More Than Words Explained

More Than Words
Cover:More than words.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Extreme
Album:Pornograffitti
Genre:
Label:A&M
Producer:Michael Wagener
Prev Title:Get the Funk Out
Prev Year:1991
Next Title:Hole Hearted
Next Year:1991

"More Than Words" is a song by American rock band Extreme. It is a ballad featuring acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and the vocals of Gary Cherone (with harmony vocals from Bettencourt). They both wrote the song, which was produced by Michael Wagener and represented a departure from the band's usual funk metal style.[2] "More Than Words" was released as the third single from the band's second album, Pornograffitti (1990), on March 12, 1991 by A&M Records. It was a number one hit in the United States, where it was certified gold, as well as in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The music video for the song was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

Content

The song is an acoustic ballad in which the singer wants his lover to do more than simply saying "I love you" to demonstrate her love for him. Bettencourt described it as a warning that the phrase was becoming meaningless: "People use it so easily and so lightly that they think you can say that and fix everything, or you can say that and everything's OK. Sometimes you have to do more and you have to show it—there's other ways to say 'I love you'".[3]

Release

The band fought with their record company to get "More Than Words" released as a single. At one point, Bettencourt even quit the band over the issue. In 2016, Bettencourt told Billboard: "'Our label at the time [A&M Records] didn't want to release "More Than Words" as a single because there was nothing on the radio like that at the time. The label said, "Who's going to play it?" Everybody was doing big power ballads at the time, and this was more like an Everly Brothers or Beatles track. But we fought for it'".[4]

"That song gave us the freedom to make the record we really wanted to make when we started recording our third disc," Cherone told KNAC. "It got us doing huge tours all over the states and around the world... As the nineties went on, however, we really started to resent the song. We were tagged 'the More Than Words guys'. We didn't like the perception the song created about the band. I remember being on tour with Aerosmith in Poland... it was on that tour we decided we would not play the song. We just didn't do it. A couple nights into the tour, Steven Tyler writes in big letters on our dressing room door, 'Play the fucking song!' His attitude was almost father-like. He was like, 'Look, this is your first time in Poland. When do you think you will be back? They want to hear it, so play it!'"[5]

Critical reception

AllMusic editor William Ruhlmann noted that on the song, the band pursued "acoustic balladry".[6] Kira L. Billik from Associated Press described "More Than Words" as a "sweet, pure acoustic ballad", "whose message is that the words 'I love you' are becoming meaningless".[7] The song was also labeled as a "nontraditional love song". Larry Flick from Billboard felt that this "tender, sparsely produced rock/love ballad proves that sometimes less really is more. The spotlight here is on the band's striking vocal harmonies, as well as its shimmering acoustic guitar work".[8] The Daily Vault's Sean McCarthy called it a "beautiful, minimal acoustic number [that] made the band huge" and concluded that "for the band, 'More Than Words' is the song that will still get airplay."[9] Diane Cardwell from Entertainment Weekly called it "a simple, almost folkie ballad using just two voices and a single acoustic guitar."[10] Kirsten Frickle from El Paisano described it as an "all-acoustic ballad that is so beautiful it will make your hair stand on end".[11]

Pan-European magazine Music & Media labeled the song as "folky"[12] and "a calming piece of music, aptly produced by Michael Wagener." They added, "It shows the band from a totally different angle. And it must be said, they handle this ballad extremely well."[13] Alan Jones from Music Week named it Pick of the Week, remarking that it is "a subdued, lilting acoustic workout that suggests nothing more than Simon & Garfunkel in its more angelic passages."[14] Carrie Borzillo from Record-Journal called it an "Everly Brothers-style" song.[15] A reviewer from Sandwell Evening Mail wrote, "If ever a song could be unrepresentative of a band's output, Extreme's worldwide smash hit ballad "More Than Words" is it."[16] Marc Andrews from Smash Hits found it "eye-moistening".[17] Tom Nordlie from Spin viewed it as "a love ballad that sounds like the Everly Brothers or early Beatles." He added, "Singer Gary Cherone harmonizes with himself as guitar-friend Nuno Bettencourt strums clean, jazzy chord accompaniment, and that's it. No sudden escalation to bombast in the middle, no reneging on the song's original promise."[18] Chad Bowar writing for LiveAbout placed the song on his list of the "Best 20 Hair Metal Ballads of the '80s and '90s".[19]

Chart performance

On March 23, 1991, "More Than Words" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 81 and soon after reached number one. It also reached number two in the United Kingdom and reached number one in four other countries.

Music video

The song's music video[20] was filmed in black and white[4] and was produced and directed by American film and music video directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. It starts with Pat Badger turning off his amplifier and putting down his bass, and Paul Geary putting down his drumsticks. Nuno and Gary are then seen performing the song, while the other band members are shown in front of them, holding up their lighters. In the video's music rendition, the song ends abruptly before Nuno's final solo and coda.

