Six is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Extreme, released on June 9, 2023. It is their first studio album since Saudades de Rock, released in 2008.
Contents
Release and reception
In the lead-up for the album release, on March 1, 2023, Extreme released a video of "Rise" as a first single. The video crossed 1 million views in its first week, propelled by interest in Nuno Bettencourt's guitar solo, which led to a number of analysis videos, including a reaction by Justin Hawkins from The Darkness, and breakdown by Rick Beato. Readers of Total Guitar magazine voted the song's solo the third best of the 21st century in a 2023 poll.
"Rise" was followed by a double A-side single released on April 19, featuring songs "#Rebel" and "Banshee". Each song was accompanied by a music video. The fourth and final song released prior to the album launch was "Other Side of the Rainbow", released May 31. In the month of the album's release, Nuno Bettencourt was featured in the cover of several guitar magazines, including Total Guitar, Japan's Young Guitar, the French edition of Rolling Stone, and Germany's Guitar.
The name of the gorilla that appears on the cover of the Six album is Pakenuga, according to Nuno Bettencourt. The name is a composite of the first two letters of each band member's first name (Pat, Kevin, Nuno, Gary).
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's booklet.
Extreme
Gary Cherone – lead vocals
Nuno Bettencourt – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Smalltown Beautiful", "The Mask", "Hurricane", "X Out" and "Beautiful Girls"
Pat Badger – bass, backing vocals
Kevin Figueiredo – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Navene Koperweis – additional programming
Kevin Antunes – additional programming, additional keyboards
Carl Restivo – additional background vocals, additional guitars
August Zadra – additional background vocals
Jordan Ferreira – additional guitars
Production
Nuno Bettencourt – producer, engineering, mixing
Patricia Sullivan – mastering (Bernie Grundman Mastering)
Imagery
Nuno Bettencourt – cover concept
Alexander Mertsch – layout and design
Wirestock Inc./Alamy Stock Photo – cover photo
Jesse Lirola – band photography