When Brian May gets out of his way to praise you at every opportunity, you know your value's high.

Gary is 61 and he doesn't drink and smoke...his vocals sound amazing to me , his energy and stage presence is second to none.

Gary isn't 56, he's 61. And no, he hasn't lost his voice.

Nuno is insanely good. The solo in get the funk out is a prime example of that

I have loved Nuno since I first heard Play With Me and was just absolutely blown away. He makes it seem like Extreme has 2 lead guitarists and is one of the most interesting guitar players alive imo. He is so rhythmic and flashy, he wears his EVH influence on his sleeve but at no point do you feel like he's trying to rip him off. He deserves all the attention and more, still massively underrated for the amount of talent and hard work he has shown. Very excited for this new Extreme album.

Nuno’s sense of rhythm with his ability to understand harmony is just amazing.

According to Brian May, the guitar solo in Extreme's "Get the Funk Out" is the greatest solo of all time.

I’m an 80’s child and Extreme was the bomb 💣!!! Nuno was such a dream🥰 was such a groupie 💃🏻

Yes that muted part in the solo is classic Nuno 🤘

That solos end-section makes my brain tingle... It's absolute magic, and I haven't had something hit like that in a long long time.

Nuno & Paul Gilbert always get overlooked.

I actually met Nuno Bettencourt 15/20 years ago when he was doing a gig with Population 1. He is not only one of the most talented guitar players i have ever seen, he is also very humble. I was there with a bus full of guitar students, somehow Nuno picked up on that and near the end of the gig he started inviting people on stage and it turned into a jam session.

They still sound hungry. I've loved these guys and have been close to them and the best description I can give on this new material is "it sounds like the guys from Extreme started a band" Check out Mourning Widows, Hurtsmile, Population 1, Dramagods, Nasty Ass Honey Badger, Tribe of Judah (also Van Fn Halen & Rhianna)just to name a few projects that are incredible from individual members of extreme. Awesome to see you talking about this song and this group. Definitely checking out your band too.

Really happy that you made a video about Extreme, love 'em. Also, I think it's a crime how they're so overlooked in favor of bands from that era and style that in my opinion aren't even close songwriting wise

Midnight express is epic some of my favourite guitar work from him he’s amazing thankfully have seen Extreme live and perform the whole of pornograffitti

Nuno’s solo album schizophonic is also amazing! He’s the complete musician, songwriter, composer and singer as well. Another hidden gem is dweezil Zappa’s confessions album which nuno produced and sings on. Also he is indeed picking the end part of solo, with his trademark muted magical fingers he does acoustically on midnight express, peacemaker die and many other extreme tunes. Numero Nuno!

Nuno is definitely one of the best rock guitarists of all time. Amazing solo.

It's the greatest solo I've heard in over 20 years....absolutely killer.....what breath of fresh air in a mediocre to trash music industry....true talent returns...and of course...Rock saves us again.....🎸🎸🤘🤘❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

"Is this something he normally does?" Yeah, the part you were talking about there is the most direct callback I heard in this song to their earlier 80's stuff. He did exactly that kind of thing in a lot of songs, and it's real impressive.

The video for Rise seems to be going quite well. Most rock bands has to be happy with 100.000 or 200.000 views in total (on youtube). Extreme is already way beyond that. Cool for them!

Glad to see Extreme getting the love. 'Play with me' is an underrated song.

Nuno changed how I viewed playing when I hit 14 and heard III Sides to Every Story. At the time I was primarily just a metal player and didn’t stray outside of just running scales all day, but learning Nunos style took way more feeling and freedom, proud to own an N4 and see they’re still rocking after all these years!!

Theres just something about his attack when he plays that just tickles my brain the right way.

Hey Mike, just want to say in the last few months I’ve really enjoyed your more in depth music breakdowns with the music theory and mixing analysis! As someone who’s working on a bedroom demo right now it’s very educational! Love you man

Agree with everything but I really prefer Gary this way, in his mid range instead of his screaming all along… I hope he will sing this way on the rest of Six. About Nuno, well, he’ s one of my all time favorite, he rules

Extreme "Six" coming June 9, 2023 - can't wait!

