More Than Words

Nuno Bettencourt handled the acoustic guitar work that became the signature of "More Than Words," and he also supplied harmony vocals behind Gary Cherone's lead. The two men wrote the song together for Extreme's second album, Pornograffitti, and Michael Wagener produced it. It marked a departure from the band's usual funk metal style, and A&M Records released it as the album's third single on March 12, 1991.

The label initially resisted putting it out. Bettencourt said the company argued there was nothing on the radio like it, since everybody was doing big power ballads at the time, and he even quit the band at one point over the issue. The fight paid off. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100, reached number two in the United Kingdom, and hit number one in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, earning a gold certification from the RIAA.

Lyrically, the song argues that saying "I love you" is not enough, and Bettencourt described it as a warning that the phrase was becoming meaningless through casual use. Success brought complications. Cherone later admitted the band came to resent being tagged "the More Than Words guys," and during a Polish tour with Aerosmith they decided to drop it from the set. A couple of nights in, Steven Tyler wrote "Play the fucking song!" in big letters on their dressing room door, telling them the Polish audience wanted to hear it.