Cooking Vinyl

Bubblegum pop past?
by: Dominique Minor

Hanson Cooking Vinyl The Walk It's hard to believe that Hanson is still making music after a mid-90s explosion on the pop scene with their hit-single "MMMBop." On their latest release, The Walk, Hanson has created quite a compilation of sappy piano-laden rock ballads, power pop, and watered down blue-eyed soul numbers. That makes is easy to that this album will be in the CD players of many soccer moms all across the country. And for those of you clamoring to get your paws on the Hanson's latest release you can rest assured that Walmart has it in stock. This time around its seems the Hanson brothers have tried to deviate from their bubblegum pop past. However they've only to succumb to creating a brand of non-threatening soft-rock that unfortunately breaks no new ground. Their middlebrow adult contemporary streak can be best heard in the trudging wannabe anthem "Watch Over Me" and the Coldplay-esque "Fire on the Mountain." On another track, "Running Man" the group tries to channel their best Maroon 5 impression with a shimmying rhythm that sounds like something straight out an 70s soft rock compilation CD. Sadly, It’s not too much of a stretch to say that among the artists that emerged from the teen-pop boom that Hanson has no! t straye d far from their roots. And if the slick pop production isn't nauseating enough the group has managed to make an album with enough mounting piano chords and tortured soul vocals to make James Blunt look like Barry White --seriously. 30-Apr-2007