Got to see them Live Gary & Nuno are this ERA'S best Song Writers Their Voices are so good together & both are super talented

Something that drives me nuts in reviews I have watched of this song is the description of the backing vocals. The reviewers to a one, say sing ohh, ah, ohh, whoa. I strongly believe they are singing up, ah, up, ah, above. I think that in particular may have been the result of Nuno's time with Rihanna. I like it. It is a way to bring young people into the rock fold by giving something they are familiar with in the song. Thanks for the review.

Nuno is still amazing. Gary has aged, but he still has his Boston influence in his vocals, definitely closer to Steven Tyler than Scott Weiland.

Nuno and Richie Kotzen are still killing it on guitar in this day and age! This was great! Check out the song Xanadu by The Winery Dogs next!

That’s awesome dude I’m the one who paid to have you review Cupids dead and now you’re checking this out another great album of theirs that no one talks about is waiting for the punchline

Gary is not 56 years old he is 61 and sounds great for 61 :)

It's harmonizer fading up at the end of the solo. And yes, the muted really fast low riff he was doing in the solo is something he does a lot. "Peacemaker Die" solo is one of many examples

I sense a bit if not A LOT of jealousy … they have been doing this for a long time. Pretty sure the mix is spot on to what they want, which is the classic Extreme sound .

Got major Velvet Revolver vibes from the vocal melody and delivery in this song.

This sounds more modern than I’m used to Extreme sounding, but it still has all the elements of what makes Nuno one of my favorite guitarists of all time.

That solo is a breath of fresh air after whatever that bs was from the Metallica video. I still haven't recovered from the cringe.

Thanks for the introduction to this guy! I know that 80s song from the beginning, but never knew the guitarist behind it!

Damn great insights, man. Thoroughly enjoyed this review.

Also recommend checking out all of their solo projects and bands; Badger, Mourning Widows, Population 1/DramaGods, Hurtsmile etc.

As a Nuno fan for years, I hear a lot of the Li'l Jack Horny solo in this Rise solo. Both are amazing.

Funny, I was going to suggest this on SSF, but I'm glad you reacted to it. Nuno is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. So percussive and tasty!! The melody of the verses is very similar to Silvergun Superman by STP (which comes in around 30 seconds). I think that's why you hear people say it sounds like STP. Kick ass song!!

It's cool to be analytical, but it's also very cool to siit back and enjoy the music without dissecting every everything

In case no one else has mentioned it, Gary is 61 years old, not 56.

The riffs on the first 3 Extreme albums are fantastic

Pat Badger is completely missing on this track and as a bass player i know he's too good a bassist not to be heard. I can only guess Lars Ulrich must have entered the studio and mixed this.

One of the best funk blues hard rock bands on the planet since the 80's. Pisses me off when people slag artists, but have never really done anything of note for comparison. Badass song......badass band!

Excellent song, nuno still has it, and the leads in nuno's playing are incredible. Kudos to Extreme.

Best reaction I've seen by far (in other words, you echoed all my thoughts lol)

A year on, love listening to many to who thought Nuno “was cheating again with a delay pedal like ‘the flight of the wounded bumble bee’…” Nuno just doing his open string, wide interval licks he has always done. He is indeed the 👑

I’m sure tons of comments on this, but Nuno has done this before and it’s been awesome every time. This reminds me most of his solo for Peacemaker Die off of III Sides to Every Story. There’s no delay and it’s all alternate picked, which makes it all the more insane. He’s using open strings in the sequence to create these wide open intervallic jumps. So killer. Edit: it’s not all alternate picked. I’m completely wrong here. Saw the videos of him playing the solo and he’s definitely using a lot of legato. Still so killer, though.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, man.

Yes, he does percussive hammer-ons a lot of time in his solos. It's crazy

Interestingly mike, he doesn’t use a massively high output pickup. He uses the Bill Lawrence L500XL. It varies between the three manufacturers who make the same pickup and claim it’s theirs but assuming it’s the Bill And Becky model which was very popular with guitarists in the 80’s then he has an output of about 13K to 14K on his bridge which is higher output but not high output; I’d put it on the upper end of medium heat. So I’d agree he probably compressed that tone and he probably uses a distortion pedal through his amp’s higher gain channel.

