Artist: Extreme
Album: Six (earMUSIC)
Nuno Bettencourt is bracing himself for the inevitable. Having turned in arguably the most dazzling solo of the post-millennium on Extreme’s recent single Rise – an unfeasible thrill-ride of scalded tremolo picking, whammy abuse and palm-muted undulations – the 56-year-old virtuoso must now face a global guitar press that demands to know how the magic trick is done.
He’ll take the plaudits. But if there’s just a hint of amiable impatience in Bettencourt’s interview manner, perhaps that’s because the guitarist has been raising the technical bar since Extreme started out in mid-80s Boston, and new album, Six, is far from a one-trick pony.
Do you enjoy being in the studio these days?
“No, I fucking hate recording albums. There’s nothing
