Goo Goo Dolls deliver the same

Most people don’t know the Goo Goo Dolls beyond their 1998 debut single, “Iris.”

But twelve years and three albums later, the Dolls are back with their ninth studio album, Something for the Rest of Us, released this past Tuesday, to see if they can top the charts once again.

If you are familiar with the band’s unique style of composition, this album will be comfortable for you. The songs are analogous to the band’s earlier albums, Let Love In and Dizzy Up the Girl. The lyrics, as always, are nothing less than inspirational and the tune will make your hand instinctively raise a lighter if your body is not already swaying back and forth. 

With these types of insightful and inspiring songs rising in popularity due to bands like OneRepublic, it seems like the Goo Goo Dolls are now competing with a variety of groups to reclaim a style for which they have been known for almost a decade. In originality of lyrics and theme, however, the Goo Goo Dolls are lagging behind in the competition. 

According to iTunes, the most popular song on the album is “Notbroken,” a mellow, moving song about a yearning for homecoming, much like the single “Home,” the album’s lead single that came out in June. If you are looking for the catchiest or most upbeat songs and would rather spend four dollars rather than thirteen for the whole album, I recommend “As I Am,” “One Night,” “Nothing is Real,” and “Still Your Song” – four songs most reminiscent of the Goo Goo Dolls’ classic style, but still new and exciting in their own ways.

Others, like “Say You’re Free” and “Now I Hear,” both sung by Robby Takac and accompanied by lead singer John Rzeznik, sound harshly different, and more redundant than any of the other songs on the album. Personally, I feel that John never should have given the microphone to Robby, whose voice is too hoarse for alternative, smooth rock and is better suited for a screamo band. Playing these tracks on repeat guarantees a headache.

Their songs, like all good music, effectively organize disorderly emotions into words to which we can all relate. That is true for all but perhaps the most so for bonus song “Rough Boys,” which is, for the Dolls, uncharacteristically “rough.”  Although the album and particular songs become dull and repetitive at times, the music and words of the choruses are definitely worth the minute long preambles. These short five long verses could definitely make you feel more cheerful if heard at the right time and place.

If you are not into loose, relaxed melodies, then this album is not for you. The Goo Goo Dolls remain – and will probably always be – the players of slow, reflective songs to rock to while doing homework in the library, not for dancing your ass off. Though probably not as good as the Dolls’ earlier work, select songs from Something for the Rest of Us are definitely worth a listen. 

OVERALL: B+