I would totally watch you and Ben Eller going over Nuno's riffs for a couple of hours

You absolutely HAVE to watch Extreme’s queen medley at the Freddie Mercury tribute. Amazing.

1st video (are they still called that? ... God I'm old) that I've watched from this channel and I'm quite pleasantly intrigued and surprised by its objectivity and apparent lack of any agenda. I am going to have a clear out of my subscriptions to make more room for this, and similar more deserving channels guys. Nuno ... Incredible player. If there was ever a VH tribute in Eddies honour then ...? Well he's in the running guys no? Anyway, if your other vids are as good as this one? ... I'm in!!! 😎

This track is killer. You should review the winery dogs new album

fvkin loved that a ton. top and super unique. Really cool band, super talented, pretty eclectic

Sick bro

10:15 Yes, that is something he normally does. I've seen it live, front row, multiple times over decades.

Better than expected? Have you not seen this guy's body of work, or seen him live? He's an absolute beast! 🤘🤘 Worked for many, many huge names in multiple genres, not just Extreme... Always allowed to be himself because top tier recognizes top tier... Nuno, seemingly effortlessly, pioneers very advanced techniques with an authentic feel that is almost unmatched. He's probably the best rock guitarist since EVH. When you hear Nuno, you KNOW it's him. I'm not a huge fan of Gary, but that's ok, he's reasonably good. You should bone up on his catalog, it's amazing. 🤙 Edit: love Ben, but this "flying grasshopper" technique is beyond him at this speed. I would love to see him break down the muted legato and string skipping on this complicated pattern, though!

This is the first (maybe only) critical review I've found. I agree. Nuno says this was an EVH tribute album, and it seems so. Nuno brings musicallity and fresh innovation solo and demonstrates that he had new tricks that I don't think EVH had in his bag.

i met him after a show a couple years back extremely cool dude

When Eddie Van Halen passed Nuno made the decision "someone's got to carry the flag for guitar, I'm not saying I'm the guy, but I'm gonna do it." With Eddie gone, especially for us old fuckers... Nuno is the guy. As far as the arpeggio section...someone has already figured it out kzfaq.infoJvstNNSrMSA?feature=share

Would definitely prefer to listen to this solo rathen the new Hammett solos lol

Gary Cherone is nearly 62 years old

The song is okay, but the solo is killer! I hope the rest of the album is worth the wait. I've been waiting for the new Extreme forever!

Hello become the knight,i enjoyed your video..i love extreme,and glad that they released a new album and this song is good and has crazy solo..nuno is the man..btw i have a suggestion for you,have you heard a band called Lovebites?if u haven't would you like to check them out?they are all female metal band from japan..and they just released a new album Judgement Day last february..they are great,fast and have amazing guitar solos..🔥🤘🐺

That solo is basically Big Sur Moon by Buckethead but used in a cool hard rock way and not in a chill vibey way...amazing

10:02 this is a prototype Nuno standard (well I've heard him do similar live and in songs).....but only he can make it sound new every time.

Would've loved you to finish analysing the ENTIRE song past the solo

Mike, good video and maybe react to more of living legend Nuno. The porno album is full of amazing guitar and song work. A ton of range and different styles throughout

I feel like they’re going for a modern priest type sound. I could see this being on a new priest record if it were tuned a little further down.

Hey Mike do you think you'll ever make a video on making a good simple metal or rock song, and what makes up an overall good sounding one?

Nuno has always been in my top 3 and I am at song 4 of Porno, trying to record and cover the entire album, all guitars. This is Par for my man, I love the tune and can't wait for the rest. His trick in the solo I think is similar to Flight if the wounded bumblebee. It's a delay trick you can do with a little practice. Mike from "the art of guitar" did a great vid on it. Maybe it's not the trick but I think it is.

