Article: Plus, can you truly judge Hanson from “Mmmbop”?

A while back when Mitch was doing this column, he got some flak from an avid Hanson fan and I would like to visit that e-mail from 2007 which he was nice enough to forward to me for use if I saw fit — I see fit 🙂

From Veronica Howell,

I usually really enjoy the columns/articles on 411mania but was unpleasantly surprised by some of the hate thrown at one of my favorite bands–Hanson (yes, that’s right they still have a fan base and a loyal one at that). Before you judge, take some time to do some research and maybe even give their more recent music a chance (remember they were REALLY young when Mmmbop came out…). In fact, you would find that 3 years ago Hanson had the biggest independent release of all time with their album Underneath. Furthermore, they had a single called Penny and Me hit the Billboard Top 200 chart at #2. Their new album, “The Walk,” is incredible and does not even slightly resemble what you think this band would sound like. They are talented musicians and songwriters that have produced another fantastic album that sounds amazing. I have recently attended 2 of the preview shows that Hanson had for their soon-to-be-released album and both were completely sold out and they sold out very quickly (in fact, with more research you would have found out that Hanson sold out all 4 of their preview shows, with some people going so far as to sleep in tents just to get a good spot at the concert). The one show I attended in Allentown sold out in 3 days and more tickets had to be released to keep up with the demand (this show was actually overbooked and almost did not take place because their were TOO MANY loyal fans there). You are welcome to your own opinions (and I have no doubt you’ll have something to say about this “crazy” Hanson fan who wrote you this long e-mail…) but in the name of being a critic, please try to give some things a chance. Hanson may no longer be mainstream and ridiculously over-played, but do not write off a band that is talented and would probably shock you if you heard some of their newer stuff simply because you have not heard their name for a while.

Veronica,

First of all, welcome to Ask 411 Music and secondly, I’m sorry it took 2 years for us to get you in the column. This is something that I wanted to sound off on with you because I think too many people don’t pay attention to good music. Many people dismiss Hanson based entirely on “Mmmbop” without taking time to see how they’ve progressed. I’d like to state for the record that I’m part of Hanson’s fanbase and if you wanna flame me in the comments for it, then feel free. But here are the facts: Hanson is probably one of the more creative bands out there (they write their own lyrics and some of their own music as well), Hanson has a sound that is distinct, but not all sounding the same and they’ve come a LONG FUCKING WAY from “Mmmbop”. If you don’t believe me, simply check out the following:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOJgRj8VsE&border=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

While the video for this is about as cheesy as it can be, the music has come a very long way from their Freshman album, and you can’t ignore that fact. They definitely still have a very large fan base as Veronica suggested, selling out shows everywhere they go and having to get more tickets released for about 40% of their shows, which is pretty good when you’re over-selling 40% of your shows. Basically, she’s right in that all of you haters owe it to yourself to give the stuff a listen before you start slamming it. The other thing is that you can’t talk shit if you don’t like that genre of music. That’s like me talking shit about a country music star — It’s well known that I’m not a big country music fan, so any shit-talking that I do against a country music star is basically pointless because I just don’t like the music. So be smart — don’t talk shit about this band before you give them another chance after “Mmmbop”. Even the second album is infinitely better than the first. Listen before you judge folks!

Source