Hello Lisa (2002)

In retrospect, the monster success of "Stay (I Missed You)" did Lisa Loeb no favors, much as Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" eventually must have become something of a burden for Aimee Mann. The comparison is apt, both because Hello Lisa recalls the poppy but low-key folk-rock that's long been Mann's stock-in-trade and because its release was marred by the same kind of record company politics that stalled Mann's career for years: Hello Lisa is actually a revamped version of the earlier A&M release Cake and Pie, which had been ... Read More

In retrospect, the monster success of "Stay (I Missed You)" did Lisa Loeb no favors, much as Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" eventually must have become something of a burden for Aimee Mann. The comparison is apt, both because Hello Lisa recalls the poppy but low-key folk-rock that's long been Mann's stock-in-trade and because its release was marred by the same kind of record company politics that stalled Mann's career for years: Hello Lisa is actually a revamped version of the earlier A&M release Cake and Pie, which had been dumped unceremoniously on the market earlier in 2002. Releasing herself from her contract, Loeb signed with the friendlier Artemis Records, replaced a few of Cake and Pie's weaker tracks with better new material -- including an excellent acoustic reworking of the extremely Mann-like single "What Am I Supposed to Say" -- and reissued the album in a more attractive new cover. Other highlights include the snarky teenage romance tune "You Don't Know Me" and the catchy power ballad "Underdog." ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi Read Less