Artist
The Goo Goo Dolls
Why we feature this artist Iris between a film soundtrack and a band album Iris found its first large public setting on the City of Angels soundtrack in 1998. Its place on Goo Goo Dolls' Dizzy Up the Girl then returned the song to a band whose repertoire exten…
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The story of The Goo Goo Dolls
Why we feature this artist
Iris between a film soundtrack and a band album
Iris found its first large public setting on the City of Angels soundtrack in 1998. Its place on Goo Goo Dolls' Dizzy Up the Girl then returned the song to a band whose repertoire extended well beyond that one immense ballad.
The album around the song
Produced by Rob Cavallo, Dizzy Up the Girl also contains Slide, Black Balloon, Broadway and Dizzy. Warner's own account of the recording places Iris among those other songs, showing how the album could move between a reflective performance and a more active guitar-pop sound.
The arrangement keeps the smaller voice audible
Iris can become very large without losing the impression of someone trying to speak directly. The guitar's distinctive resonance gives that voice a particular setting, and the arrangement's expansion carries the same unresolved feeling into a wider space. Hearing the song within the album makes the contrast useful: its exposed quality belongs to the same musicians who can make a quicker, more tightly driven track. The ballad's scale is one form of the band's melodic writing, with the surrounding songs supplying other perspectives.
Essential releases
Iris
The City of Angels recording also appears within the full Dizzy Up the Girl programme.