Listening to this 1998 release it’s hard to believe that the Goo Goo Dolls’ sound was once clearly modeled on the loose rock & roll of the Faces and the sloppy garage grooves of the Replacements, to name but two early influences. Especially considering how their breakthrough power ballad “Name,” from their previous album A Boy Named Goo, was a slick example of highly evolved hard rock — an angelic love letter to pop. Like the guy at your high school reunion who looks so much better as a posh lawyer than the debate team president, the Buffalo band benefits greatly from its transformation, ultimately finding the crowd-pleasing calling it apparently should have heeded from the beginning. Following up on the success of “Name,” Dizzy Up the Girl features similar aching, melodic ballads in “Black Balloon” and “Iris,” the latter becoming a smash hit thanks in large part to its inclusion on the popular City of Angels soundtrack. But they never completely abandoned their sloppy roots — catchy, hook-laden rockers like “Dizzy,” “Slide,” and “Broadway” prove they can still turn it up — they just learned to play to their strengths. This release may be more polished and polite than their six previous efforts, but it’s no less appealing. And it earned them a whole new legion of fans in the process.