Al In Hanson's New Music Video

[RyanHippFTW]

Dude, if there's one band you're ALLOWED to give baseless backhanded compliments, it's them damn children of the corn that infected Earth with mmmbop.

I'd say that honor would go to Dave Matthews and the E Street Band, but, I digress.

But you took the time to judge and condemn me for doing so, implying a sincere desire to have my opinion changed.

I did not condemn, that is way to strong of a word to use in this circumstance. Nor did I explicitly wish for your opinion to change. But it was obvious that you have not heard enough of their music to make the claim that their newest single is the only "kickass" one they have done in their entire career, considering how their last few albums have shared similar musical styles to that particular song.

OR PERHAPS I'M JUST PARANOID!!! (flashes an indulgent "I'm so totally NOT" smirk). Now if you'll excuse me, I have a whiteboard on which to doodle my theories that "Where's The Love" is a socialist manifesto.

Let me grab the snacks!

Saying that an opinion is unfair is, as far as I'm concerned, tantamount to saying it's wrong. At the very least they're in the same ballpark, because opinion by definition is based on perspective.

I completely agree when you say opinion is based on perspective. Just look at Keith Olbermann or Bill O'Reilly. But I don't feel I implied that you had a "wrong" opinion. I felt that you had an opinion that could have been improved by more "research", if you will. I'm not saying I want you to think all of their music is good, I'm saying that if you listened to more you may find that they have written some other adequate songs post-"MMMBop".

I was once like you, afraid of differing opinions I considered "unfair," because I was weak and insecure and I thought they might change me. But opinions are rarely as mutually exclusive as they appear.

I do not fear differing opinions. I fear opinions that lack good support. If someone brings up an opinion with which I disagree, but has good reasoning behind, I wouldn't mind. If you have an opinion that I disagree with and makes no sense (i.e. Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh) I wouldn't want to hear it.

Apparently, you saw some spark in Hanson's creative peak to think "Hmmmbop, I ought to keep following these guys even when the rest of the world doesn't." I saw no such spark. Neither of us should be condemned for the road we take, but each road carries with it a skewed and thus "unfair" perspective. But instead of actually PRESENTING your perspective (i.e. by saying "I dunno, 2001's 'NNNBop' and 2004's 'OOOBop' were pretty cool, you should check them out...") you merely condemned mine.

Again, enough with "condemn". Actually, I did plan on saying something along the lines of "have you heard _________ or ___________?" but feared of looking like one of those obligatory fanboys who will defend their "leader" no matter what (like what most people on this forum do with Weird Al). I am a fan of Hanson, but merely casual. My sister is the fan of the home and her taking me to one of their concerts encouraged me to add their catalog to my iTunes, hence my knowledge of them being more than "MMMBop".

You appear to be someone who feels otherwise, and I bet if someone were to label Weird Al the guy who does nothing more than MJ parodies about food, you or someone else here would label the comment "unfair".

Remember, the word "unfair" is defined as being "not fair", not as being "wrong".

[Mystik Tomato]

Jeremy's back!

[FredHuggins]

I don't feel I implied that you had a "wrong" opinion. I felt that you had an opinion that could have been improved by more "research"

And why did my opinion NEED improvement? Because you found it WRONG. If you didn't have such a high opinion of Hanson yourself, you wouldn't have cared.

Actually, I did plan on saying something along the lines of "have you heard _________ or ___________?" but feared of looking like one of those obligatory fanboys who will defend their "leader" no matter what

And that's why you snowballed my 19-word statement into your 624-word defensive manifesto. Well done. Trying to change minds through shame and force is WAY less geeky than recommending a couple of enjoyable songs, right?

I bet if someone were to label Weird Al the guy who does nothing more than MJ parodies about food, you or someone else here would label the comment "unfair".

Someone else here, perhaps. Or me when I was much younger, and uber-defensive about everything I liked because I was insecure about my own opinions. But I eventually learned what I'm trying to teach you here, perhaps the most important thing you can ever learn on the internet and in life itself: YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE A MIND BY FORCE. Never. Not once in the entire history of opinions. The more force you use, the less successful you'll be. That's why salesmen and politicians compliment wives and towns (respectively, usually) before starting their pitches. People are stubborn and self-reliant, and the best persuasion possible is to make YOUR truth attractive, then see what happens. I would label such a comment "unfair" in my head for sure, but nobody likes to be called out. If I left any sort of comment, it would be "He does a lot more than that. Check out 'Albuquerque' or 'Wanna B Ur Lovr' if you get the chance, I think you'll enjoy them." If he responds with animosity, I simply leave him to stew in a life devoid of "Albuquerque" - punishment enough for such a reductive statement.

Because you see, the same principle works in reverse: he can NEVER make me stop loving "Albuquerque." Just as (I should hope) I can NEVER stop you from enjoying whatever Hanson does to fill the time between "MMMBop" and the grave. Why the hell do you care whether my statement is "fair" or not? You know you like Hanson. I said their new song, and only their new song, kicks ass. If you want to expand people's opinions, then OPEN doors, don't close them. I can't do your Hanson career retrospective FOR you, because I'd suck at it.

Anyway, I apologize for making such a reductive statement. That article made it seem like this was the first time in a while Hanson has attempted that particular "early '60s soul" subgenre, which is EXACTLY what I find so kickass about the song in the first place, with its authentically "Blues Brothers"-esque organ and horn sounds, and its catchy, almost Stevie Wonder-eque melody. It's worlds apart from "MMMBop," and it seemed such a cosmic injustice that they only hit upon such a terrific sound more than a decade after megastardom disappeared from their grasp, that I had to comment on it.

[Mystik Tomato]

And so is Jon!

[anthontherun]

LOLZ that Hanson is inspiring such a huge debate. Relax, people. If you're adamant that most of the Hanson catalog is without merit, it really doesn't help your case to post massive missives about said opinion. Let's keep the topic to the Al connection.

Yeah, but... How am I going to tease you now, Anth? You've destroyed my fun. HOW CAN YOU BE SO SELFISH?!

I will look through my Zune and find some songs/artists that I truly am ashamed to admit to liking and give you a full report.

[FredHuggins]

My argument, at it's core, couldn't have less to do with Hanson; they're just the unfortunate example. I just can't stand it when internet people have a choice between educating others and simply shaming them for not already knowing things, and they choose the latter.

[Wizzerkat]

Here it is! Al looking... interesting!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... =104317949

[amzo39]

HAHAHAHAH. hahahahahaha.

[Big Spoon]

That was God-awful. Like, so bad it was painful. And I couldn't even find Al.

[weird_el]

Al is the tambourine player. Wearing a flat-hair wig.