Hotel Paper

发行首周空降Billboard专辑榜亚军，日本公信榜国际专辑榜冠军。

*绩优推荐成人榜Top 10的首支单曲"Are You Happy Now?"及与葛莱美奖摇滚才女雪瑞儿可洛(With sheryl crow(合唱的民谣摇滚劲作"Love Me Like That"

*日本版特别加收葛莱美奖最佳流行演唱组合单曲"The Game Of Love" & "Everywhere"

打从2000年独立制作的首张专辑‘Broken Bracelet’，蛋白质女孩蜜雪儿(Michelle Branch)就一直有着属于年轻女生的率真与活力。

2001年入主Maverick音乐厂牌的大碟‘The Spirit Room’实现这位擅长结合吉他音线、劲道与编曲浓密意境的创作女生晋升主流音乐圈的愿望，获得All Music Guide网站乐评4颗星推崇，主打歌"Everywhere"现身校园喜剧片【美国派2】，全面与青少年族群接轨，挺进流行单曲榜TOP 12，接着"All You Wanted"入主流行单曲榜TOP 6，"Goodbye To You" (成人TOP 40榜第15名、流行单曲榜TOP 21)也被选为全美高收视影集‘魔法奇兵’(Buffy-The Vampire Slayer)插曲，梦工厂动画片【小马王】则相中"You Set Me Free"作为全球预告片主题曲，专辑销售超过250万张，并为她赢得葛莱美奖与MTV音乐录影带大奖观众直选大奖。

蜜雪儿的才华同时受到老将山塔纳的赏识，一老一少合作中板拉丁情歌"The Game Of Love"成功进驻TOP 10，并获得葛莱美奖最佳流行演唱组合。葛莱美奖摇滚才女Sheryl Crow与乡村跨界三重唱Dixie Chicks争相选为巡回演唱伙伴。

由2001下半年到2002年底，‘The Spirit Room’累积在Billboard流行专辑榜前100名上停留达82周，写下过去一年半来停留百名排行最久的纪录。听到山塔纳、雪瑞儿可洛等前辈称赞自己是货真价实的有料歌手，让蜜雪儿忘却年龄这档事，更加专注词曲旋律的创作，随着2003年夏季大碟‘Hotel Paper’的推出，年轻世代的摇滚才女标签早已脱落，蜜雪儿成长为当代女歌手的自信装满整包音乐行囊。

过去两年来，蜜雪儿马不停蹄的流转于全球各地作巡回演唱，而新专辑的创作也悄然的在饭店房间停留的时光中慢慢堆积成形，新专辑就因此定名为‘Hotel Paper’，这是蜜雪儿20岁的心情随笔，也是心智与音乐创作上的成长分享，除了熟面孔John Shanks(The Corrs、Melissa Etheridge)外，蜜雪儿也力邀Jon Levinthal (Shawn Colvin专辑‘A Few Small Repairs)跟Josh Abraham(Staind、Korn)等不同领域的制作好手共同拓宽摇滚里程。首支单曲"Are You Happy Now?"在吉他部分请到Dave Navarro(先后待过Jane's Addiction、The Red Hot Chili Peppers等乐团)跨刀现艺，歌曲以极为成熟的角度看待男女之间的情感，直接将爱情的伤痛化为反击情场玩家心态的强烈情绪表达，发行四周直攻Billboard流行单曲榜TOP 25；音乐怪杰Beck的老爸David Campbell以22人编制的弦乐浮现"Empty Handed"里那种放手一搏走出困境的边缘情感; 雪瑞儿可洛合唱助阵的"Love Me Like That"展露坚定自信的民谣摇滚情绪。

Part of the appeal of Michelle Branch on her 2001 debut, The Spirit Room, was that she came across as a spirited normal girl with an enthusiasm for music. She wasn't teasingly sexy like Britney Spears, nor was she a brat like the then-unknown Avril Lavigne; she felt like a real teenager, something that was enhanced by her direct songs and earnest vocals, which were the furthest thing from flashy. Sure, The Spirit Room could be a little too polished at times, but it was tempered by her eagerness to make a record, so it turned out quite endearing. But like many second albums, her sophomore affair, Hotel Paper, finds Branch two years older and a whole lot more "mature," in the sense that any remnants of that adolescent passion have been removed as she positions herself as a serious singer/songwriter in the adult alternative vein. 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 (largely by John Shanks) and does not help herself with her compositions, which are vaguely ingratiating, but rarely rise above the generic level. All of it is too self-consciously serious, too preoccupied with turning Branch into a younger but more somber Sheryl Crow (who duets with Branch on the record's best track, "Love Me Like That"). Taken on the surface, Hotel Paper is fine — it's big and shiny and it glides as easy as tunes on an adult alternative radio station on a summer's day — but without that infectious spirit she displayed on The Spirit Room or songs as catchy as "Everywhere," the album doesn't have the detail of character that made Michelle Branch so appealing the first time out. In its place is a professional, polished album that's nice to listen to, but doesn't resonate for much longer than its playing time.