Still, Superstar Car Wash wasn't the commercial force the band hoped it would be, especially in light of the success of similar bands like the Gin Blossoms. Released in 1989, the follow-up album, Jed, continued in a similar vein, and the band's college radio breakthrough came with 1990's Hold Me Up, a Replacements-ish power pop record.rnReleased in 1993, Superstar Car Wash was the Goo Goo Dolls' artistic breakthrough though it did nothing to quell the Replacements comparisons, it was a finely crafted pop/rock record, and its lead single, "We Are the Normal," was even co-written by Replacements leader Paul Westerberg himself. That sound was the reason the band attracted the interest of the heavy metal label Metal Blade, which issued their debut album in 1987 (known either as The Goo Goo Dolls or First Release).
Their early sound recalled the Replacements' origins as a bratty punk band: melodic, snotty, and a little bit thrashy. Originally a cover band with a taste for power pop and classic rock & roll, the group soon began writing original songs. Guitarist/vocalist Johnny Rzeznik, bassist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska initially banded together under the name the Sex Maggots - their new moniker was chosen from an ad in True Detective magazine at the behest of a local club owner. Thus, the band landed two huge hits with the acoustic ballads "Name" and "Iris," followed by a string of Top Ten singles.rnThe Goo Goo Dolls formed in 1985 in Buffalo, New York. That's no knock on the band, either - the music simply improved in craft and accessibility as the years progressed, and radio happened to be receptive to a style that, one decade earlier, would have been considered collegiate power pop. However, they refined and mainstreamed their sound to become one of the most popular adult alternative rock bands of the 1990s, selling millions of records to audiences largely unfamiliar with their influences. Early in their career, the Goo Goo Dolls were frequently dismissed by critics as mere imitators of the Replacements.
0 kommentar(er)
