Take Me Home (One Direction Album)
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''Take Me Home'' is the second studio album by British-Irish
boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...
One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...
, released on November 9, 2012, by Syco Music and
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. As a follow-up to One Direction's internationally successful debut album '' Up All Night'' (2011), ''Take Me Home'' was written in groups and has an average of just under five songwriters per track. Largely recorded and composed in Sweden during 2012,
Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha (born August 28, 1978) is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian ( Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The S ...
, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, who composed One Direction's hits, " What Makes You Beautiful" and " One Thing", spent six months in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
developing songs for the album, and were able to shape
melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...
around the members' tones. The album's songs are characterised by metronomic pop, vocal harmonies, hand claps, prominent electric guitar riffs, bright synthesizers, a
homogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the uniformity of a substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, height, distribution, texture, language, i ...
sound and message, and rotations of lead vocals. The members' voices are presented individually on the record, and its lyricism speaks of falling in love, unrequited love, commitment, jealousy and self-empowerment. ''Take Me Home'' garnered mostly positive reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
. There was praise for its quality of production, while criticism hinged on its generic, rushed nature. Globally, the album topped the charts in more than 35 countries. According to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...
(IFPI), ''Take Me Home'' was the fourth-global-best-selling album of 2012, selling 4.4 million units. The album's number-one debut on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart made One Direction the first group to bow atop the ''Billboard'' 200 with their first two albums since American girl group
Danity Kane Danity Kane is an American music group whose most recent line-up consisted of Aubrey O'Day, Dawn Richard, and Shannon Bex. The group originally had five members, but D. Woods, Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett left the group in 2008, and Aundrea Fimbre ...
entered with '' Welcome to the Dollhouse'' in 2008 and their self-titled debut in 2006. One Direction also became the second act in 2012 to achieve two number-one albums within a 12-month period, and the first boy band in US chart history to land two number-one albums in a calendar year. Their debut album and ''Take Me Home'' were the third and fifth-best-selling albums of 2012 in the United States, respectively, making the band the first act to place two albums in the year-end top five in the
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
era. The album's lead single, "
Live While We're Young "Live While We're Young" is a song by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Take Me Home'' (2012). Written by Savan Kotecha and its producers, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, the numbe ...
", released on 28 September 2012, peaked inside the top ten in almost every country it charted in and recorded the highest one-week opening sales figure for a song by a non-U.S. artist. The subsequent singles, " Little Things" and " Kiss You", were less successful, although the former topped the UK Singles Chart. To promote the album, One Direction performed the album's songs on several televised programmes and a headlining sold-out concert at the
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
. Furthermore, One Direction embarked on their second worldwide concert tour entitled the '' Take Me Home Tour'' in 2013.


Background and production

In 2012, One Direction revealed that a follow-up release to their debut album, '' Up All Night'' (2011), was in development. "In the summer, we're going to get back and start a new record. We want to bring out a record nearly every year, every year and a half,"
Niall Horan Niall James Horan ( ; born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a member of the boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 on the singing competition ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor''. The gr ...
said, revealing they were arranging "meetings and stuff with different writers and producers." In March 2012,
McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...
frontman Tom Fletcher confirmed that he would be writing a song for the album. In February 2012, One Direction expressed interest in working with
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
, and in June 2012, Sheeran confirmed that they were in contact: "I'm going into the studio in August to produce the tracks for them. I won't feature on the tracks though". In April 2012, ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' reported that
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
, the group's manager, had challenged prominent songwriters to compete for space on One Direction's second album. Dee Demirbag, responsible for repertoire at
BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...
, a music publisher, in Scandinavia, said: "Breaking a boy band in the U.S. is about as big as it gets in the music industry, so you can imagine the competition to get cuts on the next One Direction album is immense". In addition, the article reported that Syco Records was working on candidates with Max Martin and
Kristian Lundin Kristian Lundin (born 7 May 1973) is a Swedish composer, music producer and songwriter. Biography Kristian's worked on the song "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)" which he co-produced with Max Martin for the Backstreet Boys. He co-wrote & pro ...
. By August 2012, it was confirmed that album would feature work from veterans such as Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, Dr. Luke, Cirkut, and Shellback. ''Take Me Home'' was written in groups and has an average of just under five songwriters per track. "The Swedish-style songwriting: melody first" was predominantly utilised, according to ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' correspondent Douglas Wolk.
Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha (born August 28, 1978) is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian ( Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The S ...
, Yacoub, and Falk, who composed One Direction's hits, " What Makes You Beautiful" and " One Thing", spent six months in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, developing songs for the album, and were able to shape melodies around their tones. Kotecha reflected: "We'll spend days, sometimes weeks, challenging the melody. The goal is to make it sound like anyone can do this, but it's actually very difficult". In addition, after viewing the international success of "What Makes You Beautiful", the trio conceptualised songs "that kids could play on guitar and cover on YouTube." After extensive promotional appearances in support of their debut album, One Direction began recording the album in May 2012, in Stockholm, Sweden, at Kinglet Studios. In June 2012, the group continued recording the album in the United States, while touring on the final leg of their ''
Up All Night Tour The Up All Night Tour was the first headlining concert tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction, in support of their debut studio album, ''Up All Night (One Direction album), Up All Night'' (2011). It began in December 2011 and was One Direc ...
''. Horan, in a June interview with
MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...
, disclosed that the group were intending to spend their time in July and August "getting the album done." Besides sessions in Kinglet Studios, recording sessions and mixing for the album took place at Chalice Studios in Los Angeles, MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Wendy House Productions in London, and Sticky Studios in Surrey, England.


