Goo Goo Dolls - Gutterflower
Label: Warner Brothers
Rating: 
 

"Gutterflower" is the logical follow-up to the Goo Goo Dolls chart-topping "Dizzy Up The Girl". These alt-rockers turned syrupy ballad producing heart-throbs may have waited four years to release an album of new material but they pick up right where they left off. 

Sure there is some controversy with the Goo Goo Dolls, when their song "Name" became an unexpected megahit and made big stars out the struggling band, who had always put a ballad on their otherwise hard rockin albums. From that point on, a change happened in the group, they seemed to embrace the softside of their personalities and left their hard-edge, yet still amazingly melodic in their wake as they rushed head first to superstardom. The band acknowledged this change when it came time to release a compilation last year, a best of package called "What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce" that really did pay homage to the band's roots and offered the newfound fans a glimpse at what they band used to be all about. 

Ok we know Robbie is still a rocker at heart but it appears Johnny Rzeznik is once again calling the shots. So with Gutterflower the band sounds closer to the Wallflowers or Gin Blossoms than Soul Asylum. This is a bad thing if you are a long time fan of the group's original sound but good news if you like the softer more radio friendly version of the band. Let's face it, these guys aren't stupid, they know what it's like to struggle to make it by staying true to your roots and then to find success with a more polished sound. If you were in their shoes which way would you go? So the bottom line is the Goo Goo Dolls have found their formula for success and aren't about to stray from it. If you are a fan of "Dizzy Up The Girl" then you should find a lot to love about "Gutterflower" because the band has honed their more commercial side and go ahead full throttle in that direction. If you were looking for a return to old-school Goo Goo Dolls then the bad news is, you won't find it here except in fleeting moments and it may be gone for good as they keystone to their sound.