Gutterflower

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Gutterflower
Studio album by
Goo Goo Dolls
ReleasedApril 9, 2002
RecordedAugust–December 2001 at Icon Recording Studios and Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA, and House of Blues Studios, Encino, CA
GenreAlternative rock, Post-grunge ,Power pop
Length41:36
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Goo Goo Dolls chronology
What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce
(2001) 		Gutterflower
(2002) 		Live in Buffalo: July 4th, 2004
(2004)
Singles from Gutterflower
  1. "Here Is Gone"
    Released: March 5, 2002
  2. "Big Machine"
    Released: September 17, 2002
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk(91%)[2]
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. Club(average)[4]
Blender[1]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[5]
PopMatters[6]
Q[1]
Rock Hard(8/10)[9]
Rolling Stone[7]
Slant[8]

Gutterflower is the seventh studio album by American rock band Goo Goo Dolls. It was released in 2002 on Warner Bros. Records. It is the follow-up to their critically successful albums Dizzy Up the Girl and A Boy Named Goo. The album was commercially successful upon its release, hitting No. 4 on the Billboard 200, their highest position on the chart.

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Johnny Rzeznik, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Big Machine" 3:10
2."Think About Me" 3:58
3."Here Is Gone" 3:58
4."You Never Know"Robby Takac3:08
5."What a Scene" 4:24
6."Up, Up, Up"Takac2:58
7."It's Over" 3:35
8."Sympathy" 2:58
9."What Do You Need?" 3:48
10."Smash"Takac2:26
11."Tucked Away"Takac3:13
12."Truth Is a Whisper" 4:00

Singles[edit]

"Here Is Gone" and "Big Machine" have been the only two songs released from this album as singles and videos have been created for both. A video for the promotional single "Sympathy" was also released.

"Big Machine"[edit]

John Rzeznik refers to this as his "disco song". "I'm really horrible at programming drum machines, but this was like pattern 74 on my drum machine, which said 'disco.' I called all my friends and said, 'Check this out, this is my disco song!'" He describes it as "a propulsive tale of unrequited love". "Big Machine" was occasionally performed live on a smashed Stratocaster guitar that Rzeznik has fondly nicknamed "The Half-Caster". Despite being smashed in half, it still plays. It can be seen in a 2002 VH1 Storytellers special. Rzeznik stated that he had someone fix it up and it works just fine.

"Here Is Gone"[edit]

John Rzeznik wrote this song on the phone while talking to a friend. He asked his friend if he should "take the chords up or take 'em down?" and the friend told him to "take 'em up" and that's how he came up with the chorus and the rest of the song came together shortly thereafter.

According to Rzeznik in 2007, the video for this song cost more to produce than the entire Gutterflower album itself.

Reception[edit]

  • Upon release, Gutterflower received generally positive reviews from critics. In fact, although The Goo Goo Dolls' multi-platinum album Dizzy Up the Girl (which was Gutterflower's predecessor) sold around 3,000,000 more albums than Gutterflower, reviews were equally positive.
  • In 2005, Gutterflower was ranked number 499 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[10]

Personnel[edit]

  • Johnny Rzeznik – guitar, lead vocals
  • Robby Takac – bass, background vocals, lead vocals on "Smash", "Tucked Away", "You Never Know" and "Up, Up, Up"
  • Mike Malinin – drums, percussion

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for Gutterflower
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[24] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Critic Reviews for Gutterflower". Metacritic. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  2. ^ "Goo Goo Dolls - Gutterflower - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Gutterflower - The Goo Goo Dolls". Allmusic.
  4. ^ Thompson, Stephen (April 9, 2002). "The Goo Goo Dolls: Gutterflower". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  5. ^ Farber, Jim (April 8, 2002). "Gutterflower Review". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. ^ Ellis, Andrew (June 6, 2002). "Goo Goo Dolls: Gutterflower". PopMatters. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  7. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (March 27, 2002). "Goo Goo Dolls: Gutterflower : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 9, 2006. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  8. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (April 6, 2002). "Goo Goo Dolls: Gutterflower". Slant. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  9. ^ Schleutermann, Marcus. "Rock Hard". issue 181. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  10. ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 7. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  11. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Goo Goo Dolls Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Italiancharts.com – The Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Charts.nz – The Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  19. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  20. ^ "Goo Goo Dolls Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  21. ^ "Top 200 Albums of 2002 (based on sales)". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  22. ^ "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  23. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  24. ^ "American album certifications – Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 9, 2021.

External links[edit]

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