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The Spirit Room

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The Spirit Room
Studio album by
Michelle Branch
ReleasedAugust 14, 2001
Recorded1999–2001
Genre
Length42:26
Label
Producer
Michelle Branch chronology
The Spirit Room
(2001) 		Hotel Paper
(2003)
Reissue and international cover
Singles from The Spirit Room
  1. "Everywhere"
    Released: July 10, 2001[1]
  2. "All You Wanted"
    Released: January 7, 2002[2]
  3. "Goodbye to You"
    Released: July 8, 2002[3]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB[5]
The Guardian[6]
Q[7]
Rolling Stoneno rating[8]
The Village VoiceC[9]

The Spirit Room is the major-label debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Michelle Branch, released by the Maverick Recording Company and Warner Bros. Records in the United States on August 14, 2001.[10] The album was recorded at Sunset Sound, Henson Recording Studios and Ananda Studios in Hollywood, California and mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering in Los Angeles, California.

Background

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The album's title comes from the name of a bar in Jerome, Arizona, near Branch's hometown of Sedona.[11]

Artwork

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The album cover was shot in an industrial area across from an electrical substation in Los Angeles, California alongside the Los Angeles River facing north-west at the skyline during sunset.[12]

20th anniversary edition

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Branch decided to celebrate its anniversary by re-recording the album and pressing it on vinyl for the first time.[13] On September 10, 2021, Branch performed the album in its entirety during a special virtual concert. An afterparty and Q&A session followed.[14] It was released on October 15, 2021.

Commercial performance

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The Spirit Room debuted at number 28 on the US Billboard 200, selling 68,000 copies in its first week.[15] Although, it had commercial success in the US, the album spent a total of 86 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, making it Branch's longest charting album in the US.[16] As of July 2003, the album has sold 1.8 million copies in the US.[17] On August 19, 2011, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over two million copies in the United States.[18]The Spirit Room has sold 3 million copies worldwide, making it Branch's best selling album to date.[19]

In Canada, although the album did not appear on the chart the album was certified gold, selling 50,000 copies in October 2003.[20] In Australia, it was also certified gold with shipments of 35,000.[21]

Legacy

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In 2021, Branch revealed that Taylor Swift had told her The Spirit Room had been a major influence on her own music.[22][23]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Michelle Branch, with additional co-writers as noted; except for "Life on Mars", which was written by David Bowie.

The Spirit Room track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Everywhere"
3:36
2."You Get Me"
3:53
3."All You Wanted" 3:38
4."You Set Me Free"
  • Shanks
3:11
5."Something to Sleep To"
  • Jennifer Hagio
  • Shanks
4:15
6."Here with Me"
  • Shanks
3:26
7."Sweet Misery" 3:43
8."If Only She Knew" 4:19
9."I'd Rather Be in Love" 3:55
10."Goodbye to You" 4:12
11."Drop in the Ocean"
  • Hagio
  • Will Golden
  • Bernie Reilly
4:19
Total length:42:26
North American digital deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Life on Mars" 3:42
13."All You Wanted" (unplugged) 3:34
14."Everywhere" (acoustic)
  • Shanks
3:34
iTunes Store deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Life on Mars" 3:42
13."Goodbye to You" (unplugged) 4:10
14."All You Wanted" (unplugged) 3:34
15."Everywhere" (acoustic)
  • Shanks
3:34
16."Goodbye to You" (music video) 3:56
17."All You Wanted" (music video) 3:40
18."Everywhere" (music video) 3:33
20th anniversary re-recorded release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Paper Pieces" 3:38
13."Everywhere" (alternate version)
  • Shanks
4:26

Singles

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  • "Everywhere" – July 17, 2001
  • "All You Wanted" – October 28, 2001[24]
  • "Goodbye to You" – September 9, 2002[25]

Personnel

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Musicians

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Production

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  • Producers: John Shanks, Jeremy Welt
  • Engineers: Marc DeSisto, Lars Fox
  • Assistant engineers: Steve Kaplan, Tom Nellen, Chris Reynolds, Jason Schweitzer
  • Mixing: Marc DeSisto, Chris Lord-Alge, Dave Way
  • Mastering: Stephen Marcussen
  • Pro-Tools: Lars Fox
  • Programming: Lars Fox, John Shanks
  • Production coordination: Shari Sutcliffe
  • Art direction: Kim Biggs, David Harlan
  • Photography: Matthew Welch

Use in media

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Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for The Spirit Room
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[39] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[40] Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[41] Platinum 200,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Silver 60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[18] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "CHR/Pop: Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1409. July 6, 2001. p. 36. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  2. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1433. December 21, 2001. p. 28. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  3. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1460. July 5, 2002. p. 29. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  4. ^ Jonas, Liana. "Michelle Branch: The Spirit Room". AllMusic.
  5. ^ Morgan, Laura (March 17, 2020). "The Spirit Room (Michelle Branch)". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (April 11, 2002). "A carnival of romance". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "CD Reviews at CD Universe".
  8. ^ D. Luerssen, John (August 12, 2001). "Michelle Branch: The Spirit Room". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Michelle Branch: The Spirit Room". The Village Voice – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. ^ Michelle Branch: The Spirit Room. Maverick/Warner Bros. Records. August 2001.
  11. ^ "Michelle Branch: "She's Everywhere"". MTV. 2001. Archived from the original on October 6, 2001. Retrieved May 23, 2010. in front of this bar called the Spirit Room.
  12. ^ "Google Earth".
  13. ^ Irvin, Jack (August 13, 2021). "Michelle Branch is back in The Spirit Room, 20 Years Later". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  14. ^ Bogedon, Kara (August 26, 2021). "Michelle Branch celebrates 20th anniversary of 'The Spirit Room' with re-recording of album". Bandwagon. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  15. ^ Martens, Todd (2003-07-02). "Beyonce, Branch Albums Storm The Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  16. ^ "Michelle Branch". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  17. ^ "Ashanti Returns To No. 1 With 'Chapter II'". Billboard. July 9, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  18. ^ a b "American album certifications – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room". Recording Industry Association of America.
  19. ^ "Michelle Branch - The Trouble with Fever Tour (Postponed) at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville". Do615.
  20. ^ Two French language artists hit Gold Archived 2010-11-22 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "The ARIA Report: Issue 672" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. 2006-08-23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2003-01-06. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  22. ^ White, Adam (14 August 2021). "Michelle Branch on The Spirit Room at 20: 'It was allowed to remain authentically teenage'". The Independent. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  23. ^ "Michelle Branch On Influencing Taylor Swift & Re-Recording 'The Spirit Room'". Nylon. September 8, 2021.
  24. ^ "World Jazz Top 20 Singles (2001-08-30)".
  25. ^ "Michelle Branch :: Goodbye to You [RADIO202_09B-09]".
  26. ^ "All 26 songs from the What a Girl Wants (2003) Soundtrack".
  27. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  28. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  29. ^ "Lescharts.com – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  30. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  31. ^ "ザ・スピリット・ル-ムミシェル・ブランチ" (in Japanese). Oricon news. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  32. ^ "Charts.nz – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  33. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  34. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  35. ^ "Michelle Branch Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  36. ^ "Top 200 Albums of 2002 (based on sales)". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  37. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  38. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  39. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  40. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room". Music Canada.
  41. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2002年5月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. May 2002 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 512. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 12. July 10, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  42. ^ "British album certifications – Michelle Branch – The Spirit Room". British Phonographic Industry.
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