These poor boys...
These guys take more trash than most artists of the "annoying song" persuasion in recent history for "MMMBop". The good news is that they have grown up since then and don't quite look like ten-year-old girls anymore. Through years of study of popular music and touring the Hanson brothers have actually become pretty decent pop songwriters. Though it's sugary sweet pop and not so much reflective and tense pop that some of us adore, it's still pretty good pop, taken for what it is.
Before describing the album, which comes with a bonus DVD, I must say that I have a personal issue with Hanson because of their vocals. While some genuinely admire their harmonies, which are tight, there is a quality to their vocal tone, which grates on my nerves.
The album opens with a Radiohead clone number followed by many bouncing pop songs and somber ballads each using basically the same chord progressions. There is a definite Ben Folds/Billy Joel thing going on in many of these songs amidst the background of teenager girls screaming for the band. It would appear that as some artists listen to other artists and become influenced by them, still others become carbon copies. Apparently the Hanson boys are content with settling for being sound a likes to other bands instead of making a sound that is definitively their own. Perhaps they are on their way there, but they've been at this a while. One would hope that they would find their own sound soon and bless the world with more of those bouncy pop songs. You may hate them but you know they're stuck in your head. And yeah, "MMMBop" is here too.
2/4
Similar sounding releases
1997PFRThe Late Great PFR
2005Scott KrippayneGentle Revolution
2003Across the SkyAcross the Sky
2004David GlennNot About Me
2003TaitLose This Life
2005John David WebsterMade to Shine
