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More than This (One Direction song)

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"More Than This" is a song by English-Irish boy band One Direction from their debut studio album, Up All Night (2011). It was produced by Brian Rawling and Paul Meehan, and was composed by Jamie Scott. Primarily backed by synthesizers, the track is an acoustic pop ballad about an unrequited love. "More than This", the album's fourth and final single, was released digitally by Syco Music on 25 May 2012.

"More Than This"
Single by One Direction
from the album Up All Night
Released25 May 2012
Recorded2011
GenrePop
Length3:48
LabelSyco
Songwriter(s)Jamie Scott
Producer(s)
One Direction singles chronology
"One Thing"
(2012) 		"More Than This"
(2012) 		"Live While We're Young"
(2012)
Music video
"More Than This" on YouTube

"More than This" obtained generally favourable reviews from critics, who commended the balladry, but only charted on Australian and Irish charts. An accompanying music video, directed by Andy Saunders, depicts the group performing the track live as part of their Up All Night Tour (2011–12). One Direction performed the ballad during two of their major concert tours: Up All Night Tour (2011–12) and Take Me Home Tour (2013).

Development and composition

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After being formed and finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010,[1] One Direction were signed to Syco Music. Recording for their debut studio album, Up All Night, began in January 2011.[2] In February 2011, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on Up All Night.[2] "More than This", confirmed to be released as Up All Night's fourth single by Sony Music Australia in early May 2012,[3] was released via digital download on 25 May 2012. The digital download contains the principal recording, and live versions of the number itself, "What Makes You Beautiful", "Gotta Be You", and "Up All Night".[4]

Produced by Brian Rawling and Paul Meehan, and written by Jamie Scott, "More than This" is an acoustic pop ballad that runs for 3:48 (3 minutes, 48 seconds).[5][6][7] The chorus of the song is predominantly backed by synthesizers.[8] One Direction's vocal range in the span from the note of F3 to A4.[9] Written in the key of C major,[10] the track is set in common time at a moderate tempo of 70 beats per minute.[9] Instrumentation includes guitar, strings, piano lines, vocals and synthesizers.[8][9] The lyrical content regards an unrequited love. It features an acoustic guitar riff similar to that of Jonas Brothers' song Make It Right from the album Manish.

Reception

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Robert Copsey of Digital Spy was surprised by the group's "ability to carry off a sizeable ballad," regarding it as one of the best boy band ballads in recent years.[11] Cosmopolitan's Sophie Goddard deemed the song a laudable addition to the balladry pantheon.[12] Billboard correspondent Jason Lipshutz classified it as "One Direction's own "All I Have To Give," and opined that its synthesizers add a dignified demeanour to the refrain.[8] In contrast, PopMatters writer Zachary Houle criticised the song as jarring, and dismissed it as "a bit cloying," which he attributed to band's "'90s ancestors."[6]

The track was One Direction's fifth best-selling song in the UK by August 2012.[13] Despite charting at number 49 on the Australian Singles Chart dated 20 May 2012,[14] the single received a gold certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 35,000 copies.[15] The single reached number 39 on Irish Singles Chart, marking One Direction's fourth top forty appearance in Ireland.[16][17] The ballad also received a platinum certification from the IFPI Norway association, indicating sales of 10,000 units.[18]

Promotion

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Zayn Malik and Liam Payne performing "More than This" at the Rockefeller Center

The accompanying music video was directed by Andy Saunders at the Bournemouth International Centre in January 2012, as part of One Direction's Up All Night Tour (2011–12).[19] On 9 May 2012, Sony Music Australia disclosed via social networking website Twitter that a video for the track would premiere on 11 May.[3] A 30-second preview of the clip, which showed the group gather around a couch onstage and sing the piece, premiered on Entertainment Tonight on 9 May.[7] On 11 May, the clip debuted, a live performance of the song featured on their debut video album, Up All Night: The Live Tour, which was released on 28 May.[3] Writing for MTV News, Jocelyn Vena suggested that fans would appreciate the clip's sequences.[7]

On 12 March 2012, One Direction performed "More than This", "One Thing" and "What Makes You Beautiful" at the Rockefeller Center on The Today Show.[20] An estimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza.[20] The group also performed the song during two of their major concert tours: Up All Night Tour and Take Me Home Tour (2013).[21][22] Jane Stevenson of Canoe.ca listed the performance of "More than This" at Toronto's Molson Canadian Amphitheatre among the show's highlights.[23]

Charts

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Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[14] 49
Ireland (IRMA)[16] 39
Scotland (OCC)[24] 63
South Korea International Songs (GAON)[25] 58
UK Singles (OCC)[26] 86

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27] Platinum 70,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[28] Gold 30,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[18] Platinum 10,000*

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

References

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  1. ^ Sperling, Daniel (12 December 2010). "One Direction finish 3rd in 'X Factor' final". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b Miller, Ed (16 August 2011). "Sony excited about One Direction potential". Music Week. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Copsey, Robert (9 May 2012). "One Direction announce new Australian single". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  4. ^ "More Than This – EP by One Direction". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  5. ^ Up All Night (booklet). One Direction. London, United Kingdom: Syco Music, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. 2011.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ a b Houle, Zachary (16 March 2012). "One Direction: Up All Night". PopMatters. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Vena, Jocelyn (10 May 2012). "One Direction tease 'More Than This' from live DVD release". MTV News. Viacom. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Lipshutz, Jason (21 March 2012). "One Direction, 'Up All Night': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  9. ^ a b c "More Than This Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com (EMI Music Publishing). 23 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  10. ^ Jamie, Scott; Direction, One (23 April 2012). "More Than This". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  11. ^ "One Direction: 'Up All Night' – Album review". Digital Spy. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  12. ^ Goddard, Sophie (25 November 2011). "Why there's only One Direction...Cosmo reviews their debut album". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  13. ^ Lane, Dan (2 August 2012). "One Direction sell 12 million singles, albums and DVD and Blu-rays worldwide". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  14. ^ a b "One Direction – More Than This". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  15. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Chart Track: Week 23, 2012". Irish Singles Chart.
  17. ^ "Discography One Direction". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  18. ^ a b "Norway Awards". IFPI. Archived from the original on 14 December 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  19. ^ One Direction: Up All Night – The Live Tour (booklet). One Direction. London, United Kingdom: Syco Music, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. 2012.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ a b Horowitz, Steven J. (27 March 2012). "One Direction & The Wanted: The Billboard cover story". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  21. ^ "One Direction Launch 'Up All Night' UK Tour in Wolverhampton". Capital. Global Radio. 22 December 2011. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  22. ^ "One Direction Launch Take Me Home World Tour With Two Sold-Out Shows in London". Capital. Global Radio. 22 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  23. ^ Stevenson, Jane (30 May 2012). "Concert Review: Live Review: One Direction in T.O". Canoe.ca. Québecor Média. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  25. ^ "Gaon International Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  26. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  27. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2020 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  28. ^ "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 7 October 2020. Type One Direction in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and More Than This in the box under the TÍTULO column heading.
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Official music video on YouTube.

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