Sometimes you’ve got to go home to find yourself.

That’s what the Goo Goo Dolls discovered when they began writing songs for Let Love In, the band’s eighth album.

Since forming in 1986, the Goo Goo Dolls have evolved from a scrappy punk-influenced trio into the platinum-selling, chart-topping act behind such radio staples as “Name,” “Iris,” “Slide,” and “Here is Gone.” Along the way, founding members John Rzeznik and Robby Takac left Buffalo, N.Y. for Los Angeles, but Rzeznik soon found that L.A. isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

“I wasn’t really feeling any kind of real inspiration in Los Angeles,” he admits. “I was sitting here just beating my head against the wall trying to write songs and I wasn’t feeling inspired at all.”

The quest to rekindle his muse led Rzeznik to pack his recording gear and guitars in a U-Haul truck and drive across country to his hometown. He met his band mates Robby Takac and drummer Mike Malinin, and set up shop in a 100-year-old Masonic Ballroom.