Discography Deep Dive: Goo Goo Dolls (Part 1)
1987-2002
I first heard the Goo Goo Dolls when I saw the music video for “We Are the Normal” on MTV’s 120 Minutes and was instantly hooked. Sadly I didn’t pick up Superstar Car Wash in ‘93 but I did get the follow up, the band’s breakthrough A Boy Named Goo in 1995.
After their 1998 album, the even bigger crossover smash Dizzy Up the Girl, I lost track of the Goo Goo Dolls. I liked the album (“Iris” is a legit classic) but thought it was a bit too slick. Around that time I was producing a zine called Caught Off Guard and in my review of Dizzy Up the Girl I said that the band had moved away from The Replacements and towards Third Eye Blind (at least I think it was Third Eye Blind but it could have been some other late ‘90s alt rock one hit wonder band).
Going into this exercise, I had experience with the albums of the band’s classic period from 1990’s Hold Me Up through 1998’s Dizzy Up the Girl and their 2017 EP You Should Be Happy. Beyond a few songs here and there, I’m completely ignorant of everything else so this should be fun.
I’m also including some notable soundtrack and compilation appearances because those things were super important back in the ‘90s. You can check out the playlist that I made to go along with this exercise here. It has everything except the songs from the No Alternative and AT&T Team USA Soundtrack comps.
Discography Notes
Goo Goo Dolls (06/09/1987)
WTF is the opening bit to this first song?
Three songs in, this album isn’t the huge departure from their later music that I was expecting. Sure, hearing bassist Robby Takac sing all of the songs is different, but there were songs that he sang all over those classic albums from the 90s.
“I’m Addicted” is great.
I wonder if they play any of these songs live anymore?
At the halfway point on this record and so far it is fine. According to Wikipedia, this thing was made for $750. Honestly…it sounds like it.
“Hammerin’ Eggs” is not good.
This “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” cover would have been better with John Rzeznik singing.
The song “Beat Me” is super catchy with an outstanding hook/riff, but I do not want to know what it’s about.
Wow, Rzeznik rips a great guitar solo on “Scream.” Unfortunately the rest of the song…
I’d always heard that these early records had metal elements on them. They are on display on the second half of the album. See “Scream” and “Slaughterhouse” as examples.
Some bands appear fully formed on their first record. The Goo Goo Dolls was NOT one of those bands.
But you can still hear the potential all over this thing.
The last song is just silly punk.
Jed (02/22/1989)
The production is a bit better.
“Up Yours” is the first time we hear Rzeznik on lead vocals. I’ve always liked Takac’s vocals but it is clear that Rzeznik is the better singer.
Rzeznik’s backing vocals are more pronounced on “No Way Out.”
“7th Last Month” appears to be the band’s first time to incorporate the acoustic guitar.
Also, is this an instrumental? I’m over 2 minutes into this 3:07 song and have yet to hear a vocal.
It was an instrumental. And it was really good!
“Sex Maggot” has one hell of a hook/riff.
This cover of CCR’s “Down on the Corner” with Lance Diamond on vocals is awesome!
Diamond played with the band on their Rolling Stones cover for No Alternative.
Jed is absolutely a step up from the self-titled album in production but also in songwriting.
Listening to “Em Elbmuh” it is hard to believe that this is the same band that would write “Slide.”
“Artie” is great!
More acoustic guitar and Rzeznik lead vocals on the closing track “James Dean.”
Yikes, the ending of that song did not age well.
Hold Me Up (10/05/1990)
Right from the opening of the album’s first track “Laughing,” you can tell that this band was getting better and better.
JFC, “Just the Way You Are” is so good!!!!
Speaking of great songs, “There You Are” is a Goo Goo Dolls classic!
Lance Diamond is back on their cover of Prince’s “Never Take the Place of Your Man” which is awesome!
“Hey” is the first song that has Rzeznik and Takac sharing lead vocals. I don’t think they did this enough over the years.
“Kevin’s Song” is another instrumental. And it’s really good. Rough around the edges but good.
They do a good cover of The Plimsouls “A Million Miles Away.”
“Two Days in February” is an excellent song!
Hold Me Up is the first album of what I call the band’s “classic era” that goes through Superstar Car Wash, A Boy Named Goo, and Dizzy Up the Girl.
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare [Music from the Motion Picture] (09/24/1991)
Three songs, one new two from Hold Me Up.
Original song “I’m Awake Now.”
This song is…fine?
It is also on the collection Volume 2.
There was a time when movie soundtracks were a big deal for bands getting exposure.
Superstar Car Wash (02/23/1993)
Goddamn this album is fucking great!!!!!
Seriously. Every. Single. Song!
“Lucky Star” is a Takac classic.
“Girl Right Next to Me” should have been huge.
I love the Rzeznik and Takac shared vocals on “String of Lies.” This is also a song that shows this band is smarter than one might think.
I originally rated Superstar Car Wash 4.5 stars, but I’m changing that to the full 5. This album gets better every time I listen to it.
