Talk about getting the bummiest bum rap of all time. In 1997, Hanson came out with the song of the year - something so catchy, so upbeat, so flat-out awesome, that it went all the way to #1 on the billboard charts. AND THEY WERE 16, 13, and 11 YEARS OLD. I couldn't even be trusted to brush my own teeth when I was that age. Yet there they were, making one of the best songs of the entire decade. But because their song was called Mmmbop and it ended up getting stuck in your head to the point you wanted to drive a metal pipe through your own eyeball, people turned on them pretty quickly.
And that's all anyone remembers them for. People remember them for that one song and the fact that no one could tell if they were boys or girls at first. Well, let me tell you...they're men now. They are talented, kick-ass, fire song making men. Men that can grow facial hair and everything.
They could have easily given up after their first album. Everyone was sick of them, and I honestly think people resented them for their success at such a young age. Sure, a few of their songs from their second album got some play on MTV's TRL (which has to get it's own Ode To blog some day), but they never got as big as they should have gotten. They exploded on to the music scene like a nuclear bomb, then they fizzled out.
At least, that's what most people think. They never really fizzled. They kept making music, and in all honesty, it all just kept getting better and better as they got older. They moved into this more refined blend of pop/soul/rock/blues/funk/motown that you can't help but respect. It's basically like if Ray Charles had a baby with Jesus. They are real, talented musicians. And let me just say this: Taylor Hanson, the lead singer, has more soul in his pinky finger than 99.9% of the human population combined. That is an indisputable, 100% full-on FACT. I want to shout it from every mountain top.
If you ever need a good cry, listen to "With you in your dreams" that they wrote WHEN THEY WERE LIKE 12. Or listen to "Song to Sing" after a break up. You'll be crying for a month.
All I'm saying is - give them another chance. Maybe you listen to it and it just isn't your style of music. And if that's the case, fine. No problem. Go be dumb and listen to dumb music. I'll just be sitting here tap-tap-tappin' my toesies to a band that was once the biggest thing going and is now one of the best kept secrets in music.
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