A Boy Named Goo

by

Goo Goo Dolls

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I wasn't expecting much when I picked up A Boy Named Goo as an impulse buy...I figured that It'd be fun to check out some of the older songs by the Goo Goo Dolls before their big revolution with DUTG. And at first, it was just what I had expected...some fun little power pop/rock. But since then it's grown on me unmeasurably and I have it in my cd player very often. Songs like "Naked" and "Flat Top" are classics...Lyrically, musically, and emotionally. "Eyes Wide Open" is probably one of the best Goo songs ever, and should definetely have left an indelible mark on the radio. I'm surprised more of these songs weren't bigger hits...Certainly, this album has sold over 4 million copies, but those were mostly due to "Name", a song that does NOT define this cd well. (It's a classic, sure, but none of the other songs sound ANYTHING like it...)

I just have a few words to say to the reviewer posing as "dev1". I don't know what kind of attention-craved sicko you are, but I think it's about time you stopped. Before everyone hits me, keep in mind that this is not music rage...I'm not mad at him for his opinions, I'm mad at him because the reviews that he is writing are completely faulty. Click on his name and you'll see literally hundreds of reviews that don't correspond at all with the product he is reviewing, and are there for...well...I really can't see why they're even there. If you read a few reviews, you'll notice several phrases recycled over and over again:

-I'm not sure exactly what to call "Insert Title Here" except "delicious." Every track contains just enough hip-hop to make me what to marry James Brown (the God Father of Three Word Songs) **(he says this to describe albums that aren't even hip hop, like GGD, and Blink)**

-He never mentions song titles, only the title of the album, and insists that his favorite songs on "Bang" (A GGD import) are Tracks 2, 5, 8, and 9, when the album only has 5 tracks to begin with. He also tells us his favorite track numbers from a Marilyn Manson VIDEO. Not to mention, dev1 or whoever you are, your reviews are completely nonsensical. Telling us all that the GGDs support cannibalism and murder to infants, or saying that Linkin Park uses vulgarities, or that SR-71 has commited unforgivable crimes against America is like trying to put 10 pounds of monkey crap in a 5 pound bag. It just doesn't fly. Get a life, and stop being so immature.

This album has more of a bipolar personality than virtually any other cd I have heard. The songs sung and written by the guitarist Johnny Rzeznik are very well done, especially "Only One" which has powerful, hard rocking guitars and is an outstanding song. Rzeznik's voice is a good mixture of jagged edginess and melody. By contrast, those songs written and sung by the bass player are at best mediocre. His voice is kind of nasally in a really annoying teen-idol fashion and his song-writing abilities are lacking. I would have given this album five stars if all the songs were comparable to Rzeznik's work.