Dizzy Up the Girl

You Spin Me Right Round Baby
by: bill aicher

Goo Goo Dolls are back, riding the wave of success.  This album marks their first album to be released after become music superstars.  The huge response to the song "Iris" on the City of Angels soundtrack changed the band.  They have left their punk roots behind and have become the pop stars we all dream to be(?).

Most of you, if you knew of the band before "Iris", knew of them from either "Name" (A Boy Named Goo) or "Long Way Down" (A Boy Named Goo, Twister Soundtrack).  On their previous album, they were more of an alternative band, whereas on their very early work they were a punk band.  I personally was a big fan of A Boy Named Goo.  Their original sound made them one of my favorite alternative bands at the time.  I was somewhat disappointed by the overplay of certain songs by the radio, but the other tracks kept me happy.

The radio has destroyed the band I used to like.  Their new album is a pop-fiesta.  Almost all of the songs are meant to be radio hits.  The ones that will not be released on the radio are the ones in which Robbie Takac is lead vocalist.  So far, every single has featured Rzeznik on vocals.  The harder, punker songs on the new album feature Takac, whereas the radio-friendly tunes all feature Rzeznik.  I personally am a bigger fan of Rzeznik's voice, but I am disappointed by the overproduction of the new tunes.   All of the new material reminds me greatly of Third Eye Blind, Matchbox 20, and other big-name "alternative" bands.  We can only have so many Irises, and this album has overdone the formula.  Goo Goo Dolls are no longer alternative - they are now pop.  This explains why this review falls under pop.  The songs are catchy - way to go.   I enjoy originality, not top 40.