Long Way Down (Tom Odell album)

Last updated

Long Way Down
Long-Way cover.jpg
Studio album by
Tom Odell
Released24 June 2013 [1]
Recorded2012
Genre
Length35:20
Label Columbia
Producer Dan Grech-Marguerat
Tom Odell chronology
Songs from Another Love
(2012)		Long Way Down
(2013)		 Wrong Crowd
(2016)
Singles from Long Way Down
  1. "Another Love"
    Released: 15 October 2012
  2. "Can't Pretend"
    Released: 6 March 2013
  3. "Hold Me"
    Released: 31 March 2013
  4. "Grow Old with Me"
    Released: 9 September 2013
  5. "I Know"
    Released: December 2013

Long Way Down is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Tom Odell. It was released on 24 June 2013 and serves as the follow-up to his 2012 extended play, Songs from Another Love . It serves as his first release with a major record label, and was released with Columbia. [1]

Contents

Background

In early 2012, Odell announced that he had signed to Columbia and began recording his debut album later on in 2012. In November 2012, Tom Odell released his first EP Songs from Another Love for which included famous hit "Another Love", which Odell released an official video on his VEVO.

Odell came in to RAK Studios in St Johns Wood with producer Dan Grech-Marguerat to record the album in the summer of 2012.

Odell announced that his first single from the album would be "Can't Pretend" which was released worldwide on 6 March 2013. It was later announced the second single to come from the album was "Hold Me". Odell performed "Hold Me" and "Can't Pretend" on both Alan Carr: Chatty Man and The Jonathan Ross Show .

In December 2012, Odell announced that the title of his debut album would be Long Way Down. In addition, he also unveiled its artwork and release date of 16 April 2013, however, due to its scheduled U.S. release date it was pushed back until 24 June 2013 to prevent the leak of the album across the rest of the world. He also announced the track listing which included "Another Love", "Can't Pretend" and "Hold Me".

Promotion

To promote the album, Odell went on two tours. The first was a smaller, mini-tour which took place in March 2013, three months before the album's release; the second tour takes place in autumn 2013. In 2012 Odell appeared as an opening act for Jake Bugg on the UK leg of his tour in November 2012.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 58/100 [2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Digital Spy Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Independent Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
MusicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
NME 0/10 [8]
The Observer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
PopMatters 3/10 [10]
The Telegraph Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]

Upon release, Long Way Down received mixed reviews from critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100, the album received an average score of 58 based on 14 reviews by mainstream critics. [2]

NME gave the album 0 out of 10, prompting Odell's father to complain to the magazine. [12]

In the Spring of 2025, Odell's bonus track song "Heal" from the Long Way Down Deluxe Edition, became revisited in the United States and across the world when American Idol (season 23)/(8 on ABC) contestant and eventual winner Jamal Roberts covered the song during "Iconic Idol Moments" week and during the finale episode. The gospel-soul rendition of Jamal's performance went viral over the internet and social media as the defining moment of the competition for Roberts. Odell expressed in a KTU 103.5 interview [13] while discussing the topic of songwriting, storytelling and remixing, that he seen the video of John Roberts performance online and was inspired, stating: "It made me cry, he does this version of 'Heal', a song that I wrote when I was 20 years old...and I watched this on YouTube....and for me...that is why I do this!", expressing why he enjoys songwriting. Odell later gave his blessing to Jamal Roberts to release the new cover version of "Heal" as a single, which hit #1 on Apple iTunes top 100 the same week it was released after Roberts' win. [14]

Odell's version of "Heal" was featured as the ending credits song on the 2014 film If I Stay and If I Stay (soundtrack). In an audio commentary of the soundtrack with WaterTower Music, filmmaker of the film R.J. Cutler stated they needed a song to: "help the audience transition from the intensity of the final moments of the film, while also resonating lyrically and tonally with the story, for weeks we listened to songs trying to find the right one, we had almost given up...when our music department...came with bunch a new options...we listened, but it didn't work, and then we put on Tom Odell's 'Heal', it was so perfect I couldn't believe it". [15] The song later on, made emotional break appearances on the 2018 film The Miracle Season and television series such as The Vampire Diaries (season 7, episode 17) and 9-1-1 (season 8 finale).