That's his thing. He's rolling his right hand picking, like when you scramble eggs, hammering on and hitting an open sting that duplicates the note he just fretted or that he's going to fret. Does the pull off to open string, matches open string note with fretted note giving that delayed, repeating sound ascending & descending. Very wierd to get used to playing at 1st. You stumble a lot expecting to hear something that you're not. Hard to explain. But once you get the grooving down you can flow up and down the neck and gives a repeater effect. Does often on his live acoustic solos

He doesn't use delay to make that lick sound the way it does. He plays a version of it acoustically in the live video of Midnight Express which you can find here on KZfaq. Check it out.

Gary is 61. Not 56.

That tapping is something Nuno does from time to time. 3 sides to every story (the album), has some examples.

I'm happy that the Rise solo has gotten Nuno and Extreme some notice - and that they've been on a great tour based on it. But this is a long way from his best solo. Not even close. The fast muted part - which is really the bridge after the solo - that has grabbed everyone's attention, is a technique that Nuno has previously used on during the solo for "Peacemaker Die" from their third album. There is no filter, he's just playing by fretting the open string and then hammering-on while muting in very fast triplets. He also uses it during the acoustic song "Midnight Express" - but if you actually listen to the solo itself, starting with the tremelo picking - which is obviously and ode to Eddie - what he plays after that until the muted part isn't that special, or even interesting. It's a few squeaks and squawks with a couple speed licks. The new song of there's that actually impresses me, because it has a totally new bass and guitar tone that actually comes off like a keyboard riff - but it isn''t - is "Thicker Than Blood" which totally SLAPS. I lost my mind when I heard that live.

That backing vocal hook you like, I liked too until I remembered why. It was because they lifted it from Ke$ha's "tik-tock" song from again the 2010s.

Always loved their song Hole Hearted

Yes, that muted part of the solo is textbook Nuno.

I didn’t know we had a king..I thought we were an autonomous collective..and do you have some hit songs you wrote and mixed I can “critique”?

Nuno is a fantastic guitarist. I’d say top 10.

10:15 Yes this is a Nuno thing. He's a beast

The second half of that solo is distinctly Nuno. You can hear that fast dotted-eighth delay trick in, well, Flight Off The Wounded Bumbleebee, most obviously. But he also puts it in the interlude of Peacemaker Die. Personally, I wasn't crazy about this song. I also found the main hook and vocal melody to be too basic. I don't want my Extreme to try and have a more relevant sound - I want all classic quirkiness. But truly when the second half of that solo hits ... its classic Nuno! I'm looking forward to what they do with the rest of the album (if maybe this first single is the most straight ahead rock banger)

Do you know what this reminds me of?....It reminds me of Jarvis Cocker standing in front of a masterpiece of art work with fellow fine artists...they come out with some technical descriptions and superfluous adjectives, which add nothing to the appreciation. Jarvis Cocker, who is a very able lyricist and fine artist, looks at the painting and says.."well I just reeeeaally liiike it." I'll take Jarvis's approach any day. What does it do to your mood and your heart? ..it lifts it. Music is more than production...the best way to experience it is live and Extreme are masters on a live stage. Personally I like the production; it gives a sense of back to the real touring rock band ❤

Everything you said was fucking on point. Nuno definitely executes on his guitar. Very reminiscent of Ronnie le tekkro of TnT.

Pretty sure Gary is in his 60's now...

I think it's interesting how this solo has blown up. I believe it is partly because we miss Eddie as an idol and need a new likable elite guitarist to crown the new king. Nuno has the catalog of greatness and is pretty universally loved. He seems to be the best candidate.

Never seen your posts before but wish my ears were as on as yours. It’s interesting to me

When the vocals come in it reminds me of STP or maybe Velvet Revolver.

Rise is a song birthed when Stone Temple Pilots (Silvergun Superman) and Blue October (Daylight) had a baby that was delivered by Eddie Van Halen. God bless Nuno (one of the best and needs more recognition) - that tremolo picking is demonic.

For that one part where he goes low he kind of did it on Midnight Express and other songs but on an acoustic

That bit where you go "is this something nuno does often?" Its just a shameless callback to midnight exoress

Yes, the arpeggio section of the solo is part of Nuno’s DNA. Not new. I’m sorry for you that you are just now discovering this. Have you not dived deep into III Sides? Obviously not

8th note delay?

Personally I think George Lynch is amongst the forgotten/unsung legends