Extreme II: Pornograffitti

"Pornograffitti" redirects here. For the Japanese rock band, see Porno Graffitti.

Extreme II: Pornograffitti (also known as simply Pornograffitti) is the second studio album by the heavy metal band Extreme, released on August 7, 1990, through A&M Records.^[4] The album title is a portmanteau of pornography and graffiti.

Extreme II: Pornograffitti
Studio album by Extreme
Released	August 7, 1990 (1990-08-07)
Studio	Scream Studios, (Studio City, California) Courtlen Recording (Hanson, Massachusetts)
Genre	Glam metal funk metal heavy metal
Length	64:30
Label	A&M
Producer	Michael Wagener Nuno Bettencourt
Extreme chronology
Extreme (1989) Extreme II: Pornograffitti (1990) III Sides to Every Story (1992)
Singles from Pornograffitti
"Decadence Dance" Released: 1990 "Get the Funk Out" Released: 1991 "More Than Words" Released: March 23, 1991 "Hole Hearted" Released: September 15, 1991 "Song For Love" Released: 1992

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	9/10[2]
The Daily Vault	B−[3]

Extreme II sold very well, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, and was certified double platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. It is the band's best selling album. Two singles from Pornograffiti, "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted", reached No. 1 and 4 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. Two other tracks, "Decadence Dance" and "Get the Funk Out", became popular on MTV's Headbangers Ball.^[5]

Overview

Pornograffitti is a concept album,^[1][6][7] its story is about lost innocence and uneasiness.^[6] Though the album "[focuses] on the same funk-metal vibe as [their debut]", it became massively popular due to the acoustic single "More Than Words".^[7]

According to authors HP Newquist and Pete Prown, the album has "a bewildering array of song styles—heavy metal, ballads, funk, etc.".^[8]

The title track, as well as "More than Words" and "It('s a Monster)", have been played live since at least early April 1989, and date back to shortly after the band's self-titled debut was released.^[9]

Reception

The album received largely positive reception. AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey gave the album four stars, and commented that "[the] band shows a strong desire to experiment and push the boundaries of the pop-metal format".^[1] Rolling Stone placed the album at thirteenth on their list of the "50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time".^[6] Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it at eighth in their "Top 30 Glam Metal Albums".^[10] Heavy metal author Martin Popoff, in his book The Big Book of Hair Metal, called the album, "a thinking man's hair metal album, with thoughtful lyrics and tasteful guitar work".^[11]

Lead guitarist Nuno Bettencourt garnered admiration from rock guitar enthusiasts, as he was voted "Best New Talent" in a 1991 readers' poll by Guitar World magazine,^[12] and that magazine later named him "Most Valuable Player" of 1991.^[13]

Legacy

In 2010, after the band's reunion in the previous years, rumors started about possible commemorative shows given the 20th anniversary of the record. In 2012, the band played the entire album for four tour dates in Japan.^[14] In January 2014, the band confirmed they would be performing Pornograffiti in its entirety on their 2014 European tour.^[15]

In 2015, the band embarked on an extensive US tour commemorating the album's 25th anniversary.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Decadence Dance"	6:49
2.	"Li'l Jack Horny"	4:51
3.	"When I'm President"	4:21
4.	"Get the Funk Out"	4:24
5.	"More Than Words"	5:34
6.	"Money (In God We Trust)"	4:11
7.	"It ('s a Monster)"	4:24
8.	"Pornograffitti"	6:15
9.	"When I First Kissed You"	4:00
10.	"Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)"	3:38
11.	"He-Man Woman Hater" (includes intro "Flight of the Wounded Bumble Bee")	6:20
12.	"Song for Love"	5:55
13.	"Hole Hearted" (does not appear on some editions[which?] of the vinyl LP[citation needed])	3:39
Total length:		64:21

All tracks are written by Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt

2015 Deluxe Edition: Disc Two

No.	Title	Origin	Length
1.	"More Than Words" (remix)	"More Than Words" CD single	3:43
2.	"Nice Place To Visit"	"More Than Words" CD single	3:16
3.	"More Than Words" (edit)		3:41
4.	"Decadence Dance" (edit)	"Decadence Dance" single	4:31
5.	"Money (in God We Trust)" (edit)		4:05
6.	"More Than Words" (non-percussion version)		4:20
7.	"Get the Funk Out" (What the Funk? mix)		4:04
8.	"More Than Words" (a cappella with congas)	"Hole Hearted" single	4:15
9.	"Get the Funk Out" (12-inch remix)	"Hole Hearted" single	7:01
10.	"Sex N' Love"	"Hole Hearted" single	2:47

