- Middle of Nowhere (Hanson album)
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Middle Of Nowhere Studio album by Hanson Released May 6, 1997 Recorded July–November, 1996 in Los Angeles Genre Pop rock, teen pop Length 53:41 Label Mercury/Polygram Producer The Dust Brothers, Stephen Lironi Hanson chronology MMMBop
(1996)Middle of Nowhere
(1997)Snowed In
(1997)Middle of Nowhere is the third album by American pop rock group Hanson, and the first to be released on a major label, which was Polygram Records and Mercury Records. Released in 1997, it features slicker studio production compared to their previous indie efforts Boomerang and MMMBop. "Yearbook", one of the album's more dramatic songs, had never been performed live until the recording of Middle of Nowhere Acoustic on May 5, 2007.
The album was received extremely well by critics. Most reviewers praised Hanson as a welcome alternative to the critically panned post-grunge bands that were dominating the radiowaves at the time. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said of the trio: "... lack of guile is Hanson's most endearing quality."[1]
Middle of Nowhere yielded 5 hits: "MMMBop", "Where's the Love", "I Will Come to You", "Weird", and "Thinking of You".
Contents
Worldwide sales
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic [2]
Rolling Stone [3]
Total sales worldwide are 10 million copies. The album sold just under 4 million in the US (4 times platinum) and sold 600,000 copies in UK (2 times platinum).
Track listing
All songs written by Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson and Zachary Hanson; additional writers are noted below.
- "Thinking of You" – 3:13
- "MMMBop" – 4:28
- "Weird" – 4:02 (Desmond Child)
- "Speechless" – 4:20 (Stephen Lironi)
- "Where's the Love" – 4:13 (Mark Hudson, Sander Salover)
- "Yearbook" – 5:29 (Ellen Shipley)
- "Look at You" – 4:28 (Stephen Lironi)
- "Lucy" – 3:35 (Mark Hudson)
- "I Will Come to You" – 4:11 (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil)
- "A Minute Without You" – 3:55 (Mark Hudson)
- "Madeline" – 4:13 (Cliff Magness)
- "With You in Your Dreams" – 3:56
- "Man from Milwaukee" [CD-only bonus track] – 3:38
Note: "Man from Milwaukee" is actually track #21, as there are eight tracks of silence after "With You in Your Dreams". In Japan the song is track 14 because it has a live version of "MMMBop" as song 13. "Man from Milwaukee" was omitted from all cassettes and vinyl pressings of Middle of Nowhere.
Personnel
- Hanson
- Zachary Hanson – drums, vocals
- Taylor Hanson – keyboards, piano, vocals
- Isaac Hanson – guitar, vocals
- Session musicians
- Stephen Lironi – bass, guitar, percussion, programming, producer, keyboards
- Peter Kent – violin
- Michael Fischer – percussion
- Carole Mukogawa – viola
- John Wittenberg – violin
- Michito Sanchez – percussion
- Larry Corbett – cello
- Steve Richards – cello
- Ged Lynch – drums, percussion
- Nick Vincent – drums
- Endre Granat – violin
- Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums
- David Campbell – conductor, string arrangements
- Abraham Laboriel – bass
- Neil Stubenhaus – bass
- B.J. Cole – pedal steel
- Sandy Stein – keyboards
- Stevie Wonder – harmonica
- Murray Adler – violin
- Other
- Roger Love – vocal director
- Margery Greenspan – art direction
- Steven Greenberg – executive producer
- Barry Mann – vocal director
- Marina Chavez – photography
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- The Dust Brothers – programming, producer
- Mark Hudson – vocal director
Charts
This table indicates the highest position the album reached on each country's album charts.
Chart (1997) Position Australia 1 Austria 2 Belgium (Flanders chart) 2 Belgium (Wallonia chart) 15 Finland 4 France 15 Germany 1 Holand 7 Japan 10 Netherlands 5 New Zealand 4 Norway 7 Sweden 4 Switzerland 2 UK 1 USA 2 End of decade charts
Chart (1990–1999) Position U.S. Billboard 200[4] 89 References
- ^ Reviewed by David Browne (1997-05-09). "Middle of Nowhere Review | Music Reviews and News". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,287793,00.html. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ "Allmusic review". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r276221.
- ^ "Rolling Stone review". http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/hanson/albums/album/156566/rid/5942538/.
- ^ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=9w0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&lr&rview=1&pg=RA1-PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
Preceded by
Wu-Tang Forever by Wu-Tang ClanUK number one album
June 21, 1997 – June 27, 1997Succeeded by
OK Computer by RadioheadPreceded by
The Fat of the Land by The ProdigyAustralian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
August 10–23, 1997Succeeded by
In Deep by Tina ArenaStudio albums Boomerang · MMMBop · Middle of Nowhere · Snowed In · This Time Around · Underneath · The Walk · Shout It OutSingles "MMMBop" · "Where's the Love" · "I Will Come to You" · "Weird" · "Thinking of You" · "If Only" · "This Time Around" · "Penny & Me" · "Lost Without Each Other" · "Great Divide" · "Go" · "Thinking 'bout Somethin'" · "Give a Little"Compilations 3 Car Garage · MMMBop: The Collection · 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Hanson · Middle of Nowhere AcousticLive albums EPs Videos and DVDs Related articles Categories:- Hanson albums
- 1997 albums
- Mercury Records albums
- Albums produced by the Dust Brothers
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