Something For The Rest Of Us

The Goo Goo Dolls were sliding toward the expected placid on 2006’s Let Love In, so a shake-up was due. To a certain extent that’s what 2010’s Something for the Rest of Us delivers in its content if not in its sound. This is the album where Johnny Rzeznik decides that it’s time for him to look outside himself and take in the mess of the outside world, addressing everything from ongoing war to economic devastation. Big topics require a big sound, so the Goo Goo Dolls grab a few ideas from U2, underlining the intended weightiness. While the band remains much closer to the warm AAA bath that’s become their defining signature, the added ambition does give Something for the Rest of Us variety that’s welcome after the exceedingly pleasant Let Love In. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine