Published on Jan 15, 1999
I first heard of the currently hot band called The Goo Goo Dolls
from the songs off this 1990 release,
Hold Me Up. If you like this band because of their power
ballad hits like “Iris,” you will find this album quite a
disappointment. The only ballad is the last song “Two Days In
February” and even that seems like an afterthought. Hardly a power
ballad, it is a low-key acoustic number that was recorded outdoors,
just a nice song with no hit potential.
However if you like a good dose of scruffy punk-pop, then
Hold Me Up delivers with lots of energy and hooks. The knock
on them in this early part of their career was that they were The
Replacements-lite. Do I agree with statement? Well, yes and no. I
say that because the Goo Goo Dolls have two distinct
singer/songwriters, and it is only one of them that tries to write
like former Replacements leader Paul Westerberg.
Guitarist Johnny Rzeznik is the one who gets the singles and he
is the one that sounds like Westerberg. The first single “There You
Are” sounds a little too much like an okay Replacements song, and
the same goes for the slower, edgier number “You Know What I Mean”.
However, I think the rocker “Just The Way You Are” (not the Billy
Joel song) is about as good as almost any Replacements songs and
Rzeznik portrays the endearing loser to a tee.
The other singer is bassist Robby Takac. He has a high-pitched,
screetchy voice. His songs on
Hold Me Up tend to be faster and punkier than Rzeznik’s.
While all of Takac’s songs have great hooks complimented by his
throbbing bass, there tends to be a sameness to his material. At
least, Rzeznik’s songs have more of a range to them. The one
exception is “Out Of The Red” which is the hardest rocker on the
album and the closest to punk in its pure form. This song is simply
dynamite.
The Goo Goo Dolls do show some orginality in their cover tunes.
They speed up The Plimsouls’ “Million Miles Away” crushing the
original like a grape, and I like the original. And in what has to
be the most creative move of the album, they use a lounge singer
named Lance Diamond to sing their punky cover of Prince’s “Never
Take The Place Of Your Man.” This is quite hilarious and I wish the
band had taken more chances like this on the rest of the album.
Rzeznik’s guitar solos are short but effective. The band plays
fast and furious without getting too sloppy. The drummer, George
Tutuska, is not flashy but he gets the job done. Most of the songs
are catchy and have a ragged charm to them. It’s just that the band
could use a little more inspiration. The potential was there in
1990 and I am not surprised that they have broken through to
stardom. For newer Goo Goo Dolls fans,
Hold Me Up is worth investigating as long as you are not
looking for ballads.