Riffology - Where music still means something

Yourself or Someone Like You by Matchbox Twenty – The Complete Story | Riffology 7893_album_art

Yourself or Someone Like You by Matchbox Twenty – The Complete Story | Riffology

Neil Johnson 29 March 2026

It is October 1996. Grunge is fading, Britpop is burning bright across the Atlantic, and American rock...

A Boy Named Goo by Goo Goo Dolls – The Complete Story | Riffology The Goo Goo Dolls - A Boy Named Goo Album Cover

A Boy Named Goo by Goo Goo Dolls – The Complete Story | Riffology

Neil Johnson 21 March 2026

It’s early 1995, and somewhere on a cramped studio set in Los Angeles, the Goo Goo Dolls...

R.E.M. “Out of Time”: The Album That Turned a Cult Band Into Global Superstars R.E.M. Out of Time Album Art

R.E.M. “Out of Time”: The Album That Turned a Cult Band Into Global Superstars

Neil Johnson 15 March 2026

A deep dive into R.E.M.’s landmark 1991 album, featuring the story of “Losing My Religion,” the making...

Into Oblivion by Lamb of God – album review Lamb of God - Into Oblivion - Artwork

Into Oblivion by Lamb of God – album review

Neil Johnson 6 March 2026

Riffology Score: 88/100 Thirty years into a career built on sheer bloody-minded heaviness, Lamb of God could...

Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York: The Beautiful Goodbye Nobody Planned Nirvana - Unplugged In New York Album Cover

Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York: The Beautiful Goodbye Nobody Planned

Neil Johnson 22 February 2026

On 18th November 1993, Nirvana walked into Sony Music Studios in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, and, surrounded by...

Little Angels Are Back: Big Bad & Back Tour Announced for November 2026 Little Angels - Big Bad and Back Tour

Little Angels Are Back: Big Bad & Back Tour Announced for November 2026

Neil Johnson 17 February 2026

Chris and I covered Little Angels’ Young Gods on the podcast not that long ago and I...

3 Doors Down – The Better Life: Small Town, Massive Record The Better Life by 3 Doors Down Album Cover

3 Doors Down – The Better Life: Small Town, Massive Record

Neil Johnson 14 February 2026

1. INTRODUCTION It’s February 2000. *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached is about to obliterate first-week sales records. Britney...

Extreme’s Debut Album: The Story of Extreme (1989) Extreme - Extreme Album cover

Extreme’s Debut Album: The Story of Extreme (1989)

Neil Johnson 25 January 2026

Introduction In the late 1980s, the hard rock scene was dominated by big hair, flashy guitar solos,...

Megadeth by Megadeth – album review Megadeth - Megadeth - Album Cover

Megadeth by Megadeth – album review

Neil Johnson 22 January 2026

Monster Shop Score: 71/100 After forty years of raising hell and rewriting the rules of thrash metal,...

Podcast Episodes

Riffology: Iconic Rock Albums Podcast

Remember when payday meant choosing which CD or vinyl you were blowing it on? Standing in HMV doing the mental maths, convincing yourself two albums was basically essential. Riffology is Neil and Chris chasing that feeling again, one classic record at a time.

This is a show about the albums that raised us —
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Motley Crue, Def Leppard,
Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pink Floyd, Radiohead,
Skunk Anansie, Gojira, Soulfly and the rest.
If it’s 25+ years old, loud and iconic, we’re in.

Each episode is two Gen X mates diving into studio sessions, producer chaos and band drama plus the joy of taped-over cassettes, dodgy car stereos and sitting on the floor with a record sleeve.

We nerd out when we should: Albini vs Vig, room-miked vs close-miked,
Neve consoles, dynamic-range disasters and those “how did this get approved?” moments.

If you grew up when albums were events, this is your place. Some weeks it’s an old favourite; other weeks it’s something you abandoned in ’94. Either way, Riffology’s here to talk rubbish, tell stories and remind you why these records mattered.

When Buffalo’s Best Kept Secret Finally Got Its Name Called

Hosts: Neil & Chris
Duration: ~95 minutes
Release: Not scheduled

Episode Description

Neil and Chris dive into A Boy Named Goo by the Goo Goo Dolls, the 1995 album that sold two million copies in the US, made absolutely no impression on the UK charts, and somehow still managed to leave most people unaware it existed. This is the record that contains Name, the song that accidentally became a hit when KROQ radio put it on rotation mid-way through filming a completely different music video. The band had to drop everything and rush out a new video instead. Classic.

Neil makes no secret of his deep affection for this era of the Goo Goo Dolls, insisting that this album and its predecessor Superstar Car Wash represent two of the greatest guitar records most people have never heard. Chris, who was firmly in Offspring and Green Day territory when this came out, admits he’s surprised he missed it entirely at the time. The album sits right at the pivot point where John Rzeznik’s pop songwriting instincts were starting to surface beneath a still-scrappy, punky exterior, and both hosts find that tension genuinely compelling.

There’s also the grim business reality behind the record. Despite the album’s success, the band received essentially nothing due to a punishing Metal Blade contract that swallowed royalties and charged studio costs back to the band. They ended up touring relentlessly with Bush and No Doubt just to cover their legal bills while fighting to get out of the deal.

What You’ll Hear:

The story of how Name became a hit almost by accident, and why nobody expected it
Why the final two tracks feel like they belong on a different album entirely (they were last-minute covers added after the drummer quit over a royalties dispute)
The Metal Blade contract breakdown and how a multi-million selling album paid the band virtually nothing
Neil’s ongoing quest to find a reasonably priced vinyl copy of this album (currently running at 330 Canadian dollars plus shipping)
The Britpop context that explains why this passed the UK by completely

Featured Tracks & Analysis:

The hosts spend time with Name, breaking down its unusual guitar tuning where Rzeznik replaces the B string with a second high E string to stop it snapping under the tension of the open tuning. The track was written about MTV host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, who Rzeznik found genuinely inspiring. Naked also gets attention, with both hosts flagging it as a standout alongside Name. The production throughout, handled by Lou Giordano of the Fort Apache Boston scene, gets praise for keeping genuine rough edges while still sounding considered.

Tangential Gold:

Neil discovers his old car has a CD slot with a glovebox groove perfectly sized for a disc, which he considers an engineering triumph
A detour into Commodore 64 copy protection, cassette tape counter numbers, and Monkey Island’s eleven floppy disks
Neil’s ill-fated attempt to steal a sunflower from a field and the domestic fallout that followed
A preview of next week’s Matchbox 20 episode, including the story of how the album nearly came out under the name The Woodshed Diaries

Why This Matters:

A Boy Named Goo sits in a strange blind spot in music history. Too polished for the band’s original punk fanbase, not yet famous enough for the Iris crowd, it was heard mostly by people who stumbled across it sideways. Neil’s argument throughout is simple: the songwriting is exceptional, the production has aged remarkably well, and this record deserves far more attention