''Hello'' is the debut album by the American singer-songwriter Poe. It was released in 1995 on

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Hadda Brooks, Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turn ...

Background

Aside from the Detroit studio of album producer RJ Rice, the recording of ''Hello'' took place at a variety of studios in Los Angeles. The first music video for the album was for the single "Angry Johnny"; it featured Poe on the skeletal frame of a bed looking forlorn whilst destroying a variety of effects one might associate with romance (like roses or a box of chocolates). The song's rage-filled lyrics quickly found her being lumped into the "angry female rocker" category, and the video was heavily played on MTV's ''Alternative Nation''. The second single, "Hello", did not fare as well, until a remix version was released two years after the album's initial release. At least one other track (Junkie) was remixed as well, since the 1999 CD-quality download of 'Hello' contains a version of 'Junkie' with more instrument layers (horns and warbly guitar) that is 6 seconds shorter than the 3:06 original. ''Hello'' was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on November 20, 1996.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote that "Poe has enough personality to keep the pleasant and occasionally intriguing album her own, but not enough to make it a strong statement." '' MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' called the album "a mess of over-personal, overproduced folk songs," aside from "Trigger Happy Jack" and "Angry Johnny." ''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'' wrote that Poe "rips and rocks, but she doesn't kick out the jams at the expense of the songcraft."

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing on Wilson Phillips' debut and sophomore albums, '' Wilson Phillips'' and '' Shadows and Light'', ...

in an interview on Spotify's Landmark series quoted "Around the time, I was making this record

Jagged Little Pill ''Jagged Little Pill'' is the third studio album by Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette, released by Maverick (company), Maverick on June 13, 1995. Recorded in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood at Westlake Recording Studios, Westlake wit ...

, I heard some tracks by an artist named Poe. I heard a couple of these things and it really blew my mind. As much as anything, the Poe record, "Hello", was probably the biggest influence I had at that time, honestly, because it was a brilliant record that had jazz influence, hip hop, electronic, rock. It was a hybrid of the first degree."

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Poe. ;Sample credits *"Fingertips" contains a vocal sample from "Like a Lover" as performed by Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66.

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes. Musicians *Poe –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

(all tracks),

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(11),

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

(8), additional programming (7) *Richard Barrow –

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(11) * Alex Blanc –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(9) *Jon Brooks –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(3) *Lionel Cole – programming (2, 8) *Jeffrey Connor –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(2, 3, 5, 9), bass programming (1), guitar (3) *Ronnie Estelle – programming (1) *

Amp Fiddler Joseph Anthony "Amp" Fiddler (May 17, 1958 – December 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. His musical styles included funk, soul, dance and electronica. He was probably best kn ...

– keyboards (8) *Eric Garcia – guitar (9), keyboards (9) *Karl Givens – trumpet (8) *Joey Grossman – guitar (5) *Sean Uberoi Kelly – bass (6), guitar (6), programming (6) *Dean Pleasants – guitar (2) * RJ Rice – keyboards (7), programming (5, 7, 10) *

Matt Sorum Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...

– drums (2, 9) *Cameron Stone –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(4) *Jeffery L. Walker, Jr. – keyboards (6), additional keyboards (8), keyboard programming (5), additional programming (10) *Tony Wilson – guitar (1, 3) *

Jay Dee James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

– programming (8) Technical *Poe –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

(3, 4, 9, 11), co-production (1, 2, 6, 7), editing, mixing (3, 4, 11) *Jeffrey Connor – production (3), co-production (2) *

Dave Jerden David Jerden (July 25, 1949 – February 5, 2025) was an American record producer, audio engineer and mixer. He is best-known for producing, engineering and mixing albums recorded by a variety of bands from the mid-to-late 1980s and 1990s, inc ...

– executive production, production (2),

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(1, 8), mixing (1, 2, 8) *RJ Rice – production (1, 5-8, 10), engineering (1, 5, 6, 8, 10), mixing (5, 6, 10) *Richard Barrow – engineering (4, 11) *James Beaty – engineering assistance (8) *Alex Blanc – editing, engineering (3) *Brian Carlstrom – engineering (1) *Annette Cisceros – engineering assistance (1, 8) *Amanda Cruz – engineering assistance (5, 6, 8, 10, production coordination *Eric Garcia – editing, engineering (3), mixing (9) *Steve Klein – engineering (2, 8), mixing (2, 8) *Eddy Schreyer – mastering *Slam – engineering assistance (5, 6, 8, 10) Design *Beau Barton – art direction, design, cover photography *Thomas Bricker – art direction, design, additional photography *Amanda Cruz – photography *Marty Levin – back cover photography *Poe – lyric collages

Chart positions

Album – ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' (US) Singles – ''Billboard'' (US)

References

{{Authority control 1995 debut albums Poe (singer) albums Albums produced by Dave Jerden Contemporary R&B albums by American artists