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
The album's title comes from the name of a bar in
Jerome, Arizona, near Branch's hometown of
Sedona.[11]
Artwork
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
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
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]
Track listing
All tracks are written by
Michelle Branch, with additional co-writers as noted
[4]