To boot or not to boot? That is the question. Poor Hanson. Can you imagine the shock? They wake up one morning and clips of the Album X demo are all over the net. Or maybe not Poor Hanson. There are a bunch of folks out there who seem to think it was some sort of a ploy by Hanson to generate some pre-release conversation about the new album. Maybe they put it there themselves. I suppose anything is possible, but I'd say that scenario is unlikely. Record companies tend to be testy about little things like master tapes and copyrighted material. If Hanson did that, they certainly did it without the record company's permission, and that would put them in line for lawsuits of every variety. Judging from the way Hanson seems to run their operation, and the rather thick veil of secrecy they often clothe themselves in, it doesn't seem probable that the very first boot came from Hanson.

And then there's another thing. Does anyone remember what happened the last time there was all sorts of illegal Hanson material floating around the net? The band gave us a little present to make sure we'd never do it again. It's called Three Car Garage. Why have Suzie in Iowa make you a scratchy 65th generation copy of Soldier when you can go to Sam Goody and shell out fifteen bucks for a flawless one, complete with pictures? As much as we'd like to see that album as a gift for our undying love and devotion, I'd wager it was closer to an attempt to undercut the bootleg market. Hanson's not bad for doing that. One of the biggest, most tediously hyped recording projects of the decade, The Beatles Anthology, served the very same purpose. If Hanson would go through that to save their music from being illegally pirated, I'd guess they weren't the ones to put the Album X demo on the internet.

And if Hanson didn't put it there, who did? It's apparently someone very close to the operation because the leaked demos are of stellar quality, considering that Hanson made it themselves on a 4-track in their living room. The quality is far better even, than those scratchy boots of Boomerang and Mmmbop that were circulating two years ago. And those were professionally produced albums, to a certain extent. So maybe it was a friend. Isaac innocently passes on one copy to someone who's curious as to what's happening in the studio with Hanson. That person makes a single copy for one of their friends, and tells them not to pass it any further. That person does so anyway, thinking no one will find out. Now it's completely away from Hanson, as quickly as that. It's not hard to see how it could happen. One copy can become two, and two can become six and six can become twenty. And all it took was one person with a computer along the way. Suddenly, me, sitting at my computer in Boston, MA, can point, click and hear a Hanson song that no one's ever heard before. It doesn't exactly seem like a criminal act on any level.

But is it right or wrong? Should we listen? Should we wait? Should we continue to feverishly email each other the clips? I suppose the information is already there. One person deciding to download or not isn't exactly going to change the status of things much. I can say with a fair amount of confidence that hearing the demo isn't going to stop any of us from buying the actual CD when it comes out. If anything, it makes us even more anxious to hear completed versions of the potential we're hearing on the demos.

I am a firm believer that artists should be able to make a living off of the work they do. I don't like the "they have enough money already" argument. But is Hanson losing money here? We've already decided that we're all going to buy the album when it comes out. Were they planning on releasing the demos commercially? I don't think so. So I don't think it's a case of Hanson losing revenues.

Try as I might, I have yet to see the evil in listening to the Album X demo clips. If you're holding off because you want to be surprised, that's an entirely different situation. That's a matter of personal choice. Frankly, I wish I had the patience to do so myself. But I don't. Were the demos stolen? I highly doubt it was anything that sinister. I would venture to say though, that it was probably the work of kids. And at least one of them bears the name Hanson. As for lawyers and copyrights, those are issues for the adults to handle. For now, just let us hear the music.