What I Learned About Ego, Art, Opinion And Commerce...Okay, Maybe Not Commerce.

Okay, judging by the tiny blurb I mentioned in my first post and the list of art, it should come to no surprise that I'm a Goo Goo Dolls fan. Been a fan since late '05, but I've loved them ever since I heard their singles on the radio as a kid. I decided to become a fan in late '05 because I heard Name on the radio somewhere around there and remembered how it used to have so much airplay about ten years prior. Then I tried remembering the other singles I knew they had. Iris obviously sprung to mind, followed by the DUTG singles and a funny memory about Big Machine. You know how there's the verse,

"Turn your anger into lust,
I'm still here but you don't trust at all,
And I'll be waiting,
Love and sex and loneliness,
Take what's yours and leave the rest,
So I'll survive,God it's god to be alive."

Well, being thirteen at the time of Gutterflower's release, I was shocked to hear that fourth line on the radio. I distinctly recall thinking one day while my dad was driving me to an orthodonist appointment, 'Oh my God, is he allowed singing that on the radio?'

Haha, good times, good times.

Anyways, from there on, I remembered Here Is Gone and how I used to get all confused with Give A Little Bit because at the time it was released to the airwaves in '04, I kept on hearing both their cover and Supertramp's original being played interchangeably at the same time. Not knowing that it was Goo doing the cover, whenever the begining guitar would chime in, after a bit of exposure to the cover on the radio, I would think to myself, 'Ok, is this going to be the slow and lethargic version or the bouncy one?'

And yes, you read that right. I called Goo bouncy.

Anyway, so after figuring out that I might have a lot of interest in the band, I did what any normal teenager would do and raided my father's special DJ compliation disk collection (ok, I lied about the normal teenager thing, but it's the principal of the idea that counts, right?) for any Goo singles to put on a burnt CD to listen to on my computer. On top of the stuff that I recalled from them, I also found Lazy Eye, and the other ABNG singles like Long Way Down, Naked, Flat Top and Only One. Turns out that the version of Black Balloon I'd unearthed wasn't the same as the regular DUTG version. You know how the first chorus in the DUTG version has only John singing it but in the consequent choruses Robby sings back-up with him? Mine had the latter kind of chorus all the way through. But in any case, that's another story. Don't you all love tangents?

Come to think of it, here's a cool segway. After I became a fan, I recalled a far distant memory that I wanted DUTG as a 9-year old kid not long after it came out (I remembered thinking, 'I want the CD with Black Balloon and Broadway on it!'). But as any kid without any money, the idea ended up being forgotten about over time. However, if it's any consolation to my younger self, the good news is that I got it ten years later after all (along with Gutterflower, EOAC, Superstar Car Wash and A Boy Named Goo - all in that order - Let Love In was my first though and LIB my second - I'll explain the situation with LLI one later). *grins*

In any case, jumping back to a few months after the time I became a fan, the release of Let Love In was a total surprise to me until I saw an advertizement for it on TV. I wasn't even aware that they were releasing a record. I'm not gonna lie, the title threw me off a little but I was excited nonetheless as I was listening to 30-second clips of the songs on their website. I'll admit that Robby's Listen was the most interesting to hear out of the bunch because I didn't know that they both sang until a little while back (hey, cut me some slack, I had to play catch up big time).

Okay, now the following is a memory that I hold rather dear and I'm in the mood for sharing it so here it is. When I'd heard the advertizement for Let Love In, it was at the dinner table with my mom and two younger brothers. This was around a few days before it got released and after the commercial was done, I said something like, 'I'd like to get that when I get some birthday money,' without trying to drop any hints on anyone around me or anything because my birthday's in early May. I meant what I said at face value, not even thinking that it could be construed as a hint.

A few days later when I was in a Blockbuster, meeting up with my mom and middle brother (he's two years younger than me) who'd been at the mall when I hadn't, he pulled me aside to show me what he had in his bag and lo and behold, it was the CD. Apparently, he couldn't keep it a surprise for my birthday, he had to show me it now even though I still had to wait until my birthday to get it. I was honestly flabbergasted by this as he was telling me how he got it. I suppose it was the sheer surprise of it all. I was elated to say the least.

So when my birthday did eventually roll around the next week, he gave it to me and offered to borrow his CD player so that I could listen to it at on the bus because I didn't have one at the time. I thought this was incredibly thoughtful of him. Anyway, in short, I listened to CD on the way there and I couldn't wait to finish it (in a good way) that I listened to a little during lunch to make sure I'd be able listen to everything by the time the bus ride home was over. It was really good day in spite of having to do a Bio test (yes, I have a memory for every frickin' stupid little detail) and thought that listening to the CD was a very pleasant experience. Granted, it took forever to remember which non-singles were which, but that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. It'll always have a place in my heart because of that day.

So to be honest, in spite of what I may say about the CD on any message board or conversation, I like Let Love In, I just play along even though I don't think I could ever mean it because I know of how people can be so critical. I suppose it's also a way of guarding myself and that memory. While I'm not a sheep, I can honestly say that with most things, I usually like anything once I've gotten used to it. Maybe I liked Let Love In because I had to play catch up or because I didn't have to wait four years after Gutterflower like most fans had to or be subjected to the hearsay of the guys' predictions of what it's going to sound like, but, I don't really see that record as a huge disappointment. Maybe it was a bit of a knee-jerk overreaction to the trouble they had with Gutterflower, but I have to respect what they've done to get back from that bitter place which clearly influenced their previous record. If it was what they needed to get all of the poison out of their systems, then all the more power to them. I honestly understand John when he said he just wanted to feel again.

It should be interesting with the new record though, seeing it's going to be the first one I've had to wait for with them (Greatest Hits Vol. II doesn't really count), but I know that as long as they stay true to themselves, I'll definitely find some merit and replay value in it. Sure, I'd ideally like more harder Gutterflower or Superstar Car Wash-esque stuff, but truth be told, I'll be happy no matter what. I know that repeating Iris's success isn't really a possibility at this point in the game (unless if John pulls a major ace out of his sleeve that he's been hiding forever), but I just hope that they do well and are happy with the end results of their work. That's the most important part, right?

I'll stay with you, the walls will fall before we do...