it's as if he's redirected some of his energy for Mourning widows and therefor doesn't concentrate on his awsome guitaring capabilities.

If you liked Extreme, then you should collect Mourning Widows' CDs.

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