Let Love In

by

Goo Goo Dolls

Edit

Things change a lot in 4 years. Bands come and go; groups that were once on top of the world become bargain bin material in your local record store. Averaging three years between albums hasn't hurt The Goo Goo Dolls' Johnny Rzeznik, Robbie Takac, and Mike Malinin, however. Their new release, Let Love In, which I have had on constant rotation since getting the pre-release last week, is a strongly enjoyable album. Let Love In delivers the audience a deliciously comfortable slice of pure radio-friendly music.

The album kicks off with two songs sure to be big singles. Stay With You is an amped up song, its strong melodies and uplifting beats resonate wonderfully. Let Love In is musically lush; Strong acoustic guitar and great fuzzy bass tones join ethereal strings that highlight lyrics sure to make the heart ache, "the only way we'll feel again, the only way to see again, is to let love in." Feel The Silence has an addictive beat and comforting chorus. The fourth and best track on the album, Better Days,is a plea for love and tolerance in a fractured world; A somber piano melody accompanies emotional lyrics, "Tonight's the night the world begins again" and "there's something only you can give..that's faith and trust and peace while you're alive," while a full orchestra builds to an emotionally pleasing crescendo. This song will be on every radio. Without You is a bit of a pleasant surprise musically, as if U2's Edge jumped into the studio to play lead guitar on this laid back mid-tempo song.

The album's midway point gives us Robbie's first vocal with Listen, a song sure to please the Robbie fans and infuriate the Robbie haters. Give a Little Bit follows, makes its encore return from last year's single release. As cover songs go, this is one of the best in recent years, ideally blending Rzeznik's voice and 12-string guitar. Can't Let it Go is probably the closest thing to a Black Balloon on this record, "You were no angel, and I was no saint, but somehow I can't let it go." When You're Gone feels like filler track at first but becomes better and better with every listen. Strange Love is Robbie second vocal track. This is the first real departure from the Dolls normal style, offering an 80's feel with piano notes floating over a repeating chorus. This would make a great track for a movie. The closing track Become is decent enough but leaves you with a slightly off aftertaste as it can't seem to decide what kind of song it wants to be.

For you Doll fans counting at home, this album has 9 Johnny and 2 Robbie vocals. The record as a whole is fairly laid back, without any fast tempo rock tracks that earlier albums had. Glen Ballard's production on this album gives us tighter and better melodies and smoother choruses, but the songs as a whole are more atmospheric than rocked out. More instruments and effects are used, layering the songs with more depth and complexity than the three-chord punch of yesteryear. Some feel that this album is too laid back at first play, but it grows considerably better with repeated listens. Those that don't like the softer side of Goo may be unhappy with this album, as Let Love In doesn't take dramatic risks in songwriting or stray far from the Dolls recent formula of success. It is an ear friendly album sure to be on constant rotation this year and will be a crowd pleaser. Recommended.

A.G. Corwin

St.Louis, MO

As many have commented already, this is a mellow album for the most part. If you are an original fan of the Goo Goo Dolls, you'll likely despise this effort. If you found the boys around the time of "A Boy Named Goo" and "Dizzy", you might like it, especially if your favorite songs are "Name" and "Black Balloon".

Personally, I'm fairly disappointed in the direction taken on this album. My favorite image of the Goo Goo Dolls is them rocking out to "Broadway" in the pouring rain on the DVD that came with the live album. I have always enjoyed the raw, energetic, Western New York attitude of these guys and how they bring it to the pop-rock world with great results.

With "Let Love In", the attitude has been mostly killed. There are several great tracks -- "Stay With You", "Let Love In", "Can't Let It Go", and "Give A Little Bit" (which most fans already have from the Live album). As much as I liked "Better Days" when it came out, it is just another ballad the way it is presented on this album. Worse, it feels lost in the middle of two melancholly ballads that offer very little to the album. "Beautiful", the last track, would be a standout song on any previous Goo album, but as with "Better Days" it gets drowned in mediocrity due to the numerous ballads/low energy songs on this album. Even Robbie has been tamed in this effort. Whether you like his singing or not, his songs are always fun and energetic. Not on this album -- "Listen" is merely passable, "Strangelove" is really bad. I don't care who sings these songs, they just aren't good songs to begin with.

IMHO, partnering with Glen Ballard was a big mistake. Time will tell if the Goo Goo Dolls are taking the path of so many pop-rock bands from the 80's in moving to ballad-heavy music later in their careers (e.g., Journey, REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger, Styx), or if they return to their roots and get back their Buffalo attitude and energy. I sincerely hope it's the latter, and that it doesn't take another 4 years to get the Goo Goo Dolls I enjoy so much back to form.

EDIT: After about 30 listenings, "We'll Be Here (When You're Gone)" has grown on me quite a bit. I've also noticed that if I just skip songs 3 and 5, the album is much better -- 4 stars without those tracks.