best of - live and electric

So today - Hanson's new album The Best of Hanson: Live and Electric came out. Yeah - I stopped and picked it up on my way to work this morning. Holy crap! It's really good.

I know you probably think that I'm biased because I've been a fan since forever - but that's just the thing. This album is live - it was recorded during their tour last year - and you can tell how much they have matured as musicians. It's incredible.

First off - they open the record with Radiohead's Optimistic. It's so good! And it's a really great - and yet creepy - sound for Hanson. I love it.

Then they jump into a previously unreleased song Every Word I Say. Definitely a different sound for them. But nonetheless, good.

After this, they go right into two songs from their first major label release (Middle of Nowhere c. 1997). These two songs are: Where's the Love and Look At You. These aren't the only songs from their two major label releases (also This Time Around c. 2000). The other songs include: I Will Come to You - Hand in Hand - This Time Around - If Only - A Song to Sing - and of course Mmmbop. All of the songs performed on this album - that are songs from Hanson's two major label releases - are performed much differently than what their studio versions are. First off - the change is great! Though it comes as no surprise, especially those songs from their first release, because of the age difference and the puberty that has since happened! But I'll continue more with this in a second.

Songs from Hanson's independent label, 3CG Records, release (Underneath c. 2004) include: Strong Enough to Break - Underneath - and Penny & Me. These three songs are the only songs on the record that actually sound like they do on their studio album - except with the "live flair" of course.

Other than these songs - Hanson also performs another previously unreleased track Rock 'n' Roll Razorblade and also U2's In a Little While. While Taylor Hanson is no Bono - the band definitely pulls off the sound of the song with their own little touches. And they do it well!

What I will say about this album is that you can easily tell from listening to it that Hanson is a performing band! You can tell that they love to perform just by listening to it. But you can also tell that Hanson is a "jam band." They love to just go with a song and let it do whatever. There are many guitar solos - bass solos - and keyboard solos throughout the album. It's a great refresher from the streamline music that is out on the radio today that is so cut and paste.

The best way to summarize how I feel about the album - - - I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL NEXT FRIDAY WHEN I GET TO SEE THEM LIVE!!! enough said.

The best way that Hanson describes themselves and the journey they have been on in creating their own independent label is written out in the booklet of this CD. Let me share it with you:


For some, music is not just a pastime,
It's an undeniable fact of living,
A blissful slavery of mind, body and soul.
To rise above the ashes of mediocrity is rare,
Yet the gift of song is freely handed out to anyone who cares to receive it,
Instantly shattering our daily drudgery.

The path to pursue more than the usual,
More than what is safe and known,
Is wrought with time-sharpened jagged blades that cut deep,
Blocking many from the road to something greater,
Beyond the stunted imagination of their peers.

Within the veins of the few,
Passion fills every sinew with a sweet unquenchable purpose,
Calming the fear of those treacherous paths.
Though each slice burns and bleeds,
Still they take each cut
And wear the scars with pride to signal their choice,
That undying pursuit of greater joy within every chord.

And so they say - Watch Me Bleed.


Buy this album. Support Hanson. Support those that have a passion for music - and not the money. I will not remove myself from this soap box.