PowerPlay

#34, June 2002

GOO GOO DOLLS
Gutterflower
WarnerBros
The darlings of the US radio stations are back with their seventh album, and it's a release of the highest quality. These guys have slogged away for years and nobody can deny them their success. This is the follow-up to their multi-platinum 1999 release, "Dizzy Up The Girl" and should be the album that really pushes them to the forefront of the modern 'Ameri-rock' scene, internationally.

We have 12 tracks of superb, mature song writing. They write incredibly catchy songs and if anything, the tracks on display here have even more poppy leanings than anything previously released by the band. Songs like "Here Is Gone", with its classic pop anthemic chorus and the more folksier based "Sympathy", back this up.

If there is one gripe it is the way the band split the vocal duties between Robbie Takac and Johnny Rzeznik. This takes a little consistency away from the album. The trademark popcorn lyrics are prevalent again with lines like "You're a supermarket punk-rock television comedy". Having said that, there is a maturing in the lyrical content of the album. Some of the songs seem a lot darker and display the band members' angst, showing some of the personal issues that they have to deal with in the three years between studio releases. There are plenty of lighter moments but there are also remnants of their earlier, brattier sound. The urgent "What A Scene" powers along with a raw metal-riff, whilst the closing "Truth Is A Whisper" is far more introspective song and may show the band moving towards a less commercial approach for their next album.

These guys have long been a favourite of mine and I love this album more with every listen. If you like this style of music, then this is at the top of the tree. Get out and buy. As Rzeznik sings, "Ecstasy is all you need".

RICHARD POWELL

Sound: 9/10
Songs: 8/10
Genre: 9/10