Album Essentials: Goo Goo Dolls - "Dizzy Up The Girl"

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

As the Goo Goo Dolls stumbled out of their home base in Buffalo, New York back in 1986, it would have been hard for anyone at the time to have them pegged as becoming a million selling pop group. As they began, their sound was more akin to the ragged aesthetics of the Replacements brushed with some pseudo-Metal tendencies with a punk spirit driving them. 

They were one of countless bands dealing in similar sounds at the time. Their 1986 debut on Celluoid Records showed off that style and featured the lead vocals of bassist Robby Takac. Soon they were signed by Metal Blade Records, an odd match up, that led to the album 'Jed,' a smiliar batch of songs, the only difference being that guitarist John Rzeznik took the lead vocal on a couple tracks. This small alteration would set coordinate for the road ahead and on the follow-up, Rzeznik would handle the bulk of vocals, setting the stage for their major label debut. 

Over the next 4 or 5 years, the band, now signed to Warner Brothers, honed their style mixing hard edged rock with more pop styles and production values, each album gaining more attention. Songs like 'Long Way Down' and especially 'Name' put them on MTV and radio and suddenly, this ragged mob from Buffalo were a cleaned up pop band ready to take on the world. 

Released in 1998, 'Dizzy Up The Girl. Fulfilled any promises put forth by the previous few albums with the single 'Iris' being omnipresent for the following year. The album would go on to sell over four million copies and cement the band as a favorite in the 'post-grunge' era of the late 1990s. 

The spotlight may have moved, but the Goo Goo Dolls remain, fan base intact, consistently releasing albums along the post-Dizzy path right up to 2022's 'Chaos In Bloom.' 

Catch the Goo Goo Dolls and OAR at Blossom Music Center on Sunday, August 20th