For a brief moment in the early '90s, Extreme was at the top of the hard-rock heap. There was a large audience looking for an heir to Van Halen's throne ? a band that was melodic, yet rocked hard, fronted by a charismatic vocalist and driven by a virtuoso guitarist.

Extreme was that band, give or take a detail or two. Certainly, their guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt, was a gifted musician, technically proficient and willing to push the limits of his music. In Gary Cherone, he had a vocalist who could handle whatever was thrown his way, even if his delivery ultimately was more professional than charismatic. Still, that was more than most hard-rock and pop-metal bands of the late '80s and early '90s could boast.

So, it wasn't really surprising when the band broke through to the mainstream with their second album, 1990's Extreme II: Pornograffitti. Peaking at number ten, the album was a huge success, generating two giant hits: the Everly-esque acoustic ballad "More Than Words" and the muscular acoustic rocker "Hole Hearted." These two pop tunes belied the ambition of the band, since there was no indication that they were excerpts from a concept album, nor did they hint at how often the band rocked. They pegged the group as a cut above the average pop-metal band ? but still just a pop-metal band ? when, in fact, they really were a sort of modern-day cross between Queen and Van Halen.

They were poised to prove their worth with their third record, III Sides to Every Story, but that album arrived in the fall of 1992, just as the grunge/alternative-rock revolution was wiping pop-metal off the charts. Since Extreme weren't really a pop-metal band, they had a more dedicated following that pushed the album to a Top Ten debut and gold status, but neither of its two singles could rise past 95 on the charts. Their career was looking doomed, even if the album itself was a worthy follow-up.

Their last album, Waiting for the Punchline, arrived in 1995 and went practically unnoticed by anyone other than hardcore fans; it debuted at 40 and fell out of the charts five weeks later. Bettencourt and Cherone went their separate ways, with neither regaining the wide audience the band once had. Bettencourt released a solo album that was ignored by the public but praised by the guitar press; Cherone became the much-touted replacement for Sammy Hagar in Van Halen, but that victory proved to be short-lived, as his debut with the group disappeared from view and he was unceremoniously let go.

That left one more order of business: the inevitable compilation, Best Of: An Accidental Collision of Atoms. To some listeners, such a collection may not seem necessary, since the two hits were already on one album, but for casual fans who don't have Pornograffitti, or want highlights from the other records, this is a strong, representative collection. Sure, dedicated fans will find some favorites missing ? after all, these are pulled from records that were designed to be cohesive albums ? but all the singles are here, including such European releases as "Get the Funk Out" and "Tragic Comic," along with such strong album tracks as "Decadence Dance." There's only one semi-rarity to snag the faithful ? the "Horn Mix" of "Cupid's Dead" ? but these fans are likely to stick with the original albums, no matter what. And, truth be told, there's some relevance in that, since the albums work well as individual works, but An Accidental Collision of Atoms remains a first-rate sampler that proves Extreme was better than the vast majority of their hard-rock and pop-metal peers.