No Alternative (10/26/1993)
Cover of The Rolling Stones “Bitch” performed with fellow Buffalo, NY singer and radio personality Lance Diamond.
The No Alternative comp was such a big deal when it came out.
This is a fun cover. It’s too bad the band never did a full record with Diamond. That would have been incredible.
They performed “Bitch” on the No Alternative special that aired on MTV.
A Boy Named Goo (03/14/1995)
Opening the record with “Long Way Down” into “Burnin’ Up,” then “Naked” and “Flat Top” was outstanding sequencing.
“Burnin’ Up” is one of my favorite Goo Goo Dolls songs.
“Flat Top” is SO GOOD!!!
I love how this record goes back and forth between Rzeznik and Takac sung songs (at least on the first half of the album).
It’s amazing how the success of “Name” changed the trajectory of this band’s music and career.
I’ve often wondered if “Only One” had anything to do with Kurt Cobain’s suicide.
Per Wikipedia, drummer George Tutuska was fired from the band after the record was recorded but prior to its release. Because of that, a song that he’d written “Stand Alone” was removed from the album and replaced by covers of The Enemies “Disconnected” and Lime Spiders’ “Slave Girl.” Truth be told, those covers are the low point of the record. I’ve never heard “Stand Alone” but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was better than the two covers. According to Rzeznik they removed Tutuska’s song because they didn’t think it was fair to keep it on the record since he was no longer in the band.
“Disconnected” is the better of the two covers. The performances on both are great, it’s just “Slave Girl” is… I wonder if it is a song that is trying to be ironic or a satire. Now that I think about it, I'm going to assume that was the case.
Tommy Boy (03/31/1995*), Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (11/10/1995*), and Batman & Robin (06/10/1997)
Cover of The Damned’s “Wait for the Blackout” from Tommy Boy.
This is a fun cover and much better than Alkaline Trio’s version (not that their version is bad or anything, this one is just better).
Cover of INXS’ “Don’t Change” from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.
This is a great cover. While Rzeznik isn’t the singer that Michael Hutchence was, he’s still pretty damn great and it shows on this cover.
Face To Face also did a super fun cover of “Don’t Change.”
Original song “Lazy Eye” from Batman & Robin.
The Batman & Robin soundtrack was definitely trying to cash in on the success of the Batman Forever soundtrack. Both are bonkers.
This song is…also fine?
All three songs are on the Volume 2 collection.
Dizzy Up the Girl (09/22/1998)
According to the lore (and my memory, if it serves), Rzeznik was suffering from a serious bout of writers block when the band was asked to write a song for the movie City of Angels. That song was “Iris.”
After I heard the Bandsplain episode on the Goo Goo Dolls, I gave Dizzy Up the Girl another go and it was much better than I’d remembered.
I’m not a huge fan of the opening track but “Slide” is a banger.
I’d forgotten that there were any Takac songs on this record.
At their core, these are the same kind of songs that the band had written on their earlier records. There was always a bit of pop in their hooks.
“Bullet Proof” has a great chorus.
“Amigone” has an excellent riff. This is a great Takac song.
“All Eyes on Me” has another great chorus.
Controversial hot take: “Acoustic #3” is the best song on Dizzy Up the Girl.
“Iris” was the perfect song to capitalize on “Name” because they are similar, yes, but mostly because it’s excellent.
The closing track “Hate This Place” is classic Goo Goo Dolls and sounds rougher around the edges than the rest of this album.
Gutterflower (04/09/2002)
We are now starting the part of the Goo Goo Dolls catalog that I have never listened to. I’m looking forward to hearing these records.
The opening track “Big Machine” was apparently Rzeznik’s attempt at writing a “disco song.” It’s pretty good but I don’t see how it is supposed to be disco.
This band is really good at the big, soaring chorus.
I’m glad that there are Takac songs on this album. The first is “You Never Know.”
I noticed that the Wikipedia entry for Gutterflower lists the genres as Alternative rock and post-grunge. For comparison’s sake, here are the previous albums –
Goo Goo Dolls – Punk rock
Jed – Punk rock and pop punk
Hold Me Up – Punk rock, power pop, and alternative rock
Superstar Car Wash – Alternative rock
A Boy Named Goo – Alternative rock, power pop, post-grunge, and pop punk
Dizzy Up the Girl – Alternative rock, pop rock, power pop
This is utterly fascinating, especially considering the fact that, so far, these records all sound like a natural progression and don’t sound that drastically different from one another.
It’s also wild to consider the life of this band and how they went from being talked about in the same breath as bands like ALL and Doughboys to being thought of along with the likes of Matchbox 20 and Creed.
“Up, Up, Up” is a great Takac song.
“Sympathy” is a great acoustic number.
Apparently, it appeared in the movie A Cinderella Story (which is great btw) and an episode of Charmed.
Okay, “What Do You Need?” does have some grungy vibes to it.
“Smash” is another great Takac song. I think his might be the best track on this record.
“Tucked Away” continues the trend.
Takac’s songs should get to be the singles too.