SCHAUMBURG — The rock review published in the May 31 Tempo section caught my eye. I went to the Goo Goo Dolls concert on Wednesday, and I was disappointed with the review Brad Cawn wrote.
Cawn seems to allude to the fact that the Goo Goo Dolls are repetitive and even “ripping themselves off.”
He backs this up by stating how some songs on the new album resemble others on their previous album. I am a big guitar player and I know what it takes to write and create magic. John Rzeznik, the lead singer and guitarist, is a big fan of changing the guitar tuning to get that specific tone he wants.
None of his big hits, such as “Name,” “Iris,” “Slide,” “Black Balloon” or “Here Is Gone” are tuned the same. Cawn doesn’t seem to realize that the Goo Goo Dolls, since the mid-’90s, have essentially changed their style from hard rock to more ballads and light rock. He criticizes that by pointing out that they are “short on grit,” yet speaking for everyone I talked to at the concert, we are all in disagreement.
Maybe Cawn just expected more heavy stuff from the Dolls or is simply ignorant of what they are about, but they lived up to everyone’s expectations that I talked to and more. Cawn should worry less about finding big words and obscure comparisons to talk about the band.
— David Stephens
