Few rock songs released in 2023 caused as much as excitement as Extreme’s comeback single Rise. It wasn’t just that it was the Boston rockers’ first new song in 15 years, and a taster for their equally long-gestating new album, Six. No, what sent certain sections of the internet into meltdown was guitarist Nuno Bettencourt’s next-level guitar solo.
Guitar World, who know about these things, declared it one of the greatest solos of the 21st century. Influential YouTuber Rick Beato warned that trying to master it might result in tendonitis (he meant it as a compliment). The likes of Brian May, Justin Hawkins, Toto’s Steve Lukater and Def Leppard’s Phil Collen showered it with praise, and thousands of bedroom guitarists mangled their fingers attempting to copy it.
