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Dizzy Up the Girl
Includes 13 tracks
Track Listing
"Dizzy" (by Rzeznik): "I wanted this song to sound like a cross between Gang of Four and Led Zeppelin with a big hook in the middle," says Johnny.
"Slide" (Rzeznik): The album's first single, this track builds slick accessibility on a firm rock track foundation. "It's just a Catholic teenage sex/angst anthem," explains Rzeznik.
"Broadway" (Rzeznik): "This is about Broadway and Fillmore in Buffalo, the neighborhood I grew up in," says Rzeznik. "It's an ethnic, working-class neighborhood full of a lot of lugheads with a lot of opinions. This is my comment on their perspective on the world."
"January Friend" (Takac): "This song is about a trip I took to Hawaii," says Robby Takac. "When you're in paradise, some weird things go to your head after a while, and this is about that."
"Black Balloons" (Rzeznik): "That's a weird one," admits Rzeznik, "and it kind of gives me the creeps a little bit when I hear it. It's about seeing someone you love that's so great just fuck up so bad." But don't assume that it's a first-person account. Rzeznik often uses other people as his muse. "I try to watch people and listen to them and see what the hell's going on and then comment about it. I mean, Stephen King never really ran into Cujo!"
"Bullet Proof" (Rzeznik): "I like the hook at the front; it's really nasty," says Rzeznik, "and then I really enjoy it when the chorus kicks in. I like the dynamic of this song."
"Amigone" (Takac): According to Takac, this track takes its title from an unfortunately named funeral home in Buffalo. "It's not about that place necessarily, but it relates to the song in a backhanded sort of way."
"All Eyes On Me" (Rzeznik AND Takac): While Rzeznik and Takac usually write songs individually, this is a collaborative number. "I was so stuck," says Rzeznik, "and Robby had been listening to me sort of sing along with the track in the studio and started jotting down what he thought I was saying. And it worked." Says Takac, "Johnny's songs are a bit more descriptive, and I speak in generalizations. This was sort of cool; we hadn't written a song together like that since SCW."
"Full Forever" (Takac): Inspired by Takac's girlfriend, this song was written late one night after his move back to Buffalo from New York.
"Acoustic #3" (Rzeznik): While this short, heartfelt acoustic number, steeped in orchestral swells, would probably be a hit as a single, Rzeznik is reluctant to establish the GGDs as balladeers. "I gotta tell you, I want to have a hit with something rockin'," says the singer. "I like the simplicity of this song, and it wound up being a lot more personal to me than I thought it would be. [Orchestral arranger] David [Campbell's] strings are beautiful. He's a badass." While there were rumblings in the studio of "turning this one into an epic," Rzeznik refused. "I said, 'We have enough epics on this record. Let's do a little juxtaposition."
"Iris" (Rzeznik): This summer's ubiquitous No. 1 from the "City of Angels" soundtrack has by all accounts served as the perfect setup for the new album. In writing the song, says Rzeznik, "I was able to step out of myself and assume another character and write from his perspective, not mine. I was really bogged down in a bit of writer's block, and so that freedom was good." "We loved the way it turned out," adds Takac.
"Extra Pale" (Takac): Named for the descriptive phrase on a Rolling Rock beer tap, this song began life with its lyrics first written by Takac on cocktail napkins at a bar. "I had just been through a divorce, my ex-wife was sick, and the phrase 'extra pale' seemed to relate to my experience at that time," he says.
"Hate This Place" (Rzeznik): "Everyone says we sound like the Replacements all the time, so I wanted to write a song that sounded like them," says Rzeznik with a laugh.
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