Search - The Goo Goo Dolls :: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 - The Singles

The So Far Incomplete Greatest Hits

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 11/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is not the first Goo Goo Dolls complilation (more on that later), but this is the first compilation of the Goo Goo Dolls' greatest hits and best known songs. How does it stack up?



"Greatest Hits, Volume 1: The Singles" (14 tracks, 53 min.) rightfully focuses on 1998's Dizzy Up The Girl, the band's most successful album, and is represented here by 5 tracks: "Dizzy", "Slide", "Broadway", "Black Balloon", and probably the band's signature song "Iris". 2002's Gutterflower get 3 tracks here: "Here Is Gone", "Big Machine" and "Sympathy". Last year's disappointing "Let Love In" nevetherless gets 4 tracks here: the title track, "Stay With You", "Feel the Silence" (which comes in a new mix), and "Better Days". Strangely, only one track from the band's comemrcial breakout album. 1995's "A Boy Named Good" is: "Name", and it's not even the original, no, it's a newly recorded version (and inferior to the original). Why Rzeznik felt the need to do that, who knows. This compilation is rounded out by "Before It's Too Late", the Goo Goo's contribution to the "Transformers" soundtrack earlier this year.



In all, there is a lot of good music here. But this should be called the "So Far Incomplete Greatest Hits". Conspicuously missing here are "Long Way Down" from the "Boy Named Goo" album, which was a genuine radio hit (and later also appeared on the "Twister" soundtrack); "January Friend" from the "Dizzy" album; "We Are the Normal" (from the excellent "Superstar Car Wash" album, and the predecessor of "Name"); and most of all "Give a Little Bit", the Supertramp cover that eventually appeared on "Let Love In" and the band's biggest radio hit in the last 3 years. At 53 min. there clearly was room to add at least those 4 songs here as well.



In 2001, the band released a terrific but under-the-radar compilation called "What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce", a hard charging and rocking collection of the band's first 6 albums up to that point (minus the hits like "Name", "Slide", "Black Balloon" etc.). It was a terrific way of showcasing the band's bar-punk-rock origins. I have no problem with the band evolving into a (mostly) power-ballad band but let's not forget the other facet of the band's sound either. In all, "Greatest Hits: Volume 1" is not bad, but could have been better. "Volume 2" is supposedly on the way for Spring 2008, focusing on the band's B-sides, one-offs and other oddities and rarities."

Volume 1. I Repeat. Volume 1

A. Rinear | Cincinnati, OH USA | 11/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The others who have reviewed this CD obviously don't know the purpose behind this CD. The CD is called "Goo Goo Dolls Greatest Hits VOLUME 1: THE SINGLES. This is a compilation of the 12 hits that cracked the Billboard Top 10 list, along with the song from the Transformers Soundtrack (Before It's Too Late) and a remix of "Feel The Silence" off their newest album, Let Love In. The band has made it very clear that the purpose of this CD was to release the most famous/newest material they have, then to release another greatest hits with all the other great songs. This way, if casual fans buy this CD and like what they hear, they will buy Volume 2, which will be full of more underground stuff.



For those of you who are casual fans (i.e those of you who immediately think "Iris" when u hear the band's name) this is the perfect compilation to start out with. For those of you who are hardcore fans, such as myself (i.e those of you know who George Tutuska is), I would simply recommend buying this CD for two reasons: 1. The remastered audio sounds great 2. Simply for the new version of "Name"



I myself think the Superstar Car Wash - A Boy Named Goo era was the greatest, but either way, this is a good compilation. If you want a great Goo Goo Dolls compilation thats a little less commercial, buy "What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art, and Commerce""

The Warner Brothers Years

Galley | Greenville, South Carolina United States | 11/13/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you look through the album credits you will realize that NONE of the tracks are from their Metal Blade years (1987-1995). Every song is from their last three Warner Brothers albums. This is really odd since Metal Blade is a division of WB. Surely it must be a licensing issue; why else would they re-record "Name"? The version included here is horrible.

If you already own A Boy Named Goo, and Superstar Car Wash, then this album makes a fine companion, even though it is inexplicably missing "Give A Little Bit". For a better overview of the Goo Goo Dolls Metal Blade years, check out What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce."