''This Time Around'' is the second studio album by American
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
group
Hanson, released in 2000. Although Hanson had several albums in between, ''This Time Around'' is their first standard studio release since 1997's ''
Middle of Nowhere''. ''This Time Around'' did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor ''Middle of Nowhere''. The album does not feature as many
bubblegum pop
Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...
style tunes as ''Middle of Nowhere''; instead, Hanson opted to focus on a more
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
sound, or as
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
.com stated, "stadium rock".
The album also features numerous ballads, with songs such as "Sure About It" and "A Song to Sing" covering the themes of teenage insecurity and loneliness, much like "
Weird" from ''Middle of Nowhere''. Critically, ''This Time Around'' received mainly positive reviews. To date, it has sold over one million copies worldwide.
Critical reception
Critically, ''This Time Around'' received mainly positive reviews. It was given a score of 67 out of 100 by
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
.
''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' said, "It all adds up to a collection that successfully sets Hanson apart from the current teen-pop phenomenon that it helped start -- at least from a creative perspective,"
and
CDNow
CDnow, Inc. was a dot-com company that operated an online shopping website selling compact discs and music-related products. In April 1998, during the dot-com bubble, the company was valued at over $1billion (~$ in ). In July 2000, it was acqui ...
said "This Time Around scores with more sophisticated harmonies and storytelling."
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' said, "Like a blond three-headed hydra, Hanson loom over the competition, making all other teen idols sound like Gerber-sucking clowns."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
said, "It's hard not to miss the thrilling way Middle of Nowhere leapt out of the speakers upon its first spin with giddy fun, yet with its carefully considered craft and warmly ingratiating pop songs This Time Around is winning entertainment."
However, not everyone was complimentary about the change in musical style, with
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
of ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' stating "If you thought they were bad when they were cute, or even that they were cute when they were good, believe me, you don't want to hear them mature,"
and ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' with the even harsher verdict: "But damn those cruel hormones – Hanson's collective balls have MmmDropped, and the giddy rush of adolescence seeks to mutate Mercury's finest investment into a trio of crack-voiced hulks."
Singles
*"
If Only" was released as the
lead single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
A similar term, "debut ...
outside the United States on April 3, 2000. The song features
John Popper
John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler.
Early life
Popper was born on March 29, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a ...
of the band
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, sp ...
on harmonica. The
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
features the group traveling in a
desert
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
on their
tour bus
A tour bus service is an escorted tour (sometimes a package holiday) or bus service that takes visitors sightseeing, with routes around tourist attractions.
Information
Double-decker buses and open top buses are commonly used, for provid ...
, unloading their equipment to shoot the video. The song reached the top 10 in Australia, Finland, Italy, and Spain and entered the charts of other European countries.
*"
This Time Around" was released on April 4, 2000, as the
lead single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
A similar term, "debut ...
in the United States and Canada, peaking at number 20 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was also released in Australia as the second single.
*"Save Me" was released on July 15 only in United Kingdom and Brazil. The song was included in the soundtrack to the Brazilian soap opera ''
Laços de Família'' (''Family Ties'').
"Save Me" was certified gold by
Pro-Música Brasil in 2024.
Track listing
All songs written by
Isaac Hanson,
Taylor Hanson and
Zac Hanson.
Lead vocals by Taylor Hanson, except where noted.
# "You Never Know" – 3:04
# "
If Only" – 4:30
# "
This Time Around" – 4:17 (Lead vocals: Taylor and Isaac Hanson)
# "Runaway Run" – 3:40
# "Save Me" – 3:40
# "Dying to Be Alive" – 4:37
# "Can't Stop" – 4:24
# "Wish That I Was There" – 3:32 (Lead vocals: Zac and Taylor Hanson)
# "Love Song" – 4:06 (Lead vocals: Isaac Hanson)
# "Sure About It" – 3:27
# "Hand in Hand" – 4:37 (Lead vocals: Isaac Hanson)
# "In the City" – 3:27
# "A Song to Sing" – 3:35
idden track(Lead vocals: Taylor and Isaac Hanson)
In some locales two additional
hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...
s, "Smile" and "Lonely Again", were also included in the foreign version of the CD. Just like ''Middle of Nowhere'', "A Song to Sing" is track 21 with eight tracks of silence used once again, despite some reissues dropping the silent tracks to make "A Song to Sing" track 13.
Personnel
Hanson
*
Taylor Hanson – piano, keyboards, harmonica, percussion, vocals
*
Isaac Hanson – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals
*
Zachary Hanson – drums, vocals
Additional personnel
*
John Popper
John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler.
Early life
Popper was born on March 29, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a ...
, Scott Gordon – harmonica
*
Jonny Lang – electric guitars
*Stephen Lironi – electric guitars, organ, bass, loops
*Kevin Wyatt – bass
*
Abe Laboriel, Jr. – drums, percussion
*
Ged Lynch – percussion
*
DJ Swamp – DJ/scratching
*Michael Fisher – percussion
*Rose Stone (also director), Lisa Banks,
Alfie Silas, Carolyn, Darlene, Sharon & Lori Petty, Howard McCreary, Rick Riso, Cedric Johns – choir
*
Joel Derouin – violin
*
David Campbell – viola
*Larry Corbett – cello
*Strings on "Runaway Run" arranged by David Campbell
Production
*Arranged by Hanson
*Produced by Hanson and Stephen Lironi; vocals produced by Hanson and Mark Hudson
*Recording engineers – Scott Gordon (vocal engineer), Doug Trantow,
Steve Churchyard ("You Never Know")
*Second engineers – Annette Cisneros, Pat Burkholder, Brent Riley, Eric Ferguson, Dave Dominguez, Elan Trujillo
*Additional
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
engineering by
Lars Fox
*Mixed by
Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...
*Mastered at Sterling Sound
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Hanson (band) albums
2000 albums
Albums produced by Mark Hudson (musician)
Island Records albums