Goo Goo Dolls?

[Julius Seeker]

Of all those 1990s radio friendly bands from the 1990s, Goo Goo Dolls seems to get the most play. They're not the only band that has regularly played songs, but they're the only band that has four regularly played songs.

I figured it was a weird Canadian thing as Goo Goo Dolls were much more popular in Canada in the 1990s than anywhere else. But no, on pretty much every country's Spotify rankings, Goo Goo Dolls has songs ranking in the top 200. Particularly Iris which has been hanging out in the top 50.

Not my kind of music at all (it was called "vagina music" among my asshole friend group when I was a teenager), but I gotta admit these songs are nostalgic ear worms:



Kinda funny. If you think the band looks way different than this style of music, they were a hardcore ONE TWO THREE FOUR (HAMMER GUITAR AND SCREAM!!!!) type band in the 1980s, then evolved to a more grunge/noise rock style band before switching to their most popular music form in the mid 1990s, Name was their first big hit. Dizzy Up Girl was their biggest album.

[Replay]

Real talk, John Rzeznik (lead singer) became an orphan at the age of 15. I've always thought that's why their music is as soulful as it is.

I think anyone putting down their music as "too soft" or "feminine" or whatever is really missing the bigger picture.

[Julius Seeker]

It was a logical evolution of their sound over the years. They began as a hardcore punk band, and that became their foundation. Then when Grunge became a thing, their sound adapted and matured. Then after grunge, I feel like they seized the moment and became the sound of the moment, and this was the period where they made some of the most memorable music of the last 30 years.

Personally speaking, my High School band "The Mosh Puppets" was partially inspired by the Goo Goo Dolls name.

On their more recent success - Iris hit the Billboard top 100. Has billions of plays across services. All time 92 on Spotify.

There is a lot of layers to their music dealing with very human issues that affect the common person. The type of band that gives "pop music" a good name.