Haunted (Poe album)

History

Haunted found Poe combining traditional pop notions with electronic, dance and hard rock music. A critical success and largely adored by her existing fanbase, it nonetheless flopped commercially, largely due to the manner in which it was marketed. The song "Hey Pretty" was released as a promo single, but Poe's vocals had been replaced with a chapter reading from her brother, as alternative radio of 2001 was not very willing to play female artists. It reached #13 on Billboard's US Modern Rock chart. The music video for the song was deemed too racy for MTV showing a scantily clad Poe writhing around in mud. A follow-up promo single, "Walk the Walk", was released because it had been chosen as the theme song to a new TV drama called Girls Club. However, the show was canceled after two episodes. "Wild" was released as a third single, garnering some radio play in the Chicago area. The single was never released commercially, but featured a shorter radio mix in addition to an acoustic/rock version of the song. The title track was used as the theme song to the film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. The commercial failure of Poe's second album contributed to the loss of her distribution contract with Atlantic Records.

Haunted was also referenced in the 2002 film Panic Room. In a conversation between Jodie Foster's character and the agent selling the home containing the Panic Room, Sarah Altman asks "Ever read any Poe?", to which the response given is "No, but I loved her last album!".

The song "Haunted" was also featured at the end of the second episode of the video game Alan Wake for Xbox 360, as well as the Tai Chi Warmup in the Les Mills BodyBalance/BodyFlow program release number 54.

The album also featured samples of audio recordings made by Poe's father, film director Tad Danielewski. The cassettes were found by Poe and Mark after their father had died and were literally audio-letters to the two of them that spanned back as far as their birth. Thus, the album is usually interpreted as a real woman (Poe) singing tributes to her deceased father (who sings back) even while telling the story of a group of fictional characters (from House of Leaves).

Reception

Haunted received generally positive reviews. On Metacritic, the album has a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic gave the album a positive review, writing "Haunted is in its own class of twisted intelligence and beauty." In another positive review, PopMatters's Eden Miller wrote "Few musicians are on the same level as Poe in terms of her bravery exposing and expressing her own personal fears. While it's a bit obvious to say it, Haunted will haunt you." In another positive review, Jason Mandell of LA Weekly wrote "Those without patience for such abstractions (brief though they may be) may find Haunted tiresome. The rest of us can rejoice in its originality and thank our lucky stars that Poe had the confidence and imagination to make it."

In a mixed review, Rolling Stone's Neva Chonin wrote "Unfortunately, Haunted reverberates with tired samples, rehashed echo effects and beats so plodding they could stop a metronome." Q also gave the album a mixed review, writing "The mood is too heavy for far too long, but some good songs and more cohesive, melodic structures augur well for this damaged daughter's future."

Personnel

Production

Charts

Album – Billboard (US)

Singles – Billboard (US)