Hotel Paper

Hotel Paper
Studio album by
Michelle Branch
ReleasedJune 24, 2003
Studio
  • Henson Recording Studios, Ocean Way Recording and Cello Studios (Hollywood, California)
  • NRG Studios and Larrabee North (North Hollywood, California)
  • Rocket Carousel Studio (Culver City, California)
  • Image Recording Studios and Westlake Audio (Los Angeles, California)
  • The Big Space (Santa Monica, California)
  • Fantasy Studios (Berkeley, California)
  • Noise New York (New York City, New York)
  • Seventeen Grand Recording (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre
Length47:05
LabelMaverick
Producer
Michelle Branch chronology
The Spirit Room
(2001) 		Hotel Paper
(2003) 		Everything Comes and Goes
(2010)
Singles from Hotel Paper
  1. "The Game of Love"
    Released: September 23, 2002
  2. "Are You Happy Now?"
    Released: May 19, 2003[1]
  3. "Breathe"
    Released: September 22, 2003[2]
  4. "'Til I Get Over You"
    Released: February 9, 2004

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.[3] The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in December 2003.[4]

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.[5] 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 club hit. A third single, "'Til I Get over You", was released with no music video and failed to chart.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic57/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Entertainment WeeklyC[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
Now[10]
Q[6]
Rolling Stone[5]
Slant Magazine[11]
Stylus MagazineC−[12]
Spin6/10[13]
Yahoo! Music UK[14]

Hotel Paper earned mixed to average reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 57, based on ten reviews.[6] 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."[15] 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."[16] 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."[9] 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."[5]

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."[7] 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."[12] 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."[10]

Commercial performance

Hotel Paper debuted at number two on US Billboard 200 chart, selling 157,000 copies in its first week.[3] This became Branch's first US top-ten debut and highest first-week sales to date.[3] In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, selling an additional 85,000 copies.[17] In its third week, the album dropped to number six on the chart, selling 65,000 more copies.[18] The album spent a total of 33 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart.[19] On December 9, 2003, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over a million copies.[4] As of March 2009, the album had sold 1,116,000 copies in the United States.[20]

In Canada, the album peaked at number four on the Canadian Album Chart and was certified gold for shipments of over 50,000 copies.[21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michelle Branch, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Intro" 0:12
2."Are You Happy Now?"
3:50
3."Find Your Way Back" 3:45
4."Empty Handed" 4:50
5."Tuesday Morning" 4:43
6."One of These Days" 3:23
7."Love Me Like That" (with Sheryl Crow)
  • Branch
  • Shanks
4:35
8."Desperately" 3:06
9."Breathe"
  • Branch
  • Shanks
3:32
10."Where Are You Now?" 3:26
11."Hotel Paper" 4:19
12."'Til I Get Over You"
  • Branch
  • Shanks
4:10
13."It's You" (Outro begins at 2:30) 3:14
International edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Everywhere"
  • Branch
  • Shanks
3:36
14."The Game of Love" (with Santana)
4:15
15."It's You" 3:14
Digital deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."It's You" (Outro excluded) 2:29
14."Wanting Out" 3:48
15."Lay Me Down"
3:14
16."A Case of You"Joni Mitchell4:15
17."'Til I Get Over You" (Acoustic live from AOL Sessions)
  • Branch
  • Shanks
4:06
iTunes Store deluxe edition bonus videos
No.TitleLength
18."Are You Happy Now?" (Music video)4:02
19."Breathe" (Music video)3:32

