“The Walk” encompasses all the sides of Hanson’s musical talent and various genres together on one album. From a gospel-feel to the roots of rock n’ roll, Zachary (21), Taylor (24) and Isaac (26) have come a long way to prove to the world that they have talent beyond simply “worth noticing.”
While giving this album a spin, keep in mind that these three young men not only produce their own albums, but write all of their lyrics, the latter which represent situations they have been faced with in their daily lives. Topics revolve around relationships (all three are now married and two have children), the struggle to reach point B when other parties intercede, helping other nations and even suicide.
The album kicks off with the DD Dliwayo School Choir of Soweto,
Africa, who are chanting words that can be translated into English as “I have hope.” This is followed by the headstrong and powerful track, “The Great Divide.” With a catchy pop/rock sound and the choir singing along the whole way through, the lyrics attempt to convince the listener that having hope is essential and we should be aiming to help other nations who are in dire need of it in order to sustain life. Zac, Taylor and Isaac themselves visited
Africa in order to see the devastation and effects of AIDS and give effort to help these innocent citizens break free from the epidemic. All proceeds to the download of this song from iTunes goes towards this cause.
The same choir can heard on “Been There Before,” a song about enjoying music and rock n’ roll for what it is, and “Blue Sky,” an upbeat pop/rock track that will get anybody dancing. On the former track, the entire Hanson clan (parents, siblings, wives and children) are heard clapping along at the end of the song. The latter, however, expresses the search for truth and happiness that drags on by
Taylor’s voice, who sings out in sincere agony, “This hope for answered questions/As rare as true conviction.” The song goes as far as expressing such desires of content in a sexual way, yet only if the listener uses the meaning of the song as a whole and then reads between the lines of the second verse. “I’ve seen the main attraction/I’ve felt the moment’s passion/I won’t be no soap box teacher/Just taking your time.” This verse tells us one specific place the man behind these lyrics wanted to be while the pen was in his hand.
Both “Blue Sky” and “Something Going Round” are about the issues the band faced with the production of their previous album, “Underneath,” due to creative differences with their former record label. “Something Going Round” deals with personal/emotional conflict that one is facing, but is choosing not to tell another person who is close to him and who recognizes something is wrong.
Being strong in difficult situations and learning to change one’s fate instead of spending one’s time on useless activities or by doing nothing at all, are the main topics in “Watch Over Me,” a track Isaac belts out very well, and “Your Illusion,” in which Taylor’s vocals matches all the instrumental changes throughout the course of the song, as he sings, “I bring no consolation for you and your pain/No one else can change your fate/You’ll have to do it for yourself.”
Being in love and missing one’s significant other is the theme behind the pop ballad with a rock sound, thanks to the sound of the drum set on “Georgia,” which is where
Taylor’s wife, Natalie, was raised. “Running Man,” in which Zac takes the lead on vocals, is about a man’s heartache with seeing someone he used to be in a relationship with, move on and enter a new relationship, in which the man is cheating on her. She refuses to listen to her previous main squeeze when he, otherwise known as “the running man” in the lyrics, tries to convince her otherwise.
This follows with “Go,” the bands first single, allowing Zac to explain to someone in a romantic relationship that he will not try to stop her from leaving the home she has come to know, nor the relationship, if she chooses to do so. The pop/rock ballad also discusses the possibilities their relationship can see if she does in fact choose to stay. “Go, if you want to go/But stay, if you want to know/The way, through the mess we’ve made/And lie in the bed you know/Or go.” Zac changes his pace on the upbeat track, “Tearing it Down,” which covers every style of music from rock to pop, and from dance to a bit of R&B.
Zac also has the final say on the album with his solo and title track to the album, “The Walk.” The awe of watching someone close to an individual commit suicide and not move after the act occurs, fills Zac’s voice with sadness and pain as the tears can almost be heard, along with the piano as the sole instrument to accompany him through the majority of the slow-paced song. “Well down on the floor/I watch from my seat/I watch as he sways with the trees/And slowly he moves, but so elegantly/I’m all on the edge of my seat.”
All in all, I give this album four out of five stars for originality, creativity, extremely strong harmonies and vocal arrangements, as well as deep lyrics with plays on words that your ten-year-old kid sister is not likely to comprehend.
Read a summary of Hanson’s previous album releases and what they have been up to over the past eight years.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
not a bad review all in all, except for the reading between the lines and imagined meanings in some of the songs…I’m pretty sure The Walk has nothing to do with suicide, for one,.