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Hotel Paper

( 2003 Albums )

Background
Singles
Critical reception
Commercial performance
Track listing
Personnel
Charts

Weekly charts
Year-end charts

Certifications
References

C O N T E N T S

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Rank: 100%

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Hotel Paper is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Michelle Branch. It was released on June 24, 2003, through Maverick Records. The production on the album was handled by a variety of record producers such as Josh Abraham, Rick Depofi, John Leventhal, John Shanks & Greg Wells.

Hotel Paper was supported by three singles: "Are You Happy Now?", "Breathe" and "'Til I Get over You". The album received mixed critical reviews and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 157,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in December 2003.

Background

Some of the major themes on Hotel Paper are leaving things behind, constantly being on the move, independence, the mysteries of bus stations and spirituality. The album's cover is a photograph of Branch by Sheryl Nields.

Singles

"Are You Happy Now?", the album's first single, peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Branch's third nomination. The second single was "Breathe", which reached number 36 on the Hot 100 and became a top five nightclub hit. A third single, "'Til I Get over You", was released with no music video and failed to chart.

Critical reception

Hotel Paper earned mixed to average reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a Standard score rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an Weighted mean score of 57, based on ten reviews. Alex Pappademas, writing for Spin, praised Branch for "sticking to her folk-rock guns on Hotel Paper, which boasts road-toughened guitars and a welcome accusatory edge." Similarly, Dan Aquilante from The New York Post observed that "There's an undercurrent of anger on this record that Branch manages to channel and transform into rock intensity." Steve Hochman of the Los Angeles Times described Hotel Paper as "state-of-the-art pop" but criticized Branch's songwriting: "The only thing she sings about is dating problems, and she does so in generic terms ... Branch has experienced a big, wide world out there in the last couple of years. Too bad it's not reflected in her songs." Meanwhile, Rolling Stone editor Rob Sheffield called the album "your basic second-album material" but noted that Branch "is determined to mature and... has the talent to become the long-term pop pro she clearly wants to be — it's just a matter of working on her craft until it matches her drive."

AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine offered a more critical perspective, stating that "Branch remains appealing — her blend of pop and mild roots rock sounds good and she has a nice, plainspoken charm and straight-ahead voice — but she's buried beneath the slick veneer of Hotel Paper's production and does not help herself with her compositions, which are vaguely ingratiating, but rarely rise above the generic level." Todd Burns of Stylus Magazine was even less impressed, writing that the album "treads the line between rushed brilliance and rushed dross. Much of the second half of the album is significantly less strong than the first half ... Sure, there are moments of brilliance on the second half, but not sustained brilliance." Finally, Sarah Liss from Now was harshest, arguing that "Branch's glossy guitar pop is fairly devoid of character. On her sophomore album the girl proves she's a decent belter, eschewing the drama-heavy affectations of her peers, and can write a tune. Problem is, most of the 13 tracks here sound identical."

Commercial performance

Hotel Paper debuted at number two on US Billboard 200 chart, selling 157,000 copies in its first week. This became Branch's first US top-ten debut and highest first-week sales to date. In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, selling an additional 85,000 copies. In its third week, the album dropped to number six on the chart, selling 65,000 more copies. The album spent a total of 33 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart. On December 9, 2003, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over a million copies. As of March 2009, the album had sold 1,116,000 copies in the United States.

In Canada, the album peaked at number four on the Canadian Album Chart and was certified gold for shipments of over 50,000 copies. "Search Certification Database" . Canadian Recording Industry Association.

Track listing

Personnel

Performers and musicians

Michelle Branch – vocals, acoustic guitar (3–5), guitars (8, 10, 13), percussion (10), keyboards (13), backing vocals (14)
Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards (1–3, 9)
Patrick Warren – keyboards (4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13)
Josh Abraham – keyboards (6), programming (6)
Oliver Goldstein – acoustic piano (6), keyboards (6), programming (6)
Greg Wells – acoustic piano (8, 10), Electric organ (8, 10), guitars (8), bass (8),Wurlitzer electric piano (10)
John Leventhal – keyboards (11), guitars (11), bass (11)
Lars Fox – programming (13)
Rick Nowels – keyboards (14), acoustic guitar (14), backing vocals (14)
Chester D. Thompson – acoustic piano (14), Electric organ (14)
Dave Navarro – guitars (2)
John Shanks – guitars (2–5, 7, 9, 12, 13), bass (3, 9, 13), programming (13)
Stuart Smith – mandolin (7)
Carlos Santana – electric lead guitar (14), horn arrangements (14)
Rusty Anderson – additional electric guitar (14)
Paul Bushnell – bass (2)
Chris Chaney – bass (4, 5, 7, 9, 12)
Mike Elizondo – bass (9)
Dan Rothchild – bass (10)
Benny Rietveld – bass (14)
Kenny Aronoff – drums (2–5, 7, 9, 12, 13)
Brian MacLeod – drums (8, 10)
Shawn Pelton – drums (11)
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums (13)
Brian Collier – drums (14)
Wayne Rodrigues – drum programming (14)
Luis Conte – percussion (8), additional percussion (14)
Chris Reynolds – percussion (10)
Rick Depofi – percussion (11)
Karl Perazzo – percussion (14)
Raul Rekow – (14)
Jeff Cressman – trombone (14), horn arrangements (14)
Marty Wehner – trombone (14)
Julius Melendez – trumpet (14)
Bill Ortiz – trumpet (14), horn arrangements (14)
David Campbell – string arrangements (4)
Sheryl Crow – vocals (7)
Jessica Harp – backing vocals (8)
Siedah Garrett – backing vocals (14)
Niki Haris – backing vocals (14)
Tony Lindsay – additional vocals (14)
Andy Vargas – additional vocals (14)