A new deluxe edition of the Goo Goo Dolls' breakthrough album takes fans back to a time when the world got to know their name.

The Buffalo, NY-born group will expand 1995's A Boy Named Goo as a 2CD and 2LP set, due for release on March 14. In addition to the alt-rock classic, featuring "Name," "Long Way Down," "Naked" and others, both sets will include a previously unreleased disc of performances taped at The Aladdin in Las Vegas in the spring of 1996, featuring nine tracks from the album and two from their lesser-known early '90s releases. (The bonus CD in that package will add another 10 tracks, including four non-album B-sides and six mostly unreleased radio performances captured for the syndicated Modern Rock Live. The first of those, a rendition of breakthrough smash "Name," can be heard below.) This reissue follows last year's release of a full set from around the same time, recorded in New York in 1995 and originally released in part on the last reissue of A Boy Named Goo in 2015.

For both the band and listeners, the success of A Boy Named Goo was a bit out of left field. Singer/guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist/singer Robby Takac and drummer George Tutuska had been together for nearly a decade - a signee to the Metal Blade label, of all places - and had opened for acts like Bad Religion and Motörhead. Rzeznik, who didn't have a single lead vocal on the band's 1987 self-titled debut and less than half on 1990's Hold Me Up, was increasingly developing his voice as a singer-songwriter - one largely influenced by Paul Westerberg of The Replacements. ("We Are the Normal," from 1993's Superstar Car Wash, was in fact co-written by Westerberg.) Here, he developed his work into even more accessible pop/rock modes - most notably the acoustic-driven ballad "Name," an exceptional, unlikely Top 5 crossover pop hit.

While A Boy Named Goo earned the Dolls their largest critical and commercial acclaim, their success proved bittersweet in some ways. Tutuska, incensed over a lack of even royalty payments, left the band as the album was being released. (Early promo copies of the album featured a song written wholly by the drummer that would ultimately be replaced by two covers of punk bands. Mike Malinin served as Tutuska's replacement until 2013.) The band themselves would decry their own royalty situation with Metal Blade - who were enjoying unprecedented levels of success with a double-platinum album - and would subsequently jump ship to Metal Blade's distributor at the time, Warner Bros. Records. For another decade or so, the Goo Goo Dolls would issue a brace of accessible pop/rock radio hits, including "Iris," "Slide," "Black Balloon," "Here is Gone," "Better Days" and others.

Now officially a duo of Rzeznik and Takac, the Goo Goo Dolls continue to record and tour, most astoundingly remaining on the roster at Warner (who issued their 13th album, Chaos in Bloom, in 2022). The band will embark on the Summer Anthem Tour later this year, co-headlining in outdoor amphitheaters from July to September with Dashboard Confessional.

The newly reissued A Boy Named Goo will be available March 14 and can be pre-ordered on CD or vinyl below (with an exclusive sea blue color pressing available from the band's official store). As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

A Boy Named Goo (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (Warner, 2025)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (sea blue variant)

CD/LP 1: Original album (released as Metal Blade/Warner Bros. 45750, 1995)

1. Long Way Down
2. Burnin' Up
3. Naked
4. Flat Top
5. Impersonality
6. Name
7. Only One
8. Somethin' Bad
9. Ain't That Unusual
10. So Long
11. Eyes Wide Open
12. Disconnected
13. Slave Girl

CD/LP 2: Bonus material (* exclusive to CD)

1. Hit or Miss *
2. Nothing Can Change You *
3. I Wanna Destroy You *
4. Wait for the Black Out *
5. Naked (Modern Rock Live - New York) *
6. Name (Modern Rock Live - New York) *
7. Another Second Time Around (Modern Rock Live - New York) *
8. Girl Right Next to Me (Modern Rock Live - Los Angeles) *
9. Name (Modern Rock Live - Los Angeles) *
10. Don't Change (Modern Rock Live - Los Angeles) *
11. Naked (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
12. Impersonality (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
13. Fallin' Down (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
14. Burnin' Up (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
15. Eyes Wide Open (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
16. Long Way Down (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
17. Only One (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
18. Hey (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
19. Slave Girl (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
20. Name (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)
21. Flat Top (Live @ The Aladdin, Las Vegas, NV - 3/10/1996)

Track 1 released on "Only One" U.K. CD single - Warner Bros. W0293CD, 1995
Tracks 2-3 released on "Name" U.K. CD single - Warner Bros. WO333CD, 1995
Track 4 released on Tommy Boy (The Movie) (Music from the Paramount Motion Picture) - Warner Bros. 45904, 1995
Tracks 6 and 10 released on "Long Way Down" U.K. CD single - Warner Bros. WO362CD, 1996
Track 8 released on Modern Rock Live promo compilation - Sony Electronics (no cat. #), 1996
All other tracks previously unreleased