You Oughta Know: The Paula Cole Band, AMEN

So remember how last month was Black History Month, and we commandeered some of our usual features here on Rhino.com to turn them into opportunities to spotlight black artists? Well, this month is National Women’s History Month, and if you don’t see where we’re going with this... Okay, fine, we’ll spell it out for you: we’re still going to be commandeering some of our usual features, but this time we’re doing so in order to spotlight female artists?

You’re welcome, dear readers!

So let’s get to talking about an album that you oughta know but probably don’t, just because it followed the most successful LP of Paula Cole’s career and therefore been overshadowed because it isn’t the album that contains “I Don’t Want to Wait” and “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?”

Produced by Cole herself (with “scratches” credited to DJ Premier), AMEN is officially credited to The Paula Cole Band, even though most people – including her fans – tend to just think of it as a Paula Cole album. Released in September 1999, the LP did feature a song that hit #22 on Adult Top 40 radio: “I Believe in Love.” It’s also worth noting that the track got a remix which additionally took it to #18 on the Hot Dance Music / Club Play chart.

Although the album itself topped out at #92 on the Billboard 200, that should not be taken as proof that AMEN isn’t at least a good an album as its predecessor. Indeed, it may even surpass it, based on Stephen Thomas Erlewine’s review on AllMusic. Referring to it as “the work of a professional record-maker, someone who not only knows how to craft a song, but knows how to craft sound,” Erlewine summed up the LP by describing it as “the work of an artist who is more assured than ever before” and that, musically, it “results in a stronger album than its predecessor.”

If you’ve never listened to AMEN before, you’re probably kicking yourself right now, and if you have listened to it in the past, you may be wondering why you haven’t listened to it lately. So why not go listen to it right now?