Buffalo, New York in the mid-80s was the unassuming cradle of The Goo Goo Dolls, a scrappy trio carving their niche in the hardcore punk scene. With John Rzeznik’s gritty guitar riffs and Robby Takac’s punk ethos their sound was raw and in your face aggressive (yes, really). They were far from the polished, radio-friendly band that kids like me would eventually know them for. But as the decade turned, so did the Dolls. Their metamorphosis culminated in 1998’s Dizzy Up the Girl, a beautiful bloom of 90’s alternative rock that catapulted them into mainstream stardom. The lead single of this album “Iris,” an aching love song written for the City of Angels soundtrack, became a cultural touchstone during my high school years and a mainstay on Top 40 radio.
Listening to Dizzy Up the Girl today is like opening a time capsule of late-90s alt-rock, a genre that is having sort of a comeback as of late as everyone in my age group gets older and starts to wax nostalgic about their formative years. It’s an album that perfectly balances shimmering pop-rock hooks with a bittersweet undercurrent of longing. “Slide” and “Broadway” bring infectious energy, their bright choruses evoking warm sunlit memories, and then just around the corner lies the quiet and gray melancholy of songs like “Black Balloon” and “Iris”. With their sweeping strings, raw vulnerability, and ruminations on loss, The Goo Goo Dolls proved they could deliver a stirring ballad along with the best of them.
Dizzy Up The Girl is two things at once– an enduring classic of an era gone by as well as an emotional roller coaster that sounds like it could have been released last week. Hearing these songs reminded me just how everlasting a piece of good songwriting can be– I still get goosebumps when I hear “Black Balloon” and I still can’t resist the urge to jump up out of my seat when I hear “Broadway”. John Rzeznik really found magic in a bottle with this one.
Standout Songs: “Slide”, “Broadway”, “Black Balloon”, “Iris”, “All Eyes On Me”, “Dizzy”, “Acoustic #3”, “Bullet Proof”
