# Hotel Paper

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 57/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Blender | |
| Entertainment Weekly | C |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant Magazine | |
| Stylus Magazine | C− |
| Spin | 6/10 |
| Yahoo! Music UK | |
Hotel Paper is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Michelle Branch. It was released on June 24, 2003 through Maverick. 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 club hit. A third single, "'Til I Get over You", was released with no music video and failed to chart.

## 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.

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Michelle Branch, except where noted

## Personnel
### Musicians

* Michelle Branch – acoustic guitar, guitar, percussion, vocals
* Josh Abraham – keyboards
* Kenny Aronoff – drums
* Paul Bushnell – bass
* Chris Chaney – bass
* Luis Conte – percussion
* Sheryl Crow – vocals on "Love Me like That"
* Rick DePofi – percussion
* Mike Elizondo – bass
* John Leventhal – bass, guitar, keyboards
* Brian MacLeod – drums
* Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards
* Dave Navarro – guitar
* Shawn Pelton – drums
* Dan Rothchild – bass
* John Shanks – bass, guitar
* Stuart Smith – mandolin
* Patrick Warren – keyboards
* Greg Wells – Hammond B3, bass, guitar, piano, Wurlitzer
* Jessica Harp – backing vocals on "Desperately"

### Production

* Producers: Josh Abraham, Rick DePofi, John Leventhal, John Shanks, Greg Wells
* Engineers: Daniel Chase, Greg Collins, Rick DePofi, Marc DeSisto, Lars Fox, Chris Reynolds, Jeff Rothschild, Brian Scheuble, Ryan Williams
* Assistant engineers: Chris Holmes, Brian Humphrey, Eric Reichers, Mark Valentine
* Mixing: Josh Abraham, assistant: Jesse Gorman, Chris Lord-Alge, Roger Moutenot, Jim Scott
* Mastering: Brian Gardner
* Assistant: Jorge Velez
* Production coordination: Jill Dell'Abate
* Programming: Josh Abraham
* String arrangements: David Campbell
* Photography: Sheryl Nields

## Charts
### Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Hotel Paper :
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 18 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 4 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 79 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 43 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) | 53 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 8 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 4 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 34 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 35 |
| US Billboard 200 | 2 |

### Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Hotel Paper :
| Chart (2003) | Position |
| US Billboard 200 | 86 |

## Certifications

Certifications for Hotel Paper :
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Australia (ARIA) | Gold | 35,000$^^$ |
| Canada (Music Canada) | Gold | 50,000$^^$ |
| Japan (RIAJ) | Gold | 100,000$^^$ |
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum | 1,000,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||