Track listings

  1. "More Than Words" — 5:33
  2. "Kid Ego" — 4:04
  3. "Nice Place to Visit" — 3:16
  1. "More Than Words" (Remix) — 3:43
  2. "Nice Place to Visit" — 3:16

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "More Than Words"!Chart (1991)!Peak
position
Canada (The Record)[21] 1
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[22] 3
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[23] 6
Portugal (AFP)[24] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[26] 2
US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard)[27] 12

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "More Than Words"!Chart (1991)!Position
Australia (ARIA)[28] 7
Belgium (Ultratop)[29] 13
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[30] 2
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[31] 16
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[32] 15
Europe (European Hit Radio)[33] 17
Germany (Official German Charts)[34] 44
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[35] 3
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[36] 3
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[37] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 12
UK Singles (OCC)[39] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[40] 7
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[41] 18

Decade-end charts

Decade-end chart performance for "More Than Words"!Chart (1990–1999)!Position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[42] 68

Release history

Region!scope="col"
DateFormat(s)Label(s)
United StatesMarch 12, 1991CassetteA&M
JapanJune 5, 1991Mini-CD[43]
United KingdomJuly 15, 1991[44]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 20 Best Hair Metal Ballads of the '80s and '90s. 5 May 2024. liveaboutdotcom. 23 May 2024.
  2. Web site: How Extreme Finally Moved Past the Stigma of 'More Than Words'. Wardlaw. Matt. June 14, 2023. Ultimate Classic Rock.
  3. Web site: Extreme: Boston Group Riding the Funk-O-Metal Machine. Kira L.. Billik. Albany Herald. June 20, 1991 . June 27, 2011.
  4. 'More Than Words' at 25: Nuno Bettencourt Recalls Battle to Release Extreme's No. 1 Hit. Billboard. Katy. Kroll. September 21, 2016.
  5. Carr, David; KNAC.com; July 16, 2009
  6. Web site: William. Ruhlmann. Extreme - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best of Extreme. AllMusic. March 23, 2020.
  7. Kira L.. Billik. 'Funk-o-metal' band hits it big with acoustic ballad. Rome News-Tribune. July 12, 1991. 11. March 13, 2020.
  8. Larry. Flick. Single Reviews. Billboard. March 23, 1991. 75. January 25, 2018. Larry Flick.
  9. Web site: Sean. McCarthy. Extreme - Extreme II: Pornograffitti. The Daily Vault. August 8, 1997. February 25, 2020.
  10. Diane . Cardwell . Extreme: More than metal . Entertainment Weekly . August 2, 1991 . November 11, 2020 . Diane Cardwell.
  11. Kirsten . Frickle . 'Pornograffiti' takes rock music to all extremes . El Paisano . November 9, 1990 . 10 . April 24, 2020 .
  12. Previews: Albums - Album Of The Week . . November 3, 1990 . 19 . November 3, 2020 .
  13. New Releases: Singles. Music & Media. April 27, 1991. 11. February 22, 2018.
  14. Alan. Jones. Mainstream: Singles - Pick of the Week . . July 20, 1991 . 10 . October 3, 2020.
  15. Carrie. Borzillo. 'More Than Words' small part of what Extreme is all about. Record-Journal. June 28, 1991. March 13, 2020.
  16. Sandwell Evening Mail. November 18, 1991. p. 22.
  17. Marc. Andrews. Reviews: LPs. Smash Hits. 330. 46. July 24, 1991. March 8, 2020.
  18. Tom. Nordlie. Spins. Spin. November 1990. 79. February 27, 2020.
  19. Web site: Bowar. Chad. Best 20 Hair Metal Ballads of the '80s and '90s. February 24, 2021. LiveAbout. en.
  20. Web site: More Than Words . YouTube . July 9, 2023.
  21. Hits of the World: Canada. Billboard. 103. 24. 60. June 15, 1991.
  22. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. Music & Media. 8. 34. 24. August 24, 1991. March 19, 2018.
  23. Book: Pennanen, Timo. 2006. Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. fi. 1st. Tammi. 978-951-1-21053-5. Helsinki.
  24. Top 10 Sales in Europe. Music & Media. 8. 48. 22. November 30, 1991. March 19, 2018.
  25. Billboard Hot 100. Billboard. June 8, 1991. June 17, 2023.
  26. Adult Contemporary. Billboard. June 29, 1991. subscription. June 17, 2023.
  27. Mainstream Rock Airplay. Billboard. June 1, 1991. subscription. June 17, 2023.
  28. Web site: 1991 ARIA Singles Chart. Australian Recording Industry Association. April 28, 2020.
  29. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 1991. Ultratop. nl. April 28, 2020.
  30. RPM 100 Hit Tracks of 1991. RPM. Library and Archives Canada. November 23, 2017.
  31. RPM 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1991. RPM. Library and Archives Canada. April 28, 2020.
  32. Eurochart Hot 100 1991. Music & Media. World Radio History. 8. 51–52. 21. December 21, 1991. January 17, 2020.
  33. EHR Year-End Top 100. Music & Media. 8. 51–52. 20. December 21, 1991. February 16, 2024.
  34. Web site: Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1991. GfK Entertainment. de. April 28, 2020.
  35. Web site: Single top 100 over 1991. Top40. nl. April 13, 2010.
  36. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Single 1991. MegaCharts. nl. April 28, 2020.
  37. Web site: End of Year Charts 1991. Recorded Music NZ. April 28, 2020.
  38. Web site: Swiss Year-End Charts 1991. de. April 28, 2020.
  39. 1991 Top 100 Singles. Music Week. Spotlight Publications. London, England. 20. January 11, 1992.
  40. Web site: Billboard Top 100 – 1991. September 15, 2009.
  41. 1991 The Year in Music. Billboard. 103. 51. YE-36. December 21, 1991. August 9, 2021.
  42. Web site: Lwin. Nanda. https://web.archive.org/web/20000829070927/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/100_1990.html. August 29, 2000. Top 100 singles of the 1990s. Jam!. March 26, 2022.
  43. Web site: モア・ザン・ワーズ エクストリーム. More Than Words Extreme. Oricon. ja. September 10, 2023.
  44. New Releases: Singles. Music Week. 19. July 13, 1991.