Schizophonic (Geri Halliwell album)

Background

On 31 May 1998, Halliwell left the Spice Girls due to depression and differences between the group. Her former group mates eventually continued the Spiceworld Tour without her. Halliwell then started developing her debut album, asking Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson (collectively known as Absolute) who had already produced songs for the Spice Girls, for help. However, the four remaining girls from the Spice Girls said that if they worked with Halliwell, they could not work with them again. Eventually, the duo decided to work with the singer. The next year, she launched her solo career and released her debut album Schizophonic, with the lead single "Look at Me", produced by Absolute and Phil Bucknall. "Look at Me" was followed by three number one singles in the UK Singles Chart; "Mi Chico Latino", "Lift Me Up", and "Bag It Up". The album itself reached number four in the UK Albums Chart, and sold 600,000 copies there, making it 2× Platinum. With only a radio single, Schizophonic debuted at number forty-two on the Billboard 200 before dropping out within the next month. The album was eventually certified Gold, distributing over 500,000 copies. Schizophonic ended up selling around 2,300,000 copies worldwide, and remains Halliwell's biggest selling album to date.

Commercial sales

It debuted with first-week sales of 35,000. Three of the four singles from the album went to number one in the United Kingdom, while the debut single made number two. The album was a commercial success and sold better than Forever, the Spice Girls album which was released almost two years after Halliwell's controversial departure from the group. The album debuted at No. 4 in the United Kingdom, selling 31,274 in its first week, and 483,853 in total, being certified 2× Platinum for shipments of 600,000 copies. In Canada, the album debuted and peaked at No. 15. With strong long-term sales the album was certified Platinum with just over 100,000 copies shipped. In the United States, the album faced medium success, selling 40,000 copies in its first week debuting and peaking at No. 42 on the Billboard 200, the strongest Spice Girls solo showing on the chart. Eventually, the album sold 500,000 copies and received a Gold certification in the US. The album was also certified Gold in Australia and Spain with shipments of over 35,000 and 50,000 respectively. However, the album only reached No. 85 in Japan, selling 3,190 copies.

Album covers

Schizophonic was released with two different covers, representing an angel (white), and a devil (red); both covers are the same edition of the album. On the first "O" on Schizophonic, there is an angel halo on the white cover and horns on the red cover. On the back cover, the song titles are written in both red and white, relating the theme of the song to one of the personalities. The booklet of the album features both covers on all editions, and the lyrics of the songs are included on the side that they are marked on the back cover.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Schizophonic.

Personnel