Goo Goo Dolls - 'Magnetic'

'Magnetic' does nothing new. Yet with songs of such high quality it really doesn't need to.

From their humble punk beginnings the Goo Goo Dolls have grown into a scorching tour de force of pop mainstream. Starting with the 1998 monster hit 'Iris' the band hasn't looked back, continuing the theme of sharp pop rock built around vocalist Johnny Rzeznik's slick songs and sugar coated vocals.

Often seen by avid followers of the band as "a band within a band", the more punk tinged songs featuring bassist Robby Takac on vocals have been largely ignored by the mainstream who unsurprisingly seem keener on the Rzeznik fronted version of the band. The band's star rating perhaps allows the band – or rather Takac – to indulge in its alter ego as long as there's the usual conveyor belt of hits being generated.



In the main 'Magnetic' follows the trend started by 'Iris'. Agreed there are a few left field songs present; the Takac standards such as the Dylan-esque 'Happiest Days' or the punkish 'Bringing On The Light', as well as the band attempting a little of what Train has been offering of late in the synthesized beats of 'Rebel Beat' or 'More Of You', but this is essentially a slick pop rock album with Rzeznik's vocals at the forefront. Typified by the candy rock of 'When The World Breaks Your Heart', the warm summer beat of 'Slow It Down' or sing along upbeat anthem 'Caught In The Storm', 'Magnetic' does nothing new. Yet with songs of such high quality it really doesn't need to, continuing a trend that the band started some fourteen years ago.

This is what the Goo Goo Dolls do well, it's why they've been so successful and it's why this album will sell by the truckload.

Mike Newdeck