Personnel

Performers and musicians

Technical

  • Danny Strick – A&R
  • John Shanks – producer (1–5, 7, 9, 12, 13)
  • Josh Abraham – producer (6), mixing (6)
  • Greg Wells – producer (8, 10)
  • John Leventhal – producer (11, 15)
  • Rick Depofi – co-producer (11), engineer (11)
  • Alex Anders – producer (14)
  • Rick Nowels – producer (14)
  • Dan Chase – recording (2–5, 7, 9, 12)
  • Marc DeSisto – recording (2–5, 7, 9, 12, 13)
  • Lars Fox – recording (2–5, 7, 9, 12, 13), Pro Tools editing (13)
  • Jeff Rothschild – recording (2–5, 7, 9, 12)
  • Ryan Williams – engineer (6)
  • Brian Scheuble – engineer (8, 10)
  • Greg Collins – engineer (14)
  • Chris Garcia – engineer (14)
  • Jim Gaines – engineer (14)
  • Michael Rosen – engineer (14)
  • Randy Wine – engineer (14)
  • Brian Humphrey – assistant engineer (2–5, 7, 9, 12)
  • Eric Reichers – assistant engineer (2–5, 7, 9, 12)
  • Mark Valentine – assistant engineer (2–5, 7, 9, 12)
  • Mark J. Ciccula – assistant engineer (6)
  • Chris Reynolds – second engineer (8, 10)
  • Jorge Velez – assistant engineer (11)
  • Ben Conrad – assistant engineer (14)
  • Scott Holderby – assistant engineer (14)
  • Kieron Menzies – assistant engineer (14)
  • Alec Veucasovic – assistant engineer (14)
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing (2–5, 7, 9, 12, 13)
  • Jim Scott – mixing (8, 10)
  • Roger Moutenot – mixing (11)
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing (14)
  • Jesse Gorman – mix assistant (6)
  • Chris Holmes – mix assistant (10)
  • Rob Clark – mix assistant (11)
  • Josh "Tone" Weaver – Pro Tools editing (14)
  • Brian Gardner – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)
  • Jill Dell'Abate – production coordinator (11)
  • Robert Cappadona – project coordinator (14)
  • Kirsten Johnson – project coordinator (14)
  • Frank "Flem" Maddocks – art direction, design
  • Sheryl Nields – photography
  • Jeff Rabhan – management

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Hotel Paper
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[33] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[34] Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[35] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[4] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1504. May 16, 2003. p. 28.
  2. ^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1522. September 19, 2003. p. 24.
  3. ^ a b c Martens, Todd (July 2, 2003). "Beyonce, Branch Albums Storm The Chart". Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c "American album certifications – Michelle Branch – Hotel Paper". Recording Industry Association of America.
  5. ^ a b c Sheffield, Rob (July 10, 2003). "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2006.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ a b c Critic reviews at Metacritic
  7. ^ a b Allmusic review
  8. ^ Chris Willman (June 27, 2003). "Hotel Paper Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  9. ^ a b Hochman, Steve (June 29, 2003). "They rock or, at least they did". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  10. ^ a b Liss, Sarah (June 26, 2003). "MICHELLE BRANCH, HOTEL PAPER (MAVERICK) NN". NOW. Archived from the original on January 22, 2005. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  11. ^ Sal Cinquemani (June 25, 2003). "Michelle Branch: Hotel Paper". Slant Magazine. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  12. ^ a b Todd Burns (September 1, 2003). "Michelle Branch - Hotel Paper". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  13. ^ Spin review
  14. ^ "Yahoo! Music UK review". Archived from the original on August 10, 2004. Retrieved September 16, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ Pappademas, Alex (June 26, 2003). "Michelle Branch: Hotel Paper". Spin. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  16. ^ Aquilante, Dan (June 24, 2003). "BRAT TO THE FUTURE". New York Post. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  17. ^ "Ashanti Returns To No. 1 With 'Chapter II'". Billboard. July 9, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  18. ^ "Ashanti, Beyonce Albums Remain On Top". Billboard. July 16, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  19. ^ "Michelle Branch". Billboard. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  20. ^ Trust, Gary (March 13, 2009). "Ask Billboard: Pink, Katy Perry". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
  21. ^ "Search Certification Database" Archived April 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Canadian Recording Industry Association.
  22. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Michelle Branch – Hotel Paper". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  23. ^ "Michelle Branch Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  24. ^ "Lescharts.com – Michelle Branch – Hotel Paper". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  25. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Michelle Branch – Hotel Paper" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  26. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 27, 2003". GfK Chart-Track. IRMA. Archived from the original. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  27. ^ "「ホテル・ペイパー」 ミシェル・ブランチ│オリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  28. ^ "Charts.nz – Michelle Branch – Hotel Paper". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  29. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Michelle Branch – Hotel Paper". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  30. ^ "Official Albums Chart on 13/7/2003 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  31. ^ "Michelle Branch Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  32. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  33. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  34. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Michelle Branch – Hotel Paper". Music Canada.
  35. ^ "Gold disc certification". Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved February 4, 2021. Note: Select 2003年7月 in the "Certification date" dropdown menu.
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