(05) Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up The Girl (1998)

“Dizzy Up The Girl” is the sixth album by Goo Goo Dolls, released in 1998 on Warner Bros..
The Goo Goo Dolls' hit, "Iris," on the City of Angels soundtrack, was one big hunk of summertime cheddar, a song about doomed love swathed in violins. On Dizzy Up the Girl, the Dolls bring the strings – and arranger David Campbell – back for an encore. "Black Balloon," "Acoustic #3" and "All Eyes on Me" are all symphonic poems in the style of "Iris," which is also included here.

These sensitive-guy anthems suggest that the Dolls are wandering into the minefield between maturity and schmaltz, a treacherous step once taken by the Dolls' obvious role models, the Replacements and Soul Asylum. Like those bands, the Dolls traffic in raspy-voiced, guitar-fueled rave-ups with a sentimental streak. "See the young man sitting in the old man's bar/Waiting for his turn to die," guitarist Johnny Rzeznik sings in "Broadway," picking up where the Mats left off with "Here Comes a Regular." And while he mostly plays second fiddle to "Iris" heartthrob Rzeznik, singer-bassist Robby Takac injects Dizzy Up the Girl with some wreck-the-room urgency in "January Friend," turns "Full Forever" into a long, escalating rant and, in "Amigone," asserts that "love's been marred by medication." Nothing like a few hits of vinegar to make the gooey ballads go down.

All tracks by Johnny Rzeznik except were noted

Track listing:
01 - "Dizzy" – 2:41
02 - "Slide" – 3:33
03 - "Broadway" – 3:59
04 - "January Friend" (Robby Takac) – 2:45
05 - "Black Balloon" – 4:10
06 - "Bullet Proof" – 4:38
07 - "Amigone" (Robby Takac) – 3:16
08 - "All Eyes on Me" – 3:58
09 - "Full Forever" (Robby Takac) – 2:52
10 - "Acoustic #3" – 1:57
11 - "Iris" – 4:50
12 - "Extra Pale" (Robby Takac) – 2:11
13 - "Hate this Place" – 4:24

Length 45:03

Personnel
Ken Allardyce – engineer
David Campbell – string arrangements
Rob Cavallo – producer
Greg Collins – assistant engineer
Steve Gerdes – art direction, design
The Goo Goo Dolls – producer
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Mike Malinin – drums
Jamie Muhoberac – piano, keyboards, processing
Melanie Nissen – photography
Carmen Rizzo – programming
Johnny Rzeznik – guitar, vocals
Allen Sides – engineer
Robby Takac – bass, vocals
Darrell Thorp – assistant engineer

Released: September 22, 1998
Recorded: 1997–1998
Genre: Alternative Rock, Post-Grunge
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Producer: Rob Cavallo, Goo Goo Dolls