A Boy Named Goo

This album is the Goo Goo Dolls' first studio album to not have 14 tracks. The song "Stand Alone" was written by George Tutuska, and because John Rzeznik didn't want to exploit Tutuska’s efforts after his dismissal, the song was only included on a promo version of the album. On the wide-release version, it is replaced with "Disconnected" and "Slave Girl", which were initially B-sides to the "Only One" single. On the same promo, "Ain't That Unusual" was labeled as "Someday". The two replacement songs are covers of songs by defunct Buffalo and Sydney punk bands The Enemies and Lime Spiders.

The song "Name" is well known as the Goo Goo Dolls' first hit. According to lead singer John Rzeznik, the song's unusual composition came about "quite accidentally". Rzeznik says it was written about Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (known as Kennedy). She was an MTV VJ from 1992 to 1997.

This album also marked the band's last with the Metal Blade Records imprint.

On June 5, 1996, the band's label, Warner Bros., released a statement claiming that Walmart had decided to stop selling A Boy Named Goo because some Walmart customers had complained that the album cover was offensive. The statement claimed that some customers had incorrectly thought that the child on the cover was smeared in blood rather than blackberry juice. Walmart acknowledged that they had decided to stop selling the album, but denied Warner Bros.'s claim that this was because of complaints about the cover art, instead ascribing the decision to weak sales.{{cite magazine |last=Reece |first=Douglas |date=June 29, 1996 |title=Wal-Mart Halts 'A Boy Named Goo' Reorders |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64 |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |page=64}} Of the reports that Walmart customers had thought that the child on the cover was smeared in blood, Rzeznik said, "The name of the album is A Boy Named Goo. The picture is of a boy covered with goo. What part of this concept are they unclear on?"{{cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1996/06/09/wal-mart-shoppers-protest-goo-goo-dolls-new-album/ |title=Wal-mart Shoppers' Protest Goo Goo Dolls' New Album |date=June 9, 1996 |work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=February 1, 2018}}

All songs written by John Rzeznik, except where noted.

{{Track listing

| title1 = Long Way Down

| length1 = 3:28

| title2 = Burnin' Up

| writer2 = Rzeznik, Robby Takac, George Tutuska

| length2 = 2:29

| title3 = Naked

| length3 = 3:43

| title4 = Flat Top

| length4 = 4:30

| title5 = Impersonality

| writer5 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length5 = 2:41

| title6 = Name

| length6 = 4:30

| title7 = Only One

| length7 = 3:18

| title8 = Somethin' Bad

| writer8 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length8 = 2:30

| title9 = Ain't That Unusual

| length9 = 3:19

| title10 = So Long

| writer10 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length10 = 2:33

| title11 = Eyes Wide Open

| writer11 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length11 = 3:56

| title12 = Disconnected

| writer12 = Joe Bompczyk, Bob Guariglia, Pete Secrist, Fred Suchman

| note12 = The Enemies cover

| length12 = 3:00

| title13 = Slave Girl

| writer13 = Mick Blood, Richard Jakimyszyn

| note13 = Lime Spiders cover

| length13 = 2:17

}}

The track listing for advance copies—before George Tutuska was fired from the band—was slightly different. Neither of the covers were present, and another original song written solely by Tutuska, "Stand Alone", was featured.

{{Track listing

| title1 = Long Way Down

| length1 = 3:39

| title2 = Burnin' Up

| writer2 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length2 = 2:29

| title3 = Naked

| length3 = 3:44

| title4 = Flat Top

| length4 = 4:30

| title5 = Impersonality

| writer5 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length5 = 2:40

| title6 = Name

| length6 = 4:31

| title7 = Only One

| length7 = 3:18

| title8 = Something Bad

| writer8 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length8 = 2:31

| title9 = Someday

| length9 = 3:22

| title10 = So Long

| writer10 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length10 = 2:33

| title11 = Stand Alone

| writer11 = Tutuska

| length11 = 3:43

| title12 = Eyes Wide Open

| writer12 = Rzeznik, Takac, Tutuska

| length12 = 3:57

}}

Metalcore band Haste the Day covered the song "Long Way Down" for their album When Everything Falls. "Ain't That Unusual" was featured on the soundtrack of the 1995 film Angus. A remix of the song "Long Way Down" was featured on the soundtrack of the 1996 film Twister.

Goo Goo Dolls

• John Rzeznik – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar,
• Robby Takac – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on tracks 2, 5, 8, 10, and 12
• George Tutuska – drums

Additional personnel

• Lou Giordano – production

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{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Canada|artist=Goo Goo Dolls|title=A Boy Named Goo|award=Platinum|certyear=1996|relyear=1995|access-date=4 June 2019}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Goo Goo Dolls|title=A Boy Named Goo|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=1996|relyear=1995|access-date=4 June 2019}}

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Category:Goo Goo Dolls albums

Category:1995 albums

Category:Warner Records albums

Category:Metal Blade Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Lou Giordano

Category:Obscenity controversies in music