Internet Review: Hanson.net gets an upgrade

This issue's Internet review is dedicated to a site I have been very familiar with for the last almost ten years. It is the website for the rock group Hanson www.hansonline.com. I know, you think I'm weird, but whatever. They are very talented and actually very interesting people. This website has been revamped over and over again through the ten years the band has been famous.

The website is reasonably easy to navigate, even though today I discovered that they changed it again in the wake of their fourth studio album, "The Walk," due out early next year.

How To Navigate:

The News button is your link to all the news about the band, which includes any personal postings they may have made, TV appearances, CD updates, news articles, and news on concerts that they may be having.

Now, we come to one of my favorite links: The Gallery is filled with pictures of the band. And no, they don't have long hair anymore.

They have a Fan Club link where Hanson.net members can go to their special site, filled with much more information, pictures, videos, such as From Us To You, where the band updates fans on how the album is coming, when concerts are going to be, and when things are going to be released.

Hanson.net members receive a fan club package that is sent in the spring of every year. This time, members were sent a special CD with live recordings of "Lost Without Each Other" and "Dancing in the Wind," off of their last CD, "Underneath," as well as a live recording of "You Never Know," off of their sophomore record, "This Time Around."

As a special, members were given a new animated music video for the song, "Misery." This video was made by the youngest member of the band, Zac, who turned 21 on October 22. The fan club package includes so much more than what I have mentioned, such as email accounts, access to members only chats with the band, access to the Hanson Hotline, pre-sale concert tickets, and a complete audio/visual library with past and future Hanson media, a must have for a die hard fan.

The Forums are a perfect place to share thoughts on new music, concerts, and anything else. They are also a good place to find fellow Hanson fans to chat with.

The Hanson.net Store is the perfect place to find t-shirts, posters, hoodies, and anything Hanson that strikes your fancy. Personally, I have never shopped there, just window shopped, and got all my Hanson merchandise at concerts or as gifts from other people.

Changes:

Hanson.net was revamped yet again right when I went to do my article. You can still visit the older page by clicking on the fan club link. There, you can see the old blue page and go from there. Overall, I love this site and find it very useful, especially around album releases.