As the Tulsa-based Hanson prepares for its stop at the Lloyd Noble Center, the young band of brothers is keeping things interesting -- throwing in classic covers, slicing and dicing their set lists and keeping lighting technicians on their toes. "It's become a little bit of a joke," said guitarist Isaac Hanson, 19, of the stress they put on their crew. "When we start whispering between us onstage, they're just going, 'What are they doing.' But we've had a lot of fun, because we've made the set list different every night, and been changing opening songs and playing musical transitions -- it's been fun creatively."

"There is a slightly different dynamic, because we have more songs to play," said Zac Hanson, the 14-year-old drummer for the group. When we go out there, it's like, 'We'll go out there and play something that's not on the list.' We go up there with a more open mind as to what we're going to end up doing in the end."

The group, which includes 17-year-old keyboardist Taylor Hanson, is playing all its biggest hits, including "MmmBop," "Where's the Love" and "Weird," as well as songs from their second major label album, "This Time Around." They've also been rummaging through the classic rock closet, introducing a new generation to tracks by Cream, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.

"It's to get the opportunity to play those songs and have fun with them," Isaac said. "For instance, we did a relatively unusual cover, 'Crosstown Traffic' by Jimi Hendrix. It's a cool song, and it's definitely something people don't expect us to do.

"They respond very well to the new stuff," he said. "In fact, the other night, we changed up our set quite a bit and opened with a bunch of old songs. We opened with 'Look at You,' 'Thinking of You' and 'Where's the Love,' then we played a song from 'Three-Car Garage.' (the 1998 compilation of early '90s recordings).

"By the fourth song, somebody in the audience yelled, 'Play something off the new record!' So, 'Runaway Run' was the next song on the set."

Although he said the group has changed little since bursting on the scene three years ago, Zac Hanson himself has changed considerably: the formerly diminutive drummer is now as tall as his brothers, and his soprano has deepened to a baritone, which presents a unique challenge when performing solos on older songs like "Lucy."

"They sound slightly different, but with those songs, we'll change the key sometimes," Zac said.

"Everybody goes through it, but being a singer it's something you have to work through," he said of his voice change. "When your voice drops, your vocal cords thicken and a lot of people lose their range, but to me, those songs sound pretty much the same as they did on the album."

"Everybody who is there is there to hear both new Hanson music and old Hanson music," Isaac said. "They are passionate about the music and they're enjoying themselves."

Unfortunately for Hanson, there just aren't as many "this time around." The group's follow-up to "Middle of Nowhere" has, in strictly commercial terms, landed them precisely in the middle of nowhere -- as of August, it had only sold about 300,000 copies. Although "This Time Around" received almost unanimously positive reviews for its stronger material and harder approach, the reviews did not translate into solid sales. With many of the group's former fans now spending allowances on airbrushed, heavily choreographed teen idols, Hanson is now left with a fraction of its previous audience.

Isaac Hanson said he believes that he and his brothers were true to themselves with the album, and that it was impossible to predict what set of circumstances would be in place once "This Time Around" was shipped to radio and landed in the record stores.

"There are a lot of dynamics and a lot of politics that go into records and getting played on the radio," he said. "Maybe it's the environment that we are in now: it is dramatically more synthesized, more canned pop than what was around three years ago.

"I also think that it's just perception and a new musical environment, so you're kind of having to fight your way through. Everybody has their ups and downs, and that's what makes you tougher."

Taylor Hanson is just concerned with the group staying on course with their music. Although the brothers cannot point to an appointed leader in the band, Taylor is regarded by most industry watchers as the star. With his soulful vocals and star quality, Taylor is often compared to a young Gregg Allman, sans drug use and marriage to Cher. Despite the widespread notion that Hanson is responsible for the boy band boom, Taylor said his group is going its own way, and if others want to follow, he'll be happy to have them along for the ride.

"Hanson has never gone in the direction that everyone else has gone," he said. "When 'Middle of Nowhere' came out, it was completely opposite from what was going on. 'This Time Around' veers in a different direction than Britney and Backstreet, and it's different from what is being embraced by the public at this point.

"But we've never really followed what was happening," he said. "We do it because we love it. With each record that you do, you have to feel really satisfied -- that you've made a record that represents who you are as a band. This is just an album in a row of many albums. It is really hard for people to see past that, and it's rare in this industry for people to have a very long perspective, but we're in it for the long haul."

For someone who is not yet able to cast a ballot, Taylor Hanson has a worldly view of the industry that took them to the top and now appears to be letting them dangle. His next comments sounded like a passage from Fredric Dannen's "Hit Men," the 1990 book about payola and independent promotion in the record industry.

"So much of this industry is luck -- that moment that you write that song that comes together at a time to work with the right producer, to connect with the right guy to hand the money to the right person at the radio station to play it," he said.

"A lot of it's luck, and the rest of it is hard work and devotion to doing something you love. All we need is the luck."

[All content copyrighted 2000 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.]