Packaging

The album cover artwork, revealed on 30 August 2012, features the group surrounding a traditional British K6
red telephone box The red telephone box is a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for Liverpool Cathedral. The telephone box is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, its associa ...
, a familiar sight on the streets of the UK. The phone booth is on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus London.


Music and lyrics

The album's songs are characterised by metronomic rock-inherited pop, vocal harmonies, hand claps, prominent electric guitar riffs, bright synthesisers,
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
s for
sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...
, a
homogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the uniformity of a substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, height, distribution, texture, language, i ...
sound and message, the pitch-correcting software
Auto-Tune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and Pitch correction, correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles ...
, and rotations of lead vocals. Jon Caramanica, writing in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', considered the album "far more mechanical" than their debut album, although noted that it is sonically and lyrically similar. San Lansky, an editor for Idolator, described it as "'80s-inflected and intermittently rock-dappled", and as more indebted to the "sanitized
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
crunch of McFly" than to
teen pop Teen pop is a sub genre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop". About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their break ...
.
Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...
, a music journalist, interpreted its signature sound as a "peppy, synth-bolstered take on early-80s new-wave pop, heavy on clipped rhythms and chugging guitars," which, he said, is at least an improvement on the substitute R&B "that was once the grim lot of the boyband." The opening guitar
riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...
of "
Live While We're Young "Live While We're Young" is a song by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Take Me Home'' (2012). Written by Savan Kotecha and its producers, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, the numbe ...
" has been noted as similar to that of
the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...
's 1982 single, " Should I Stay or Should I Go", by some critics. According to Petridis, the guitar is played thrice between the riff with the plectrum stroking the strings, while it is pressed. One note in the chord is changed, which Petridis surmised was probably to avoid paying any royalty to the Clash. "Rock Me" has a clapping, mid-
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
beat that has been likened to that "
We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...
", a 1977 single by
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
. The group's voices are presented individually on the record. Savan Kotecha noted that the
Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...
' late-'90s hits inspired the way he formulated One Direction's voices for the album. Composer Julian Bunetta, who worked on three of ''Take Me Home'' tracks, also tried to place emphasis on the sound of each member: "The fans can tell the difference, but we wanted to make sure that when it came on the radio, the average person knew that it must be One Direction, because it's five guys." Likewise, Caramanica noted that the album's songs produced by Bunetta "tend to start out with more breathing room, giving the guys a chance to show off vocally". The album's lyricism speaks of falling in love, unrequited love, the insistence that flaws are what make a person unique, and commitment, in songs such as " Little Things," "Last First Kiss," "Back For You," and "They Don't Know About Us." Other tracks, like "Heart Attack," "Rock Me," "I Would," and "Over Again," have a more solemn tone, addressing jealousy and longing for past significant others.


