But the good news on Dizzy Up the Girl is that the first sound we hear is a wiggling, crunching guitar line and frontman Johnny Rzeznik's menacing growl. The Goos are back, you exclaim. Well, sort of. If the group's early touchstone was the Replacements (to the point of near-thievery on occasion), its new reference point is Soul Asylum, another group from punk's third generation that learned more about its craft and actually applied (gasp!) those lessons to its music. In the Goos' case, the result is an album of tuneful, tightly written, and eminently catchy numbers cloaked with layers of ringing guitars; even bassist Robby Takac's tougher-edged rockers like "January Friend" have smoother edges than the group would have previously embraced.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is the kind of fan-dividing development that will doubtlessly send a few diehards packing while the "Name" crowd laps up pillowy fare such as "Black Balloon," "Acoustic #3," and "Iris," the smash from the City of Angels soundtrack that's also included here. On the louder tip, the Goos offer the pop-punk drive of "Amigone," the Gin Blossoms-ish earnestness of "Slide," and a few smoothly melodic midtempo tunes ("All Eyes on Me," "Broadway," "Hate This Place") that should curry the favor of anyone who bought the Matchbox 20 album. Sadly, the Goos never let fully loose on any of the album's 13 songs, and Dizzy Up the Girl ultimately finds the trio trading in its defining character to keep company with some future "Where are they now?" queries. Pop anonymity does not become these Dolls.
— Gary Graff (Wall Of Sound)
f you're holding your breath a bit as you approach this Buffalo, N.Y., trio's sixth album, you're not alone. Once irreverent, punk-inspired rockers, the Goo Goo Dolls finally hit it big with "Name" and "Iris"—a pair of lush, dramatic power ballads that flicked a few hundred Bics but didn't do much for the mosh pit. In terms of their remaining punk credibility, let's just say Joey Ramone's eyes are rolling under his shades.