Pornograffiti

Pornograffiti (also titled as Extreme II: Pornograffiti) was the second and most successful album released by Boston funk-metal band Extreme.

The record included the band's best known singles "More than Words" and "Hole Hearted", the only two songs which gave the band significant radio airplay. It is perhaps ironic that "More than Words", a gentle acoustic ballad, and "Hole Hearted", an acoustic folk song, were perhaps the least representative tracks of the overall musical and thematic tone of the album.

Musically, Pornograffitti is dominated by muscular metal guitar riffs, often with funky, syncopated timing, and incendiary, high-speed metal solos. Indeed, the record was above all a showcase for the extraordinary technical prowess of Portuguese-born guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. The record revealed Bettencourt was a rising star in the world of rock guitar, providing him with widespread admiration from rock guitar enthusiasts and continual exposure in guitar playing publications such as Guitar World and Guitar School.

Thematically, Pornograffitti may be loosely described as a concept album. It follows the path of young boy "Francis" as he wanders through a decadent and corrupt society. Along the way he is faced with materialism ("Decadence Dance"), promiscuity and teenage pregnancy ("L'il Jack Horny"), political dishonesty ("When I'm President"), avarice ("Money"), addiction ("It's a Monster"), pornography and the ubiquitous use of sex as a tool of the media ("Pornograffiti") and misogyny ("He-Man Woman Hater").

Despite the apparently moralistic values behind these themes, the album retains a sense of humour and irony throughout.

Pornograffitti was recorded and mixed at Scream Studios, Studio City, Los Angeles, California with producer Michael Wagener.

Track listing

1. Decadence Dance
2. Lil' Jack Horny
3. When I'm President
4. Get The Funk Out
5. More Than Words
6. Money (In God We Trust)
7. It's A Monster
8. Ponrnograffitti
9. When I First Kissed You
10. Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)
11. He-Man Woman Hater
12. Song For Love
13. Hole Hearted *

* "Hole Hearted" was a bonus track unavailible on the vinyl and cassette versions of the album.