Thursday, November 15, 2007

What Is Wrong With The Goo Goo Dolls?

There was a time, not so long ago, when three young musicians from Buffalo, NY set hearts (and ears) aflame in the world of Replacements-adoring power-pop fans. Those were simpler times, before American Idol, before INXS chose a replacement for the late good-but-not-great Michael Hutchens via a game show, before a whole lot of other distasteful stuff happened. Before all that, the Goo Goo Dolls were a really good band. I kid you not.

You may now be asking yourself: The Goo Goo Dolls? Really? This can't possibly be the WIWWY I've come to know and love. WIWWY must have been taken over by, um, someone who likes corporate alterna-crap. No, dear readers, not true. I still hate corporate alterna-crap. I just remember those times when the Goo Goo Dolls were still belonged to the cult of Paul Westerberg. When the short ugly guy still shreiked out semi-punk style. When they opened for good punk-pop bands like the Muffs. When they played in that parking lot that used to be on the South side of Astor Place when the East Village was still cool that's now some shiny glass condo tower. Man, if that's not a metaphor for something. I just don't know what.

Yes, there was a time when the Goo Goo Dolls were quite good. Their fifth album Superstar Carwash was one of the best power-pop albums of the 90s. Then suddenly, they weren't good. The next album had that song "Name" that hit big. So the album after that had a dozen songs that all sounded exactly like "Name". I guess they realized that teenage girls dug that shit and since it was so easy to do they'd just keep doing it. Memo to Goo Goo Dolls: stuff that sucks is always easy to do.

Why am I writing about this now? They put out a "best of" compilation that completely ignores the first half of their career, which just happens to contain all of their best songs. I guess they couldn't call it a "worst of".

So, I already know the answer to the question that you know will end this post. Answer: money = good to have; critical acclaim = having to have day jobs to pay for repairing the band's van.

Goo Goo Dolls, I know what's wrong with you, but I want to hear you say it. GGD, what's wrong with you?