Published on Oct 5, 2000
Hanson. Just naming the group of “Mmm Bop” fame might send some
people running for the exits. How could this relatively harmless
trio of brothers evoke such a negative response from people?
Easy – they made two big mistakes. More correctly, the people
who handled Hanson made two big mistakes. The first was that they
were marketed to be too cute. Three words: the Olsen Twins. ‘Nuff
said. Cute in small doses is okay; cute invading your living room
constantly is a diabetic coma.
That’s the second mistake that those who handled Hanson made –
overexposure. Not only was “Mmm Bop” everywhere, but the group
released four – count ’em, four – albums within a two-year period.
You ha the studio release, the Christmas release (
Snowed In), the demo collection and the live disc. It was
enough to make even the teenage girls wonder if they shouldn’t be
seeing other guys.
So now that Hanson has returned with their fifth album
This Time Around, even with a more mature look and sound,
they have an uphill battle to climb. And so far, people’s reaction
to this album has been indifference, as it’s pretty much been
ignored. Too bad – ’cause the brothers Hanson might be lightweight,
but they do know how to record an enjoyable, non-threatening
album.
The proof is there in the title cut, a song which dares to show
the band – Zac, Taylor and Isaac – rocking out to their light pop
beats and harmonizing to the Nth degree. But the songwriting is
tight, and the performances are just as powerful, proving that
Hanson not only is challenging to regain their old ground, but they
might just have scored the upper hand over their early days.
Sometimes, it doesn’t seem like it will be that easy of a
journey.
This Time Around starts off weakly with “You Never Know,” a
song whose repetitive chorus nearly scuttles everything from the
get-go. Fortunately, this is the only example of weak songwriting
on the disc – but the next challenge is keeping the listener’s
interest throughout the disc. This is the harder of the battles, as
This Time Around tends to jump around a bit stylistically.
You’ve got introspective songs like “Love Song” and “Hand In Hand”
intermixed with more powerful numbers like “Dying To Be Alive” and
“Wish That I Was There,” but sometimes it doesn’t feel like they
blend that well.
I don’t know if anything could have corrected that, though
repeat listens to the album seem to clarify things. But in an
industry that looks for the new flavor of the month, one wonders if
listeners’ musical taste buds would want to keep giving this disc
the benefit of the doubt.
And that’s a shame, really.
This Time Around is by no means a bad album; it shows that
Hanson rightfully earned their 15 minutes of fame way back when.
But people might not be able (or willing) to get past “Mmm Bop,”
and won’t be able to see that this is an older, wiser group than
the rag-top mopheads who ran amok in the parking lot in their first
video.
Hanson is a band who show they have something more to offer
listeners than what you may think. And
This Time Around, even with some inherent weaknesses,
deserves the chance to prove that to people. Here’s hoping more
listeners give them a try.