The Goo Goo Dolls struggle to find a new aesthetic perspective in their new 2009/2010 album
August 9, 11:25 PM
Oakland Music Examiner
David Woo

Though talk of the Goo Goo Dolls’ prospective ninth studio album has spread across the music community like wild fire, the popular 1990s band remains resistant to setting anything in stone for the follow up to their 2006 album, Let Love In. Not only is the title and release date for the new album still uncertain (rumors of its release originally suggested a debut around the end of 2008), but the Goo Goo Dolls have also discussed a wide variety of aesthetic perspectives concerning the direction which they want to point the album in as well. As many know, the band is already well established in multiple genres for their experimentation with the Alternative Rock and Post-Grunge styles. Establishing early on their place as one of the original Punk/Pop Rock bands of the 1990s prior to their major commercial success, the band went on to develop a widely varying style, incorporating a great deal of acoustic guitar material after the breakthrough success of their fifth studio album, A Boy Named Goo (the massively successful love ballad from the album, “Name,” features Johnny Rzeznik on an acoustic guitar).

The orientation of the Goo Goo Dolls’ new album, thus, surely catches the interests of many amongst the band’s fan base. Their last album, Let Love In, epitomizes the sort of fusion between the harder rock and soft acoustic ballads that the band’s career has been defined by (the contrast between “Stay With You” and “Let Love In,” for example). Following the trend of their previous albums, thus, lead singer Johnny Rzeznik commented on the album’s aesthetics, saying that “we want to get the basic groove of what it’s all about instead of having this real sterilized, Pro-tooled, chopped-to-bits sort of thing.”

This, of course, does not necessarily imply a falling in line with the same drop key, acoustic style which many of their recent works are defined by. Rather it seems that the band’s new album will seek out a sort of organic, back-to-basics sound which focuses on solid hooks and sound chordal structures rather than studio flair and editing (although this, perhaps, is something that the band has sought out their entire career). Regardless, this is a refreshing musical perspective amongst a Rock genre which has of late been largely defined by studio editing (All Time Low’s heavy experimentation with studio effects in Nothing Personal or Wilco’s studio work in their last self titled album, though no doubt quite impressive, readily come to mind). So quickly have musicians turned to studio effects to decorate their albums that they often forget the beauty of the sort of stripped down, bare bones Rock ballad that the Goo Goo Dolls specialize in. Thus, whatever instrumentation which Rzeznik implied, I’m sure that the long anticipated release of the Goo Goo Dolls’ mysterious ninth studio album won’t fail to impress.

Thanks for reading!

David Woo, Oakland Music Examiner

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