Gutterflower

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Goo Goo Dolls: Johnny Rzeznik (vocals, guitar); Robby Takac (bass, background vocals); Mike Malinin (drums).
Additional personnel includes: Tim Pierce (guitar); Kim Bullard, Doug McKean (programming); Luis Conte, Greg Suran, Jamie Muhoberac, Rob Cavallo.
When the Goo Goo Dolls solidified their place in the pop mainstream with 1998's DIZZY UP THE GIRL, one of the casualties was frontman Johnny Rzeznik's marriage. For the band's 2002 follow-up GUTTERFLOWER, Rzeznik channeled his feelings into a set of songs steeped in the Goo's mastery of hook-ridden, rock-edged pop. Lines like "How does it feel when you're out on your own/And now it's too late to come home" on the Pearl Jam-flavored "What A Scene" and "I'm torn in pieces/I'm blind and waiting for you" on the catchy and whip-smart "Big Machine" are self-explanatory. For more emotional turbulence, see the mandolin-soaked delicacy of "Sympathy" and the epic "Truth Is A Whisper" with its driven tempo and churning guitars.
Bassist Robby Takac claims a third of the songwriting credit on GUTTERFLOWER and proves to be as talented as his Rzeznik at crafting memorable cuts. Delivering the goods with a higher-pitched rasp than Rzeznik, Takac shines on the INXS pop-funk of "Up, Up, Up," soaring ear-candy "Smash" and punkier abandon of "Tucked Away." Cultivators of aggressive guitar-pop with an adult edge, The Goo Dolls once again score with the bittersweet bud that is GUTTERFLOWER.