Personnel

Extreme

• Gary Cherone – lead and backing vocals
• Nuno Bettencourt – guitars, piano, percussion, backing vocals, arrangements, producer on tracks 9 and 13
• Pat Badger – bass, backing vocals
• Paul Geary – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Barbara Glynn – backing vocals on "Decadence Dance"
• Pat Travers – backing vocals on "Get the Funk Out"
• Jeanine Moultrine – backing vocals on "Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)"
• Dweezil Zappa – intro/outro lead guitar on "He-Man Woman Hater" (after "Flight of the Wounded Bumble Bee")^[16]
• Li'l Jack Horn Section in "Li'l Jack Horny", "Get the Funk Out" directed by Andy Armer
  • Bob Findley, trumpet
  • Chuck Findley, trumpet
  • Bill Watrous, trombone
  • Dick "Slyde" Hyde, bass trombone
  • Pete Christlieb, tenor sax
  • Joel Peskin, tenor sax

Production

• Michael Wagener – producer, mixing
• Bob St. John – engineer
• George Marino –mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
• Randy Badazz – orchestration
• Ioannis/Third Image – art direction and design

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1991) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 29 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 17 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[19] 1 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 16 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[21] 11 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] 15 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[23] 32 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 32 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25] 20 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 37 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 10 UK Albums (OCC)[28] 12 US Billboard 200[29] 10

Year-end charts Chart (1991) Position European Albums (European Top 100)[30] 69 US Billboard 200[31] 23

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32]	Gold	35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[33]	3× Platinum	300,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[34]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[35]	Platinum	300,000^
United States (RIAA)[36]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Huey, Steve. "Extreme II: Pornograffitti - Extreme | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
2. Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
3. McCarthy, Sean (August 8, 1997). "Extreme: | Daily Vault". The Daily Vault.
4. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
5. Johnston, Maura (February 6, 2015). "Extreme's 'More Than Words': The Oral History". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
6. Beaujour, Tom; Bienstock, Richard; Eddy, Chuck; Fischer, Reed; Grow, Kory; Johnston, Maura; Weingarten, Christopher R. (August 31, 2019). "50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
7. DeRiso, Nick (August 7, 2015). "Revisiting Extreme's Path to Success With 'Pornograffitti'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
8. Prown, Pete; Newquist, Harvey P. (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-7935-4042-6.
9. "Extreme Setlist at Newbury Sound Studios, Boston". setlist.fm.
10. Rolli, Bryan (July 1, 2021). "Top 30 Glam Metal Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
11. Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-7603-4546-7.
12. "Guitar World 1991 Readers' Poll". Guitar World. 12 (4): 41. April 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
13. "The Year of Guitar: Nuno Bettencourt, M.V.P.". Guitar World. 13 (1). January 1992.
14. "EXTREME To Perform Entire 'Pornograffitti' Album On Japanese Tour". Blabbermouth.net. March 1, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
15. "Extreme 'Pornograffiti Live 2014' Tour Dates". Archived from the original on 2015-09-13. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
16. Extreme II: Pornograffitti (CD). Extreme. A&M Records. 1990. p. 4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
17. "Australiancharts.com – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
18. "Austriancharts.at – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
19. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1563". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
21. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
22. "Offiziellecharts.de – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
23. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
24. "Charts.nz – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
25. "Norwegiancharts.com – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
26. "Swedishcharts.com – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
27. "Swisscharts.com – Extreme – II - Pornograffitti". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
28. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
29. "Billboard Top Pop Albums - June 8, 1991" (PDF). Billboard. Billboard. June 8, 1991. p. 72. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
30. "European Top 100 Albums – 1991" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 51/52. 21 December 1991. p. 24. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved November 29, 2021 – via World Radio History.
31. "Year in Music: 1991 - Top Albums" (PDF). Billboard. December 21, 1991. p. 66. Retrieved November 14, 2021 – via World Radio History.
32. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1992 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
33. "Canadian album certifications – Extreme – Pornograffitti". Music Canada. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
34. "Dutch album certifications – Extreme – Pornografity" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved July 16, 2022. Enter Pornografity in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1992 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
35. "British album certifications – Extreme – Pornograffitti". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
36. "American album certifications – Extreme II – Pornograffitti". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 29, 2021.