Let Love In by The Goo Goo Dolls
First of all, I know there already are two reviews posted about this album, but I saw them live a couple of nights ago and I wanna give my two cents of it. They actually played almost the whole CD at the show I went to, except "Strange Love".
Let Love In, the anticipated follow-up to the somewhat successful Gutterflower by The Goo Goo Dolls from Buffalo, NY. With this album, they went back to record in their hometown, Buffalo, in hope for some inspiration. Some singles off it has already been released in 2004 and 2005 (Give A Little Bit and Better Days). Third single is "Stay With You".
This is the bands eighth album and as I said above it's recorded in their hometown of Buffalo. "Sometimes you've got to home to find yourself" as the Goo's said themselves. John Rzeznik had many problems with finding inspiration at his new place in Los Angeles, so he and the rest of the band went on a quest back to Buffalo to find the lost inspiration and the result was Let Love In.
Tracklisting:
1) Stay With You
As usual the Goo's open up with a strong and upbeat tune, just like "Long Way Down", "Fallin' Down", "Dizzy" and "Big Machine" off their previous albums did. This song definitely has some potential, especially the verses is a joy to listen to. The chorus though, kind of fails to deliver, mostly because it feels a bit repetitive and boring. Overall, not a bad song but after a while it loses its intensity. 3.5/5
2) Let Love In
The title track on this album is written on that random-John-song-formula that functions really well. Soft, mellow and wonderful verses follow up by a more upbeat chorus which holds on to the greatness. The song starts with a cool guitar effect with shifting sound levels, followed by the amazing and lyrically excellent verse. The real highlight and my favourite part of this tune is the bridge and interlude part after with John singing:
"There's nothing we can do about, the things we have to do without, the only way to feel again, is let love in. There's nothing we can do about, the things we have to live without, the only way to see again, is let love in"
John at his best. This is followed by an excellent interlude. 5/5
3) Feel The Silence
This song heavily reminds of the previous track "Let Love In", the atmosphere of the song is almost identical. The song opens up with soft electric guitar picking intro with John singing which then turns up a little bit for the real verse. The verse works its way up and makes the chorus rather fast. The second verse is almost at the same pace as the chorus, somewhat slower. The lyrics are very mellow and emotional and at the chorus Johns voice is backed up by either Robby or himself. This is a good semi-mellow song with some great parts, like the second verse and the bridge with John singing "How do we hold on" a bunch of time. The song ends like the intro, with the electric guitar picking and John singing the same line as the intro. 4/5
4) Better Days
One of the released singles opens with a very dark piano intro playing some very slow and neat notes. The song is basically about making the world a better place, might sound kind of cliché but Johns lyrics are so well written that it still feels really emotional. The chorus turns away a bit from the dark and soft style and becomes more upbeat and anthem-like. At the end of the chorus it's then again tuned down to the piano. The ending of the song is really tuned up and its' fast and loud towards the bridge and the last chorus. The outro is simply the end of the chorus but the instruments fades out and Johns voice in accordance to an acoustic guitar takes this beautiful tune home. The ending line with "'cause tonight's the night the world begins again" is simply breathtaking. 4.5/5
5) Without You Here
The first real ballad of the album, I mean the only ballad without the word "power" before it. Acoustic guitar and some synth backup and Rzezniks tormented voice about missing someone. This is the first real disappointment of the album, but it still has a few moments. For instance, the last line of the first verse "and I'm not sure I believe, anything I feel". The rest of the lyrics are too much of a cliché except some lines in the end of the song. The chorus is probably the weakest part, which usually is Rzeznik's strongest part. 2/5
6) Listen
Robby's first track of this album. I'll confess, I'm not the biggest fan of his but this song I really enjoy. I don't know if it's because it's co-written with Rzeznik or not but I find this song very good. As most of Robby's songs, this is a very fast and upbeat tale. Catchy guitar-riffs and singing by Takac who really has some power in his pipes. His gruff voice works really well with the lyrics. The songs absolute highlight is the solo followed by the bridge which features some awesome singing by Robby. Fits great in the middle of the album after the somewhat slower first songs. 4/5
7) Give A Little Bit
All right, I must say I'm not very satisfied with this track being featured on this CD. First of all, it has already been on the Live In Buffalo CD/DVD and second it doesn't fit in at all on this album! Originally recorded and written by Supertramp this song was covered by The Goo's in 2005 for their Live In Buffalo performance. The song was released as a single back then. This song isn't bad at all, it's one of the greater covers I've heard but on this album it doesn't belong at all. Although it lyrically has a vague connection to the album-theme the musical content definitely doesn't. It's very catchy and very happy-hippie sounding unlike all songs on this album. 2/5
8) Can't Let It Go
A semi-acoustic tune by Rzeznik with some very neat vocals and lyrics. The first verse sounds kind of strange to me and Johns way of singing is different from the other tracks. At the pre-chorus and chorus you recognize him again and these parts takes the songs to much higher grounds. The second verse is better than the first, but still far from satisfying. The only part that musically and lyrically can be compared to the chorus is the bridge with John singing really emotional the following: "can't we try to win this peace, 'cause we're never gonna win, never gonna win this war". The song works very well as a whole. 3.5/5
9) We'll Be Here (When You're Gone)
The title to this song might scare people; I know it did to me. It sounds like a clear filler-track, but if you really take some time and give it a few listens it will grow for every time you hear it. It opens up kind of hard but still has that mellow goo-touch. The verses are a little slower but Rzeznik has a nice pace in his singing even though the music isn't very rhythmic. The drumming is also an excellent factor. At the chorus the song grows even more and becomes more rapid. A nice interlude with some cool guitar-riffs fills the space in the end of the song in almost a Gutterflowery-way. The song ends with an alternative chorus. A song that really takes a few listens to notice, but once you do you will probably enjoy it. 4/5
10) Strange Love
Robby's second song on the album is nothing more than a filler-track. It's short and rather odd sounding. The singing is far from Robby's best but the lyrics are still okay. It has a nice intro though. The drumming is also enjoyable. But the most horrible thing about this song is the bridge, where the music almost stops and falls asleep due to some really awful, slow singing by Robby. This is the first real skip-button-track. 1/5
11) Become
I've always been a fan of the Goo's ending tracks, "Truth Is A Whisper" from Gutterflower and "Hate This Place" from Dizzy Up The Girl were simply amazing ending songs. So how does "Become" stand up against these? Very well! The overall feeling of this song is sort of anthem-like. I've seen people comparing this song to some Queen songs and they're not very far off.
The intro fades in with some cool background sounds, and then John comes in with some drum-backup in perfect pace. Some really emotional lyrics in the verse until the chorus where the guitars and bass come in and Johns singing become stronger. The song ends with Johns' voice singing really emotional and it concludes the album perfect, with the background sound fading out again. 4/5
Much like their newly released albums this album is much stained of the success with Dizzy Up The Girl from 1998. Mostly all songs sounds like the ones put on the smash-hit album. If you like their newer music you will like this, if you prefer the older Goo's you will definitely be disappointed once again I'm afraid. More pop than Dizzy Up The Girl, lesser rock than Gutterflower. Gutterflower had some rougher songs but they are shining with their absence here. If you're new to the "dolls" but enjoy some really catchy choruses and great lyrics this is the drill.
Recommended tracks are:
Let Love In
Listen
Better Days
Become
Overall rating: 4/5