Promotion

''Take Me Home'' has yielded three singles, including two US singles. Its lead single, "
Live While We're Young "Live While We're Young" is a song by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Take Me Home'' (2012). Written by Savan Kotecha and its producers, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, the numbe ...
", was released by Syco Records on 28 September 2012. The song rocketed to worldwide success, peaking at number one in Ireland and New Zealand and the top ten in almost every country it charted in. In the United States, "Live While We're Young" debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, sold 341,000 downloads in its first week, and bowed at number one on the Digital Songs chart. Its debut marks the highest bow by a British group and the second-highest debut among all UK acts, outpaced only by
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
's number one arrival with "
Candle in the Wind 1997 "Candle in the Wind 1997", also known as "Goodbye England's Rose" and "Candle in the Wind '97", is a threnody by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, a re-written and re-recorded version of their 1973 song " Candle in the ...
". Its opening sales denote the biggest opening sales figure for a single by a non-US artist and the third ever for a download by a group, surpassed by the arrivals of
Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...
's 2012 single, " Payphone" (493,000), and
The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...
' 2009 single, "
Boom Boom Pow "Boom Boom Pow" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by group members will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie, being produced by will.i.am. The song featur ...
" (465,000). " Little Things" was released in the UK and Ireland on 12 November 2012, as the second single. The track debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart of 18 November 2012, becoming One Direction's fifth top-ten appearance and second number-one hit in the United Kingdom. " Kiss You", chosen as the second and final U.S. single third and final overall single of ''Take Me Home'', was released digitally on 17 November 2012, according to MTV News. The group and the album's lead single were featured in a
Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
television commercial for the United States, which premiered on the
Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an Television in the United States, American commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television broadcaster, television network serving as the flagship proper ...
network on 10 October 2012.
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
allowed the record to stream in full on
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
in the week leading up to its 13 November 2012 release. In addition, One Direction promoted the album in a series of live appearances from October toward December, notably on television programmes '' The X Factor USA'', '' The X Factor UK'', '' The Today Show'', and the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's '' Children in Need 2012'' telethon. Additional live appearances include at the
Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...
, in the presence of Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
, the Bambi Awards, and a headlining sold-out show at New York City's
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
. The album's accompanying concert tour, the '' Take Me Home Tour'', commenced at London's O2 Arena on 23 February 2013. The concert tour consists of over 100 shows in Australasia, Europe, and North America, and is set to visit arenas and stadiums from February through October 2013. Announced by member Liam Payne at the
2012 BRIT Awards Brit Awards 2012 was held on 21 February 2012. This was the 32nd edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London for the second time. The ceremony was presented by Jam ...
in early 2012, the original concert tour was billed as the UK & Ireland Arena Tour. In mid-2012, the concert tour expanded with legs in North America and
Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
following the band's international breakthrough. In the UK and Ireland, ticket sales reached 300,000 within a day of release, which included a six-date sell out at the O2 Arena in London. In Australian and New Zealand markets, tickets grossed US$15.7 million, with all 190,000 tickets being sold for eighteen shows to be held in Australia and New Zealand.


Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from contemporary
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 68, based on ten reviews. Despite its "boardroom-defined objectives" and "safety", Al Fox, writing for
BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
, considered the music itself "notable quality" and reliable. Matt Collar from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
described it as an "immediately catchy mix of dancey pop that maximizes the group's shared lead-vocal approach and peppy, upbeat image." Kate Wills from ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' praised the uptempo material while defining the ballads as jarring, a notion shared by John Dolan of ''Rolling Stone''. Simon Gage of ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' noted that "it's not going to change the world" but "the voices are good and the charm undiminished". Chris Richards of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' wrote that "the group's best songs are dazzlingly efficient" and "the boy band's sophomore album is pop candy in the purest sense—sweet, colorful, and unlike so many releases aimed at ticklish tweenage hearts, consistent". Sam Lansky of '' Idolator'' commented that the album is "some of the purest pop of the year" and "is actually pretty great—certainly better than it needs to be" while adding that "the hooks are instantaneous and keenly crafted" and "the production is '80s-inflected and intermittently rock-dappled". Al Fox of
BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
complimented the album, writing "polished and dependable, despite its safety there are some show-stopping pop anthems present" while adding that the album "takes the One Direction brand, reinforces it nicely, and as far as their fans' needs are concerned, ticks every single box". Josh Langhoff of ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' praised "C'mon C'mon" as the album's best song, calling it "amazing" and "euphoric" and complimenting the group's harmonies while also adding that the album had "unexpected variety" and that "these may be the least articulate cads on the pop charts, but their beats speak volumes". James Robertson of ''The
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' praised the album, writing that "it's fun, infectious and they've found the balance between poptastic fun for the pre-teens and lyrics with meaning for embarrassed twenty-somethings who secretly listen to '' Up All Night'' on their iPods" and that "there are some obvious rhymes and repetitive tones but the five-piece have smashed it with ''Take Me Home''". Carmin Chappell of ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' commented that "their maturation into young adults is made evident" and that "although the songs still have the poppy vibe characteristic of boybands, this album has a more cohesive sound than the last" while complimenting the album for how it "successfully embodies the carefree and fun nature of teens". Sarah Dean, also writing for ''HuffPost'', deemed the album as "disappointingly good pop" and "the kind of music you want to hate and know you shouldn't enjoy as someone who isn't a 'teeny-bopper', but it still puts a smile on your face" while ending her review by saying "One Direction's global music domination won't be ending anytime soon. And this album has made me think it's probably just easier to give in and enjoy it". Some reviews were less positive, with ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' writer Adam Markovitz panning the record as an empty gesture and asserting that the album was rushed, signifying an album with "barely enough zip to keep the kids up past dinner." Likewise, Robert Copsey from ''
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
'' wrote, "The result f ''Take Me Home''may see them progressing at a snail's pace, but when you've got it so good, what's the rush anyway?" In a mixed review, ''The New York Times'' contributor Jon Caramanica appreciated the album's sonic palette, but dismissed its lyricism as narrow and tedious, and Sheeran's contributions as "unusually lumpy in the hands of such a polished group". Caramanica characterised the members' vocals as "fundamentally interchangeable", and opined that only Zayn Malik "breaks free from the pack vocally with any regularity." While he commended the album for its "variable quality", Alexis Petridis for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' felt the record would not be able to transcend its target market, a core audience aged approximately 8 to 12 and female: "To anyone else, the mystery of One Direction's success—or at least the sheer scale of it—remains as opaque as ever." The latter view was shared by Ben Rayner of the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'': "Unless you're in the target demographic or are, perhaps, a mom who lived through the same thing in her youth, there's no point in even going near this record, of course, but the rest of us were never meant to in the first place." Writing for '' HitFix'', Melinda Newman maintained that the album "masterfully hits its target", and concluded as follows: "I'm so far out of the One Dimension demographic, I practically need a GPS to find it." Kyle Kramer of ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' called the album "a bit of a cash grab" and "an empty gesture" while stating "that almost every song" on the album "appears carefully engineered to stick to a three-minute run time and the same strict structural formula, in which two verses crescendo into forgettable choruses".


