Eleven years ago I saw the music video for Mmmbop and have been listening to them ever since. An amazing album that shows where the group's record deal began.

Before Hanson grew up and had children, before they left the corporate record indursty and went indies, and before they hit puberty, they recorded "Middle of Nowhere", one of the most relentlessly catchy pop records ever produces.

1997 was a year that was the comback for pop. 1997 brought us the Spice Girls, The Backstreet Boys, and of course Hanson! For some, the mention of Hanson will conjure up images of pre-pubescent boys that looked and sounded like girls and will probably induce the desire to slit ones wrist. For others, 1997, the year of Hanson, will always be the best year of their lives. Why such extreme reactions? It is simply because when a band gets so huge like Hanson was, and what makes them endearing is also annoying to many, you are bound to have such extreme reactions.

What made Hanson special and worthy of such love or hatred? It was their unique ability to write pop songs that you would never get out of your head. If somebody else had sung them, would they have been so famous? Probably not. The very thing that made "Mmmbop" one of the best pop songs ever written was the fact that it was a song about holding onto what really mattered, sung by an thirteen year old, and was written two years prior making it quite unusual and somewhat profound for what it was.

Was Hanson just a one trick pony? Or did they have other good songs on their record besides "Mmmbop"? The answer is yes. The entire album is full of songs that are so sweet and innocent, and relentlessly catchy that you will never be able to forget "Middle of Nowhere". Songs such as "Weird", "Where's the Love", "With you in Your Dreams", "Yearbook", and "Thinking of You" transcends far above the age of who they were written by. Other songs like "Lucy", "The Man from Milwakee", "A Minute Without You", "Madeline", and "Look at You" are more on the teeny bopper side of things. Part of the endearing quality of the record is the innocence of it. There is no sex, and nothing dirty. A number of the songs are written about love and infatuation, but they are so well-done that they are not as obnoxious as some other pre-pubescent stars in the past.

These are songs that as yoiu listen to them, you can tell that they are uniquely Hanson, no one else could have ever produced them but Hanson. If you have any doubt to the lasting quality of these songs, listen to this record and then listen to the 10th Anniversary accoustic renditions of these songs.

Since recording this album, Hanson has recorded three other official records "This Time Around", "Underneath", and "The Walk". Although none of those records are bad, in fact they are leaps and bounds ahead of most of the music you will find on the market today, none of them come close to touching "Middle of Nowhere" in its timelessness and catchiness. Hanson produces such extreme reactions in people because they are who they are. You will never mistake another band for Hanson, there is no one else who sounds like them, and no one who ever will.

If you hated Hanson back in 1997, chances are you will still hate this record, but it shouldn't hurt too much to give it a second chance, or at least give Hanson a second chance.

God Bless ~Amy

I was in junior high when MMMbop came out and like everyone else I thought these three brothers were girls. That damn catchy tune was stuck in my brain for a good six months in 1997. Even though I haven't kept up with their music since, Hanson's debut album Middle of Nowhere was a fun and decent pop album for its time. Songs like Where's The Love?, I Will Come To You, Lucy, With You In Your Dreams, Weird, and Madeline are standouts. Taylor Hanson's vocals are good and even Zac sings on the puppy love track, Lucy. Ah those were the days when kiddie pop ruled the world!

a must have for any hanson fan, old or young they haven't made a bad cd... well except for the christmas one, i'm just not a fan of christmas music tho

This CD is Hanson debut. Good music, good CD. Anyone would like it. Especially "Man From Milwaukee". "MMBop" is just a classic.