It's been two years since that miraculous album came out. Maybe you don't listen to it as much as you used to. But once, just once, pull it out and listen to it in its entirety. Start to finish. Don't skip anything, not even Speechless. You will suddenly realize, as I have, that it is a) absolutely impossible to listen to that album and be in a crummy mood and b) if you happen to be in a crummy mood, it will immediately purge any ounce of badness from your system. There. That's better. Now where was I?

• Thinking of You: OK. If you could possibly bottle sunshine, ingest it and absorb it into your bloodstream, the result would be no different than if you listened to this song. And didn't you just die when you heard Zac do his "no matter how high" 4.2 second solo. It still brings a smile to our faces, even though the days of Zac being able to hit notes like that are a mere memory.
• Mmmbop: This song is so great, it gets its own theory. The Mmmbop Theory: If you say you don't like this song, you are lying. I don't care who you are. I don't care how old you are. You are a liar. There is no possible way to just sit there and be still when this song is playing. If you can, I think you are the most repressed person I know. Talk about happiness on a stick. And hello? That melody?! Who wrote that? Of course, to keep things all peaceful and democratic, they'll never tell us, but one of those Hanson boys has got quite the musical ear, yes sir.
• Weird: Now, I have to say, if there was no Weird video, there would be nothing particularly astonishing about Weird. Sure, we're all angst-ridden, isolated, misunderstood teenagers, and we all relate to the lyrics so well, blah blah, but the video made the song much more tolerable. Now I'm not saying it's not a good song. It's quite a good song. It's just that, well, it's a ballad, and Taylor conveniently inserts an emotional whisper here and there to convince us all that he feels our pain. It's not bad. It's hysterical. Let's just hope they never try acting.
• Speechless: Yeah. Whatever. Anyway… moving right along…
• Where's the Love?: Besides the fact that this song is my personal anthem, it just happens to be a good song. Now if Mmmbop is the number one Middle of Nowhere song for bouceability, this one is certainly second. And the "Ike/Zac bridge" not only ads a pleasant amount of variety to the song, it just makes us laugh, as did many of Isaac's early attempts to be a rock star.
• Yearbook: What's up with this song? Boys, is this your attempt to fantasize about what real school must be like? Do you really think it's that dramatic and mysterious? I have news. Stop trying to convince yourself that your happy little homeschool is so much more of a stable environment. What? Do you think that if you actually went to real public school you would disappear like Johnny? And just because he's gone doesn't mean something horrible happened to him. His dad probably got a job working for a plastics company in Peoria. He'll be at the reunion looking heavy and bald. Don't worry. Jeez, you guys just need to go to real school for a while. And another thing… if you ever need concrete proof that Taylor Hanson is a diva, look no further than this song. Shrieking. Screaming. Moaning. Calm down Tay! Remember… plastics company in Peoria. No big deal. Again, we like the song, and we think it's an impressive display of Taylor's talent. But man. Have a conniption why don't you?
• Look at You: You know, I feel kind of bad. People, including me, often say unpleasant things about this song. But you know what? It's not really that bad at all. The album version of it has, in the words of Mr. Handsome, "a cool groove." Sure. Actually, Taylor's vocal is kind of mildly sexy, and who doesn't enjoy that sort of thing? I do however, question how exactly someone can break the silence with a move of their hips. Oh well. Chalk it up to Taylor's dirty mind.
• Lucy: Poor Zac. He gets one shot in the limelight, one chance to outshine Taylor, the God of All Things Wonderful, and it's with this song. Now it's an OK song. Zac's vocal is terribly sweet, and we rather enjoy the half-serious I Love Lucy thing going on there, but couldn't you have given the child something with a little more weight? Everybody knows that he's the smartest one in that whole camp. Don't give him fluffy songs. The boy has vocal skills! Let him use them! Ah well. We still enjoy the moment.
• I Will Come to You: Ah! At last! The Inspirational Ballad! Every album needs one. And as far as Inspirational Ballads go, this is a great one. Better certainly than I Believe I Can Fly or that stupid Armageddon Aerosmith Song. Of course, the impact of the song was considerably lessened when we saw the video, and the divine emulsions of light pouring out of their heads. Hi? God complex? But it's a good song, especially in those sad crummy moments.
• A Minute Without You: Man, talk about utilizing your limelight! Now that's the idea Ike! We can't even mention this song without smiling, giggling, professing our love for this boy. The whole sentiment of the song is just so sweet and simple. I wanna be with you until the sun falls from the sky. Can you get any more uncomplicated and wonderful than that? This song is SO the musical equivalent of cookie dough ice cream.
• Madeline: OK. Taylor's turn for blissful sweetness. Please, don't be bitter if your name isn't Madeline. We love the bounce of this song. We love the melody. Again, it exudes happiness, and that is a good thing.
• With You In Your Dreams: Wow. Talk about musical muscle. This song astounded the heck out of me when I first heard it. Besides the fact that it's absolutely beautiful, it happens to be completely heart wrenching too. It's written in the first person, which a) is just cool because it's unexpected and there isn't a whole lot of that in pop music these days and b) it shows an incredible amount of bravery on Hanson's part. For a band that really doesn't like sharing tons of personal stuff with their fans, this must have been a big ole risk for them. Yay for the risk taking. Yay for the song.
• Man from Milwaukee: This is just a weird song. Seriously. There are so many lyrics in this song that could officially be labeled "questionable" if you took them out of context. (Underwear…barely dressed… barely insane… hallucinating) I mean, that's not to say that anything nasty was implied when Hanson wrote the song. They were young and unaware back then, or something. Notice they didn't sing the "just barely dressed" line at Albertane. Hmm. So maybe they are aware. Whatever. Besides all of that, it's a great song and makes us smile because it makes no sense whatsoever in a most pleasantly Zacish way. If Zac was a song, he'd be Man From Milwaukee. And do you know what is the best moment of this song? When it ends… "or maybe today!" and then there is a random guitar riff and then it's over. Well, if you happen to listen to it in a Discman with one of those little windows in the front, you'll notice that the CD will stop spinning exactly on the off beat. It's a riot. You should try it some time.

Stop worrying about the new album for a minute and take some time to rediscover the old one.