Vocalist Aimee Echo and keyboardist/bassist Jamie Miller formed theSTART, originally known as Hero, in August 1998, and recruited drummer Scott Ellis and guitarist Mike Smith soon afterwards.

However, the album was ultimately a commercial failure, and theSTART parted ways with The Label and Geffen five months after its release.

In August 1998, Aimee Echo of Human Waste Project and Jamie Miller of Snot formed a new band called Hero.

[10] Human Waste Project drummer Scott Ellis and guitarist Mike Smith, a friend of Miller, joined Hero not long after its formation; the band's first rehearsal took place on August 23, 1998, and they played their first show on September 9, 1998.

[11] Hero's live performances were well received, and the band caught the attention of producer Josh Abraham.

[12][13] The band signed their record deal with 143/Atlantic/JAB on July 29, 1999, and thereafter headed to Abraham's rehearsal space in Los Angeles to begin work on their debut album.

[12][14] Recording sessions for Hero's debut, then known as Circles, commenced in September 1999,[15] and wrapped up by the end of the year.

consists of a mix of polished, keyboard-driven material, and more immediate, punchier songs such as "Nemesis" and the album's title track.

[24] The album's title track features "veiled sociopolitcal commentary",[25] and "Communion" is "disguised as a love song, [...] but it's really about alien abduction.

"[26] As Echo or Miller had no expectations of what the band's output should look like, the album's writing process proved to be swift.

[11] The album features Troy Van Leeuwen playing guitar on the album's final track, "Time",[27] as well as a recording of Echo and Miller's dog, Eno, howling at a movie scene involving actor Will Ferrell in A Night at the Roxbury (1998) included as a hidden track.

[33][25] Three songs that were intended to appear on Circles, "Be Mine", "Make It Through" and "The Sin Original" (featuring Jay Gordon of Orgy), were cut from the album.

[1][38] The song's music video, directed by Doug Freidman, features the band performing in front of an audience at the Whiskey a Go-Go in Los Angeles on June 12, 2001.

Aimee Echo said that The Firm, Inc. had "branched itself out in a lot of different directions financially and they didn't feel [like] they wanted to put any more money into the record label", resulting in its closure.

Mat Hocking of Drowned in Sound awarded the album a perfect 10 rating, hailing it as "a blueprint for a groundbreaking new revolution in rock music.

"[10] AllMusic's Bret Love said that, outside of a weak mid-section and some issues with "retro kitsch", the album "provides many moments of flashback fun.

to be an "impressive debut album" featuring a "uniquely harsh, yet catchy-pop music quality that could rocket it to stardom.