Customer Rating:      Summary: It makes sense that it should hurt in this way Comment: Poe is a master of covering all the landscapes, emotionally as well as instrumentally in her work. She works the elevated vocabulary and sexual digital metaphor like a poet, bending it against catchy rhythms and sometimes quite soulfully stark accompaniment. I can appreciate the woman power element she brings to her sound--Ruby-esque in a frank and sometimes scathing way, but always with tremendous depth of feeling. While I appreciate her ability in mastering tracks as dance tunes, she shows a real strength of emotion in the bleak "Fly Away." Every song on this CD is win, though. Rare find, that.
Customer Rating:      Summary: love it Comment: i have nothing to say except I love Poe and it is unfortunate that not enough people appriciate her. my favorite artist by far
Customer Rating:      Summary: Best. Artist. Ever. Comment: I've been listening to Poe for over 10 years, and consider her to be one of the finest artists out there. Both her albums are a must have, though they are quite different.
My first act upon meeting the woman of my dreams (who has thankfully become my wife) was to get her hooked on Poe. She's now as big a fan as I. Hoo-rah! :D :D :D :D
Seriously, well worth the price.
Customer Rating:      Summary: I can't believe the guy could be entirely dead Comment: While Hello lacks the overall storytelling ability that made Haunted such an amazing listen, nothing else is different. Poe's vocals still shine in a laid-back, almost not trying sense. The lyrics are extremely clever and unflinchingly honest. Any fan of Poe's would expect nothing less. However different Hello is to Haunted, this is still undeniably Poe.
I started being a fan of Poe after hearing Haunted. It wasn't until recently that I decided to go back and listen to her first disc, Hello. As great as this CD is I still prefer Haunted to it. But Hello has it's genius moments. I think the time spent in between records gave her time to mature her vocals and lyrics a bit but for the most part, I'm really happy with what we're give here. Whether it's the wittiness of Trigger Happy Jack to the understatedness of Angry Johnny, this is an entertaining listen throughout.
Hello starts off pretty good and is a fairly good interpretation of what you'll hear throughout the CD. The beat is great and Poe's desolate tone of voice really binds well. Trigger Happy Jack (Drive By A Go-Go) has brilliant lyrics. The verses flow nicely enough but then the chorus just comes crashing in, it's impossible not to like it. That Day starts off with talking/singing but eventually comes in with guitar feedback (maybe?) and the song starts getting really good. Angry Johnny reminds me of soap operas. Why? I have no idea. Honestly there's nothing that sets this song apart from anything else but Poe's voice just sounds terrific. Another World has a lounge type of beat and Poe's voice once again shines. Beautiful Girl serves as the highlight in terms of ballads. Performed acousticly through half of the song, you'd be correct in thinking that the vocals are what's put on display. And finally, Fly Away. Poe says it best herself on the opening lyric in which she says "It makes sense that it should happen this way." It takes a while to get here, but you find the best song offered in Fly Away. Both beautiful and catchy.
My favorite songs are Trigger Happy Jack (Drive By A Go-Go), That Day, Angry Johnny, Beautiful Girl, and Fly Away. As good as this may be, it really is just a stepping stone compared to Haunted. However, to newcomers, definitely start here. This is best listened to in the dead of night with all lights off where you're doing nothing but playing this in your CD player. It took me quite a few listens to really start enjoying what's offered but once you do I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself immensely. Hello is great but the best is yet to come I'm sure.
Customer Rating:      Summary: How much does PoE rock? Comment: in the year 2000, i did study abroad for the first time, and in an effort to pack lightly, i took only one small cd case worth of discs with me. the crown jewels of the collection were jeff buckley's grace, kate bush's the dreaming, carl orff's carmina burana, and PoE's hello. i listened to them constantly, especially on the bus when we took day-trips. (i did add french purchases, as well...most notably teri moise)
when the weekend of the Annunciation came up, two friends and i decided to take the long weekend in Amsterdam. on the train, tommy (one of the two--kelly being the other) was curious about my music. first, he gave kate bush a whack, and then PoE. he was enrapt with both women, but especially so with PoE--duh, huh?
all through the trip, he held on to the disc, and i had a hard time getting it back from him. when on the way home from the Dam i told him i would make a gift of the disc (at the end of the summer, on the plane goin' home), he was elated!!! (who wouldn't be?)
the next overnight we had was as a class: Carcassonne!!! (an amazing walled medieval city, in the south of france--beautiful, and cool-cool-cool!!!) we stayed in the auberge, in the center of the old city. the inn-keepers do not monitor the boy/girl arrangements (nor do they care), and all of us were at least 18, so tommy roomed with us--a group of chicas. sometime, over the course of the long weekend, PoE disappeared. tommy admitted he had "borrowed" her, and as we were all going to the same place(s), i did not worry--especially because i had decided to give her to him in a couple of weeks, anyway.
long story short, i never saw that disc again. THAT IS HOW MUCH PoE ROCKS!!!
p.s. when in 2001 i met PoE at a record shop in the Woodlands, TX (north of Houston), and i told her the story, she was sooo sweet!!! she signed my stuff: "thanks for taking me to Europe!!!" who wouldn't love her after that?
p.p.s. MZD was there with her, and i got to meet him as well. super neat guy!!!
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