''Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Album'' is a

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

for the television series ''

Sabrina The Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional character, fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo ...

'', released on October 27, 1998, by Geffen Records. The album mainly contains music by contemporary

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

artists, such as

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

, Sugar Ray, and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

. Most of the songs on the soundtrack were either featured in the series or are by artists that made appearances in the series. The album also includes

Melissa Joan Hart Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress, producer, and director. She had starring roles as the title characters in the sitcoms ''Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991–1994), ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1996–2003), and ''M ...

's cover of " One Way or Another". The album was preceded by the release of the single "So I Fall Again" by Phantom Planet in September 1998. The album was a commercial success, being certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in the United States and double Platinum in Canada. Worldwide, ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Album'' has sold over 700,000 copies.

Background

''Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Album'' was first announced by

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

on August 27, 1998. The track list was revealed a few weeks later on September 15, 1998, the sequencing of which was slightly modified prior to its release. The album includes a number of songs that were previously unreleased, including a cover of "

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. Etymology ''Abracadabra'' is of unknown origin, but according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', its first known occurrence i ...

" by Sugar Ray and a remix of " Hey, Mr. DJ (Keep Playin' This Song)" by the Backstreet Boys. It also features "Walk of Life" by the

, which had previously only been available in Europe as the

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to their 1997 single " Too Much", and "

Doctor Jones "Doctor Jones" is a song by Danish dance-pop group Aqua. Released as the band's fourth single overall, it was the follow-up to their most successful song "Barbie Girl" in many regions. "Doctor Jones" ended the assumptions that Aqua would be a on ...

(Metro's 7" Edit)" by

Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...

, which likewise had previously only been available in Europe.

's cover of " One Way or Another", which was used in the Season 2 episode "The Band Episode", is also included. The album was preceded by the release of the single "So I Fall Again" by Phantom Planet in September 1998; the band performed the song on the show in the Season 3 episode "And the Sabrina Goes to..." which aired that November. The album was promoted through radio promotions and giveaways. One giveaway prize was a trip to see Phantom Planet perform at

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusemen ...

with their performance being hosted by Hart. Another promotion for the album was the "Sabrina Sing-A-Long Sweepstakes" in which the grand prize was a trip to Hollywood to have a song professionally recorded. The sweepstakes was advertised in the ''Sabrina'' book series, the Archie comic books, and ''Sabrina'' CD-ROM games. The album tied-in with the third season of the show in which the overarching plot was for Sabrina to collect clues to solve her "family secret"; the eighth clue was included on the CD.

Critical reception

''Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Album'' received mostly positive reviews from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the album as a "sugar-coated collection" and called the covers included on the album "interesting". In a positive review, Rickey Wright from

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wrote that the album "holds together surprisingly well" and compared "Hey, Mr. DJ (Keep Playin' This Song)" by the Backstreet Boys and " Show Me Love" by

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

to works of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. He described Matthew Sweet's cover of " Magnet & Steel" as "a remake that's been waiting to happen for years". Richard Harrington from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' praised Sugar Ray's cover of "Abracadabra" and called the album "a mix of bright chirpy dance-pop and pop-rock". In a mixed review, Rob Brunner from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' described ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Album'' as "bubbly ephemera" and went on to note "all this wholesome cheer would be strictly taboo in even the most good-natured teen coven." He criticized Matthew Sweet's cover of "Magnet & Steel", calling it "less than enchanting". In a retrospective review, Chuck Eddy from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' included the album on a list of "essential teen-pop soundtracks", and described "Soda Pop" by Britney Spears as "possibly her most preadolescent ditty ever".

Commercial reception

''Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Album'' peaked at number 71 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart in the issue dated December 12, 1998, and spent 16 weeks on the chart. In Canada, the album peaked at number 7 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top 100 Albums chart in the issue dated February 1, 1999. It remained in this position for two weeks and spent a total of 36 weeks on the chart. The album appeared at number 50 on the ''RPM'' year-end charts in 1999. The album was certified

by the

in the United States and double Platinum in Canada.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Sabrina the Teenage Witch Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series) Television soundtracks 1998 soundtrack albums Geffen Records soundtracks