Commercial performance

Globally, ''Take Me Home'' topped the charts in more than 35 countries, and was the fourth-best-selling album of 2012, selling 4.4 million units. In the United Kingdom, the album sold over 94,000 copies in its first two days of sale. It debuted atop the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
with first-week sales of 155,000 copies, becoming their first album to top the chart and the second fastest selling album of 2012. The album and its second single, " Little Things", both debuted simultaneously at number one in the UK on 18 November 2012, making One Direction the youngest act in British chart history to achieve the feat. The album became the fifth-best-selling album of 2012 in the UK, having sold 616,000 copies by the end of 2012. It was certified quadruple platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) in 2022, denoting sales of 1,200,000 equivalent units. As of February 2016, the album has sold 1,000,924 copies in the UK. In Ireland, ''Take Me Home'' became the fastest-selling album of 2012, lodged six consecutive weeks atop the Irish Albums Chart, and was certified triple platinum by the
Irish Recorded Music Association The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) is a non-profit association set up in 1999 to promote certain interests of the music industry in Ireland. It is particularly active in addressing copyright issues, and it compiles the official music ...
(IRMA). In Italy, the collection became their second Italian chart-topper, and Italy's seventh-best-selling album of 2012. It has been certified double platinum by the
Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) or the Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when ...
(FIMI), indicating sales of 60,000 copies. In the Netherlands, the album debuted at number one on 17 November 2012, and shipped 25,000 copies in its first day of release. It was certified platinum by 18 December 2012, denoting shipments of 50,000 copies in the region. After a month of its release, it was certified platinum in Poland for shipments of 30,000 copies, while it became the seventh-best-selling album of 2012 in Denmark, having sold 28,875 copies by year end in that country. In Sweden, the album was the ninth-best-selling album of 2012, and has been certified platinum by the
Swedish Recording Industry Association Grammofonleverantörernas förening (GLF) (English: Swedish Recording Industry Association), was an organisation representing the music recording industry of Sweden. It compiled and published the official record charts for the Swedish music recordi ...
(GLF), signifying shipments of 40,000 units. The album debuted at number one on the Australian
ARIA Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
dated 25 November 2012, a position it held for a second week. It was certified platinum in Australia in its first week by the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA) and has since been certified double platinum for a shipment of 140,000 copies. The record became the band's second number-one album in the United States in the week of 18 November 2012, and recorded the biggest first-week sales tally for an album by a boy band since N'Sync's ''
Celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
'' (2001), and the third-largest debut sales week of 2012, behind
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's '' Red'' and '' Babel'' by
Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, double bass, bass guitar), and Ben Lovett (British musician), B ...
, with 540,000 copies sold. One Direction became the first group to bow atop the ''Billboard'' 200 with their first two albums since American girl group
Danity Kane Danity Kane is an American music group whose most recent line-up consisted of Aubrey O'Day, Dawn Richard, and Shannon Bex. The group originally had five members, but D. Woods, Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett left the group in 2008, and Aundrea Fimbre ...
entered with '' Welcome to the Dollhouse'' in 2008 and their self-titled debut in 2006, the second act in 2012 to achieve two number-one albums within a 12-month period alongside
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
, and the first boy band in US chart history to land two number-one albums in a calendar year. The album was certified platinum by the
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(RIAA) on 5 December 2012, denoting shipments of one million copies. It became their second album in 2012 to top the one-million mark in US sales in the week of 16 December 2012, making them the first act to achieve the feat in a calendar year since 2009, and the first group or duo to achieve the feat since
Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...
in 2007. Their debut album and ''Take Me Home'' were the third- and fifth-best-selling albums of 2012 in the United States, respectively, making the band the first act to place two albums in the year-end top five in the
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
era. On 29 March 2015, it surpassed the 2 million threshold becoming their second album (after ''Up All Night'') to sell over 2 million copies in the U.S. As of August 2015, the album has sold 2.02 million copies in the U.S.


Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies a vocal producer * signifies an additional producer


Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic. * Karl Brazil – drums * David Bukovinszky – cello * Julian Bunetta – engineer, musician, producer, vocal producer * Mattias Bylund – editing, string arrangements, string engineer * Cirkut – musician, producer, programming * Rupert Coulson – engineer * Tom Coyne – mastering * Tommy Culm – background vocals * Dr. Luke – musician, producer, programming * Chris Elliot – string engineer * Levon Eriksson – assistant * Carl Falk – guitar, musician, producer, programming, vocal editing, vocal engineer, background vocals * Rachael Findlen – assistant * Kristoffer Fogelmark – guitar, musician, producer, programming, vocal editing, vocal engineer, background vocals * Ian Franzino – assistant engineer * Serban Ghenea – mixing * Clint Gibbs – assistant, vocals * Jake Gosling – drums, mixing, percussion, piano, producer, programming, strings * Lukasz Gottwald – vocals * Stephen P. Grigg – assistant * John Hanes – mixing engineer * Sam Hollander – musician, programming * Niall Horan – guitar * Ash Howes – mixing, programming * Andy Hughes – assistant * Ava James – vocals * Matthias Johansson – violin * Koool Kojak – engineer, musician, producer, programming, vocals * Savan Kotecha – background vocals * Chris Leonard – acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar * Zayn Malik – illustrations * Sam Miller – engineer * Katie Mitzell – production coordination * Malcolm Moore – bass * Adam Nedler – background vocals * Albin Nedler – musician, producer, programming, vocal editing, vocal engineer * One Direction – primary artist * Alex Oriet – vocal engineer * Tebey Ottoh – vocal producer * Joel Peters – assistant * Luke Potashnik – guitar * Irene Richter – production coordination * Steve Robson – guitar, keyboards, mixing, producer * Shellback – bass, musician, producer, programming, background vocals * Peter Svensson – musician, programming, vocals * John Urbano – photography * Henry Walter – vocals * Sam Waters – vocal engineer, vocal producer * Caroline Watson – stylist * Emily Wright – engineer, vocal producer, vocals


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


References


External links

*
Take Me Home
' at
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
{{Authority control 2012 albums Albums produced by Carl Falk Albums produced by Dr. Luke Albums produced by Rami Yacoub Albums produced by Shellback (record producer) Columbia Records albums One Direction albums Syco Music albums