On the heels of their wildly successful first-ever
nationwide tour, Hanson announce the release of
Hanson: Live From Albertane, a concert album
recorded at the Key Arena in Seattle on July 21,
1998. The album, produced by Hanson and Elliot
Scheiner, will be in stores on November 3 and
features the hits "MMMBop", "Where's The Love",
and "I Will Come To You". Also included are versions
of the classic rock songs "Gimme Some Lovin'" and
"Money (That's All I Want)", as well as a new song by
Hanson, "Ever Lonely". A home video, "The Road To
Albertane", will be released a week later November
10, and combines live footage with
behind-the-scenes antics recorded and produced in
part by the band themselves.
Live From Albertane gets its name from a line in the
Hanson-penned song "Man From Milwaukee" and
refers to the ficticious home planet the alien in the
song is from. This sense of humor is evident in the
home video, which chronicles the work and the fun
that made up the band's long-anticipated tour.
Hanson have sold over 14 million albums worldwide,
including the hit Middle of Nowhere, a Christmas
album, Snowed In, and the re-release of early
recordings Three Car Garage. They have also
released a multi-platinum-selling home video, and are
working on a new studio album, which will be in
stores next year.
Call it a sensation, a phenomenon, a juggernaut. Just
about a year ago, three brothers from Tulsa,
Oklahoma, firmly implanted "MMMBop" into global
cultural consciousness. Since then, they've traveled
the world, appeared on countless TV shows and
magazine covers, documented their signature brand
of pop-rock on the multi-platinum home video Tulsa,
Tokyo and the Middle of Nowhere and racked up
more than 12 million in album sales (for their major
label debut Middle of Nowhere and Snowed In, the
holiday collection they miraculously found time to
make). They are Isaac, Taylor and Zachary--you
know, Hanson--and their appearance on the scene
sparked a movement of positivity and pure fun as
infectious as their music.
With each consecutive
concert performance,
Hanson amassed more
fans--case in point: an
audience of more than
20,000 in an Australian
parking lot. Yet Hanson's
cred and chops have
impressed plenty of movers and shakers: they
notched #1 on the prestigious Village Voice Pazz &
Jop Poll, scored rave reviews across the board, from
Spin and Rolling Stone to The New York Times,
earned the respect of their industry with three
Grammy nominations and drew Oscar- nominated
film director Gus Van Sant, fresh from Good Will
Hunting, to helm the video for their third single
"Weird."
As Hanson take stock of what they've accomplished
and begin planning for the future, the time is right to
go back to their roots. Hence, Three Car Garage:
The Independent Recordings '95-'96, which culls
material from MMMBop, one of the two independent
albums Hanson made prior to their Mercury Records
contract. The idea to re-release this music came as a
way to satisfy millions of Hanson fans clamoring for
the out-of-print album. But Three Car Garage also
serves to underscore the musicianship, songwriting
flair, and DIY determination that has always driven
the talented trio.
The 11 tracks--all self-produced, original Hanson
compositions--were recorded in Hanson's hometown
of Tulsa, and have all the raw charm you'd expect
from a home recording played on thrift-store gear. In
addition to early versions of "MMMBop," "Thinking of
You" and "With You in Your Dreams," re-recorded for
Middle of Nowhere, there are a number of
timeless-youthful tunes like "River" and "Day Has
Come" featuring Isaac on lead vocals.
Yet the greenhorn appeal gets balanced from the
brothers' innate gift for crafting melody and that
signature flair for harmony they began to tap into
when they first discovered music. That was in 1990,
when their father's career in the oil industry took the
family to South America, where the boys binged on
Time-Life rock 'n' roll-era records from the '50s and
'60s. "When everybody else was listening to MC
Hammer and Vanilla Ice, we were into Bill Haley and
Carl Perkins," says Taylor. Back in the States, they
went from impromptu a cappella performances to
teaching themselves instruments (in case you didn't
know, Isaac's the guitarist, Taylor handles keyboards
and Zac plays drums) while collaborating on their
own tunes.
Hanson first professional appearance at a Tulsa
music festival in 1992 coincided with the height of
grunge--obviously, their blissed-out uplifting music
wasn't the flavor of the week. Still, the young group
persevered, performing as often as possible--not out
of stardom fantasies but a pure love of playing. Local
listeners kept coming back; a few brave souls in the
music business started believing. . .and the rest,
pretty much, is recent history. Despite the millions of
sales, fans, frequent flier miles and far-flung offers
that are Hanson's here-and-now present, they remain
humble. "You think, 'I don't deserve this in the
slightest,'" says Isaac. "We just make music." When it
comes to what's ahead, Hanson remain focused, but
philosophical. "If fans say they don't like us anymore,
that's just life," says Zac.
In this life, it's a safe bet that fans or no fans, Hanson
will be making music. Even if they have to go back to
the garage.
