pe is the debut album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band Hed PE. It was released on August 12, 1997 by Jive Records

Jive Records

Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...

, and has sold over 100,000 copies.

Music

Many of the tracks on this album were re-recorded from the band's debut EP, Church of Realities

Church of Realities

-Personnel:*M.C.U.D. — lead vocals*Mawk — bass*Wesstyle — guitars*Chizad — guitars, vocals*B.C. — drums and percussion*DJ Product ©1969 — turntables*The Finger — keyboard...

; the album's musical style is a fusion of melodic punk and hip hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

. It also includes elements of funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

.

Release

The album sold over 100,000 copies. Due to the label's contractual terms and the disappointing sales of the album, the band found themselves unable to repay the cash advances given to them by Jive.

Jared Gomes is quoted as saying "We had these romantic visions of the music industry, and we thought it would be cool to be a punk band on a rap label. So we fulfilled that dream, but it was also probably the worst thing that could have happened. [...] We've had offers from Sony and others that we can't take because we owe Jive so much money."

The album cover is an illustration of the music being played by Hed PE who are seen in the middle playing a concert, while a barrage of music is exploding outwardly.

Reception

In his review of the album, Allmusic's Steve Huey wrote that "There are some slow and/or unfocused moments [...] but overall, its aggression will probably play well with late-'90s metal and punk fans."

Track listing

Personnel

• Jared Gomes — lead vocals
• Mawk — bass
• Wesstyle — guitars
• Chizad — guitars, vocals
• B.C. — drums and percussion
• DJ Product ©1969 — turntables