Gary Cherone Compares Extreme to Peter Brady

"We never quite fit into that hair band mold. A lot of those bands were great, but we never just fit in it," Extreme frontman Gary Cherone told Noisecreep of his band's legacy. "We were on tour with Bon Jovi or ZZ Top or Bryan Adams or Alice in Chains.

"That was a good thing, and it was also a bad thing because it was confusing. So we were never quite in the '80s, and we certainly weren't in the '90s. I consider it the Peter Brady as the middle child. We weren't with the baby boomers and we weren't with the Gen Xers. We were the middle kid, which is fine, because I am the middle kid in my family."

'Fit' or not, Extreme have enjoyed a ton of success since forming in the mid 1980s, especially thanks to their breakout album 'Extreme II: Pornograffitti.' That album spawned two hit singles, 'More than Words' and 'Hole Hearted' and helped propel the band to fame. Now, 20 years after its initial release, Extreme are considering playing a few shows to celebrate the album.

"I think we were talking about doing a string of gigs for the 20th anniversary of 'Pornograffitti,'" Cherone explained. "That would be fun. We went on tour with Ratt and they did -- I think they did the 25th anniversary of 'Out of the Cellar' or something like that. Not that we wouldn't play other songs. We'd probably play a few other songs and then do the entirety of 'Pornograffiti' and then end with some other tracks from some other records. But that would be fun."

The possible 'Pornograffiti' celebratory shows are contingent upon Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt's touring schedule with pop diva Rihanna. Bettencourt leads Rihanna's band and plays guitar as part of her Last Girl on Earth Tour. But will Bettencourt's work with Rihanna help bring more attention to Extreme? "Maybe," according to Cherone.

"[Bettencourt has] a pretty powerful presence on stage. So I think it will help," Cherone said. "But I think mostly the newer audience came from the new technology -- 'Guitar Hero' or obviously Internet and YouTube. Kids are discovering Extreme like kids are discovering Aerosmith for the first time. I knew we'd have some younger fans. I knew we'd have our faithful, our audience that grew up with us. But to see kids singing 'Play with Me' and 'Kid Ego' was a trip, because they were kids; they were babies when that stuff came out!"