Take Us Alive was recorded at the House of Blues in Boston, MA and was the last stop of the reunion tour of the same name. The band reunited in 2007 to record their 5th studio album, Saudades of Rock, which was released in 2008. Extreme was one of those bands who were victims of their success as far as having two Top 5 singles which were a departure sonically from the rest of the songs on the accompanying album. Extreme's sound has been described as funk/rock/glam but the songs which received airplay and rotation on Mtv were acoustic based "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted" and people were surprised by Extreme's "real sound". I remember in college people commenting that they thought "Hole Hearted" was performed by The Alarm and not Extreme. All this being said, for a band that endured two hiatuses they still play with a high level of proficiency and vocalist Gary Cherone's voice has not diminished to where he could not reach the higher register within the songs. The 17 tracks on the CD take a little bit from every release and give a well rounded representation of their catalog. A good of the tracks are "stretched out" into extended jams which highlight the bands musical prowess. Take Us Alive is better than any of the compilation albums which have been previously released and is worth a listen. The album can be purchased here: Extreme - Take Us Alive.
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