Hanson: All grown up and (perhaps) brokenhearted<\/b>
\nBy MALCOLM X ABRAM
\nKnight Ridder Newspapers<\/p>\n
02 July 2004<\/p>\n
Isaac, Taylor and Zachary Hanson are 23, 21 and 18 years old, respectively, and together they make music under the moniker \u201cHanson.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since their major-label debut album \u201cMiddle of Nowhere\u201d was released in 1997, they have had a No. 1 hit single with the chirpy pop song \u201cMMMBop,\u201d sold more than 10 million copies of their music worldwide and performed all over the globe. And, much to the chagrin of many fans, Taylor got married.<\/p>\n
Now there\u2019s \u201cUnderneath,\u201d Hanson\u2019s first full studio effort of new songs since \u201cThis Time Around\u201d in 2000. The release also is the first on the group\u2019s own record label, 3CG, named for \u201c3 Car Garage,\u201d an early independent release.<\/p>\n
The brothers\u2019 tour to support the album will stop Monday at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach.<\/p>\n
The name \u201cHanson\u201d still may conjure up images of three towheaded kids impishly banging away on their instruments and singing slick pop tunes, but Hanson circa 2004 is three men taking control of their own music and, by extension, their careers.<\/p>\n
Being millionaire music-industry veterans before 18 certainly is a solid foundation upon which to build, but having a recognizable name doesn\u2019t automatically mean radio stations and MTV will knock down your door.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenges for us are just like anybody else,\u201d Isaac Hanson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust getting your record heard, whether you\u2019re Michael Jackson or Paul McCartney, Blink 182 or Hanson, it\u2019s getting your single on the radio and your video on MTV and letting the audience have the opportunity to hear the music \u2014 and that\u2019s a big challenge for anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, the band is meeting that challenge. \u201cUnderneath\u201d has spent eight weeks on Billboard\u2019s Top Independent Albums chart, and the single \u201cPenny & Me\u201d has been in rotation on MTV\u2019s \u201cTRL.\u201d<\/p>\n
That the band has managed to get anywhere near MTV or radio without the usual major-label connections, palm greasing or image retooling is a testament to its drive and business savvy. So far, starting 3CG has been the right move, though Isaac Hanson admits that being label executives adds some twists to staying afloat in the crowded pop market.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t recommend it to everybody; it\u2019s not for the faint of heart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 13 tracks on \u201cUnderneath\u201d were written, performed and produced primarily by the brothers, with a little songwriting help from respected alt-rocker Matthew Sweet and New Radical leader Gregg Alexander, and production help from veteran session guitarist\/producer Danny Kortchmar.<\/p>\n
The record has received middling to very good reviews. Billboard called it \u201cthe group\u2019s most endearing,\u201d and charming; the Washington Times said that \u201csteeped in old R&B and classic \u201960s pop, the brothers appreciate a good hook and know how to craft one on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
They have grown, but their image is still that of three well-adjusted All-American boys singing happy tunes for happy teens \u2014 the kind of cheerful, grounded, happy young men whom every dad hopes his daughter brings home to dinner.<\/p>\n
But \u201cUnderneath\u201d contains some surprisingly adult ruminations on love gone bad, specifically the quartet of songs \u201cMisery,\u201d \u201cLost Without Each Other,\u201d \u201cWhen You\u2019re Gone\u201d and the title track.<\/p>\n
Do these heartbreak tunes mean that somewhere there are females who hold chunks of the Hanson brothers\u2019 broken hearts, or are the Hansons simply mining the same old territory that songwriters have drawn from for years?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you have to have your heart broken to understand,\u201d Isaac Hanson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople ask how much of the music is autobiographical and do you feel like you have to experience things to write about them, and my answer to that is, Michael Crichton didn\u2019t experience \u2018Jurassic Park.\u2019 So, if you\u2019re an artist and you have a creative mind, you can pretty much understand. The emotions are there to be felt and had, and I think we all kind of understand them, whether we have experienced them literally or not. But, yeah, everybody\u2019s had their heart broken at one point or another, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we feel really lucky about is that we\u2019re doing as much as we\u2019re doing and we\u2019re still maintaining our independence, which is a rare thing.\u201d<\/p>\n