Lisa Loeb

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, All Music Guide