Goo Goo Dolls - What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce

You'd think that after reaching the heights of rock stardom and becoming mainstream enough to achieve three Grammy nominations, the Goo Goo Dolls would play it safe with a greatest-hits compilation. But this hits package totally ignores their huge megahit "Iris" as well as the four hits that followed. Instead, EOAC mostly offers 22 of the band's hardest rock tracks from their six albums. It's interesting to hear the evolution from Replacements wannabes to the more polished, radio-friendly rockers of today. What's most interesting when heard in this context, however, is how little the band--and leader Johnny Rzeznik's melodic music--has actually changed over the years. (All the tracks have been remixed and remastered.) "Acoustic #3" and "Two Days in February" are acoustic ballads, and "All Eyes on Me" features symphonic accompaniment--but everything else rocks. The gloriously anthemic "Another Second Time Around" and "Girl Right Next to Me" nearly rank with the Replacements at their best. In fact, this compilation might offer those who've written off the Goo Goos as "wimp rockers" a chance to reassess the band's status. --Bill Holdship Amazon.com

i luv this cd!!!

i bought this cd a few weeks ago & i luv it!! my 3 favorite songs are "flat top", "ain't that unusual", & "two days in february", but i liked almost all of the songs on the cd. a funny story about it, too. i was @ the store & i wanted a different cd, but i couldn't find it so i bought this one. but i don't regret it @ all! if u like the goo goo dolls @ all (before 2001 because these songs are from 1987-2000), u should totally buy this! April 17, 2007

Garbage - A Poor Representaion of G.G.D's

I gave this 1 star because it is really a cd with only 2 good songs. Those being the last 2. If you read my other goo reviews you'd know how I feel about the dir4ection they went starting with 'hold me up' and getting progressively worse with each new one. So it is obvious I dislike the fact that this compilation only contains 2 tracks from their first 2 records. It is as if the band and record company erased the first 2 from their collective memories and want to push this same overrated watered down sellout version of g.g.d.'s music on all of you. If you like the stuff they shoved down your throat for the better part of the '90's to now then by all means buy this. If you are like me and want quality goo goo dolls the way they used to be, before they sold out their musical vision, then buy "First Release" and "Jed". They are both truly rare masterpieces. February 7, 2007

What Goo Goo Dolls Learned

After hitting it big with their sixth album, the Goo Goo Dolls put together a collection CD. Except this is not at all a greatest hits or singles album. This record is a compilation of the work the Goo Goo Dolls have done over a ten year period. Most of the album's tracks are before the rock band went to the Mainstream. These pieces are harder and grittier than what most Goo Goo Dolls listeners have come to expect from this band. Most of the performances are hard grudgy rock and fast paced licks. As part of releaseing these vintage Goo Goo Dolls tracks, the band went back to remix and remaster the songs. Sound levels have been corrected and some more instrumental parts have been added to the original performances. Accoustic #3 has a longer strings section and it works well with the song. Pieces that were once out of time and had instruments not in sync with each other, have been rerecorded and performed perfectly. Like all Goo Goo Dolls' records, WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT EGO, OPINION, ART & COMERCE has performances from both Johnny Rzeznik and Robby Takac. Like always, Rzeznik's pieces are the ones that tend to stand out from the band's sound. Takac's are just not as well thought through and more mindless than Rzeznik's. Takac's performances have a major impact of the album's quality as a whole, and not in a postive way. The thought of putting together a compilation CD such as this is very unique, because it gives a chance for fans to have a taste of the Goo Goo Doll's work and not the well known work. Personally I think more bands should do this, release a compilation CD that does not contain their singles but work that is less recogonized. Props to the Goo Goo Dolls in this aspect. WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT EGO, OPINION, ART, & COMERCE is a great rocker album and one that gives Goo Goo Dolls' fans to hear what they sounded like before hitting the Mainstream.

Stand out tracks include:
"Bullet Proof"
'All Eyes On Me"
"Naked"
"Ain't That Unusual"
"Fallin' Down"
"'Cuz You're Gone"
"We Are the Normal"
"On the Lie"
"Just the Way You Are"
"Two Days In February"
"There You Are" August 4, 2006

Goo Goo Dolls Greatest Hits..... Without the hits!

This is a very interesting compilation. It has many good songs on it, but none of the big hits. I thought it was a little strange that they would release this CD before an actual greatest hits. I got it before Dizzy Up The Girl and Gutterflower because I was interested to hear what their "non-singles" were like. I was very impressed. But like any Goo Goo Dolls CDs I usually skip Robby's songs. No offense to him, I saw him on the Live in Buffalo DVD and he seems like a real good guy, but I just really don't enjoy his songs. This CD is really for the people who don't have the Goo Goo Dolls older stuff and can't find it. It really is a terrific compilation of all of the non-singles and I strongly recommend it to any Goo Goo Dolls fan. March 18, 2006

Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce

I have heard many complaints about how pathetic a greatest hits album this is, not having the goo goo dolls greatest hit "Iris" on it. Sorry guys but this album wasn't intented to be a 'greatest hit' album in the 1st place! Still, it is a great collection of their work with some of my favourite goo goo dolls' songs included.

This cd begins with four tracks from the goo goo dolls most recent album at the time, Dizzy Up The Girl. The "Acoustic #3" song was a beautiful soft ballad on the Dizzy Up The Girl album, but was remixed for this cd into (what may seem impossible) an even more passionate song.

The next five songs were taken from the record, A Boy Named Goo, and are all exactly the same as the originals on A Boy Named Goo.

There is also no change to the 7 songs from A Superstar Car Wash, but from the album Hold Me Up, the ballad "Two Days in February" was remixed into a version which (I believe) isn't as good as the original.

The last 2 songs on the album were taken from the 2 oldest goo goo dolls' cds: Jed, and Goo Goo Dolls. I always press the stop button on number 20, because personally I believe that these last 2 songs are so different to the band's more recent work, and I don't like them.

My favourite song on Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce is "Cuz You're Gone", and I would recommend the cd to people who own a couple of the Goo Goo Dolls' albums, but not to people who already own the whole collection, simply because there aren't enough new remixes to get your money's worth. November 30, 2003

More reviews at Amazon.com ...