The Goo Goo Dolls' hit, "Iris," on the City of Angels soundtrack, was one big hunk of summertime cheddar, a song about doomed love swathed in violins. On Dizzy Up the Girl, their sixth album, the Dolls bring the strings – and arranger David Campbell – back for an encore. "Black Balloon," "Acoustic #3" and "All Eyes on Me" are all symphonic poems in the style of "Iris," which is also included here.

These sensitive-guy anthems suggest that the Dolls are wandering into the minefield between maturity and schmaltz, a treacherous step once taken by the Dolls' obvious role models, the Replacements and Soul Asylum. Like those bands, the Dolls traffic in raspy-voiced, guitar-fueled rave-ups with a sentimental streak. "See the young man sitting in the old man's bar/Waiting for his turn to die," guitarist Johnny Rzeznik sings in "Broadway," picking up where the Mats left off with "Here Comes a Regular." And while he mostly plays second fiddle to "Iris" heartthrob Rzeznik, singer-bassist Robby Takac injects Dizzy Up the Girl with some wreck-the-room urgency in "January Friend," turns "Full Forever" into a long, escalating rant and, in "Amigone," asserts that "love's been marred by medication." Nothing like a few hits of vinegar to make the gooey ballads go down. (RS 797)

GREG KOT