#29 "Burnin' Up" by The Goo Goo Dolls

A guy I used to work with first told me about The Goo Goo Dolls a long time ago... back before their huge "A Boy Named Goo" album came out, the one with "Name" on it. I remember thinking, "The Goo Goo Dolls?!? What kind of name is that?" I just couldn't even picture what a band with that name could look or sound like. Turns out my buddy was onto something. The Goo's were one of the biggest acts of the mid to late nineties.

Curiously enough, one of lead singer/songwriter Johnny Rzeznik's biggest influences is Paul Westerberg. And hey... so is mine! You can hear PW's crafty songwriting and heartfelt delivery in Rzeznik's work too. Westerberg even wrote a song for the Goo's, "We are the Normal," for their album "SuperStar Car Wash." Guess it's no wonder why I got hooked on their music pretty quickly.

Sadly, The Goo Goo Dolls kinda went Hollywood. They got overexposed and radio-friendly and seemed to churn out ballad after ballad bound for mainstream movie soundtracks everywhere. Rzeznik suffered from serious writer's block too and our instant gratification society tired of waiting so long for new GGD releases. They don't measure much on my new music radar anymore. They do have some great songs though.

The Goo Goo Dolls are known mostly for Johnny Rzeznik's good looks and husky voice, but bassist Robby Takac makes a lot of contributions too. He's got a few songs on every one of their releases that I've ever heard, and they're often my favorites tracks. His tunes are always really fast and melodic. "Burnin' Up" is just like that. I love how it builds to this big ending when he's screaming "Try to take my hand tonight... I'll show you where to start. 'Cause every word that left your lips is like a needle through my heart!" It's full of anger and angst. You need a good "I hate you" song every once in a while.

"Burnin' Up" is from the album "A Boy Named Goo." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.