Goo Goo Dolls are most well-known for their 90s accessible rock music but they’ve been together since 1987. Though they’re now a duo rather than a trio, vocalist/guitarist John Rzeznik and vocalist/bassist Robby Takac are in their 50s and have been releasing music together for nearly 30 years.
Though their success peaked towards the end of the 90s with singles “Iris” and “Slide”, a strong following has been built up over the years resulting in them now releasing their eleventh studio album Boxes, the first album recorded without long-time drummer Mike Malinin. Eleven songs make up the durations of Boxes, half of which are under 4 minutes long so although it’s not a lengthy album, does it have the quality instead?
“Boxes” is the Goo Goo Dolls’ eleventh studio album
Opener “Over and Over” starts things off with a radio friendly mix of acoustic and reverb filled electric guitar that will surely get their fans clapping and chanting along at live performances. It’s a bit one dimensional but perfectly listenable and a fair start to the album. “Souls in the Machine” follows next and the U2-esque guitar reverb continues along with the simple foot tapping rhythms. Next song “Flood” features vocals from Sydney Sierota and adds a female tenderness to the otherwise pop infused template copied from the previous tracks. It feels more sincere than the slightly by-the-numbers opening tracks that precede it. Things slow down a touch with “The Pin”, a more interesting arrangement that has strings as well as a slightly less generic feel that has a touch of Crowded House about it.
“Boxes” comes next with some nicely layered instrumentation, avoiding going too full on with the choruses and allowing a lighter feel despite the amount of instrumentation. “Free of Me” and “Reverse” ramp things up by bringing the tempo up but still manage to revert back to the generic template that the band seem to enjoy so much. In fact, there isn’t really a marked change in arrangement until we get to “Lucky One” with some electronic urban drum beats, though it merely supports that same underlying feel that features on all the other songs. “So Alive” continues with the slightly more modern rhythm track with a swung R’n’B feel that wouldn’t be out of place on any of the younger pop artists from X-Factor or whatnot, but it’s a welcome change from the slightly repetitive trying-too-hard friendly pop/rock songs from earlier. Annoyingly, “Prayer in my Pocket” and “Long Way Home” finish the album in the same way it started with their sterile radio rock.
Though most tracks are perfectly listenable in isolation, there’s too much about Boxes that reeks of generic and lazy songwriting. The forced anthem-like feel of the majority of the songs feels like the Goo Goo Dolls have taken the elements of easy-on-the-ears rock music and put them together on the assumption that a classic hit is going to come out every time. The reality is that these songs all come across as attempts at hits rather than bona fide hits themselves. The generic feel of the songwriting and production is such that I felt at a loss to describe them after halfway through the album as the formula just didn’t change. I suspect, as with most bands or artists at this stage in their careers, that fans of the band get more of what they know of (albeit a watered down version) and that’s enough to keep sales of the band’s music going. For those less familiar with their material, they’d be better off checking out earlier albums.
Author – Steve, Bristol store