Track listing

All tracks written by Tom Odell (except where indicated) and produced by Dan Grech-Marguerat.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Grow Old with Me" 3:03
2."Hold Me"
3:08
3."Another Love" 4:04
4."I Know"
3:52
5."Sense"
4:24
6."Can't Pretend" 3:37
7."Till I Lost" 3:37
8."Supposed to Be" 3:33
9."Long Way Down" 2:29
10."Sirens"
3:41
Total length:35:20
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
2:54
12."Storms" 3:08
13."Heal"Odell3:13
14."Till I Lost" (Demo) 4:23
15."Grow Old with Me" (Demo) 2:47
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
16."Supposed to Be Acoustic" (Video)3:36

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [36] Platinum20,000‡
Germany (BVMI) [37] Gold100,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI) [38] Platinum40,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) [39] Platinum15,000‡
Poland (ZPAV) [40] 4× Platinum80,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [41] Platinum300,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 "Long Way Down". 24 June 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2018– via Amazon.
  2. 1 2 "Long Way Down Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Tom Odell, Long Way Down review". AllMusic . Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Corner, Lewis (24 June 2013). "Tom Odell: 'Long Way Down' - Album review". Digital Spy . Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Simpson, Dave (21 June 2013). "Tom Odell: Long Way Down". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Price, Dave (22 June 2013). "Tom Odell: Long Way Down". London: independent.co.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Saunders, Chris (18 June 2013). "Tom Odell - Long Way Down". Musicomh.com. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Beaumont, Mark (24 June 2013). "Tom Odell - Long Way Down". NME. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Fox, Killian (23 June 2013). "Long Way Down - Tom Odell". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  10. ↑ Nelson, Geoff (23 June 2013). "Tom Odell: Long Way Down". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  11. ↑ Brown, Helen (20 June 2013). "Tom Odell, Long Way Down, review". London: telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  12. ↑ Rawlinson, Kevin (19 June 2013). "'Hello, NME? I'd like to complain about your Tom Odell review. Why? I'm his dad'". The Independent . Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  13. ↑ 2.7K views · 57 reactions | Tom Odell is blown away after hearing American Idol winner Jamal Roberts cover Heal 🎤❤️ He wrote the song at 20 and now, years later, it’s making waves... | By 103.5 KTU | Facebook . Retrieved 20 May 2025– via www.facebook.com.
  14. ↑ Whitewood, Kelly (30 April 2025). "No One Expected Jamal Roberts to Turn "Heal" Into a Televised Breakdown That Brought Everyone to Their Knees". Daily Stories. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  15. ↑ WaterTower Music (27 August 2014). If I Stay Official Soundtrack | Heal Commentary with R.J. Cutler | WaterTower . Retrieved 23 May 2025– via YouTube.
  16. ↑ "Chartifacts". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Odell – Long Way Down" (in German). Hung Medien.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Tom Odell – Long Way Down" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Tom Odell – Long Way Down" (in French). Hung Medien.
  20. ↑ "Danishcharts.dk – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". Hung Medien.
  21. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Odell – Long Way Down" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  22. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". Hung Medien.
  23. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  24. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Tom Odell". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  25. ↑ "Charts.nz – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". Hung Medien.
  26. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  27. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  28. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". Hung Medien.
  29. ↑ "2013-07-06 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company.
  30. 1 2 "Tom Odell". Billboard. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  31. ↑ "Official Top 100 Albums: August 23rd, 2024 - August 29th, 2024". TurnTable . Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  32. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2021". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  33. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2022". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  34. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2023". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  35. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2024". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  36. ↑ "Danish album certifications – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". IFPI Danmark . Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  37. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Tom Odell; 'Long Way Down')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  38. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Tom Odell – Long Way Down" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved 23 July 2021.Enter Long Way Down in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2016 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  39. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". Radioscope. Retrieved 26 March 2025.Type Long Way Down in the "Search:" field.
  40. ↑ "OLiS - oficjalna lista wyróżnień" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 13 June 2025. Click "TYTUŁ" and enter Long Way Down in the search box.
  41. ↑ "British album certifications – Tom Odell – Long Way Down". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 9 June 2016.
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