Hanson: Middle Of Nowhere : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Age discrimination works both ways. We distrust rockers who refuse to give it up in middle age, then we put the boot into Hanson because they're hot, they're pop -- and on the wrong side of the legal drinking age in all 50 states. Isaac, Taylor and Zac are not the Badfinger of the New Sugar Pop. Too much of the Dust Brothers-go-Nickelodeon allure of "MMMBop" is down to, well, the Dust Brothers, the song's producers. The "vocal direction" credits on "Middle of Nowhere" also suggest that while the brothers have solid, rockin'-robin voices, they are not yet sure what to do with them. But you don't have to be a "Bop" magazine subscriber to fall for the cheesy bounce of "Where's the Love" and "Man From Milwaukee." Wanna pick on Hanson for writing immature lyrics and singing formulaic ballads? Wait until they're old enough to know better.

Usher Raymond does it all one way: real slow. Too slow, in fact, to make you even care if he ever gets to first base. For a make-out record produced by slow-jam experts L.A. Reid, Babyface and Jermaine Dupri, "My Way" is all heavy breathing, no payoff. The runaway-hit single "You Make Me Wanna . . . " is one thing: tiptoe love funk with a spare, gangsta air and Usher doing overdubbed ensemble singing like a one-man Blackstreet. But that charm fades out over the rest of the album. Usher's voice lacks the force and nuance to make up for the thin, synthetic quality of the backing tracks. And you know there's a problem with the songwriting when you see the word hook plastered over the choruses in the lyric booklet. If you gotta flaunt it that hard, the hook ain't hard enough in the first place. (RS 776/777)