Almost Home (Mariah Carey song)

"Almost Home"
Song

"Almost Home" is a single co-written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It is the main track from the 2013 Disney film Oz the Great and Powerful. "Almost Home" was written by Carey herself along with Simone Porter, Justin Gray, Lindsey Ray, Tor Erik Hermansen, and Mikkel Eriksen (a.k.a. Stargate).

The song was announced on February 6, 2013, and was made fully available for listening at SoundCloud on February 18, 2013. "Almost Home" became available for download on February 19, 2013.

The song has received a very positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the vocal performance of Carey which was reviewed as the "return" of the classical Mariah at her heydays in the 90's, this favorable reception came after the lukewarm reviews of Triumphant (Get 'Em) where many criticized the lack of Mariah Carey.

Background and Recordings

Mariah Carey has already released Triumphant (Get 'Em) on August 2, 2012.

Critical reception

"Almost Home" has so far received favorable reviews from music critics. Kyle Anderson from Entertainment Weekly gave the song a somewhat positive review: "Carey's body of work is pretty phenomenal—she could comfortably put together a satisfying two-disc greatest hits without having to let middling stuff sneak in—but it has been a while since she delivered a really transcendent single. It used to be her bread and butter; she still holds the record for most chart-topping songs by a solo artist in history. But this millennium has been spottier, and though songs like 'Obsessed' and 'Touch My Body' scored big on the charts, they both feel like weaker versions of other Carey smashes (and have not aged particularly well, either). 'Almost Home' kind of feels the same way. It's an uplift anthem that could have been sung by most anybody, at least for the first three minutes."

Bill Lamb of About.com gave the song a very positive review, awarding it four stars out of five: "Long-term fans of Mariah Carey will be pleased when they hear 'Almost Home'. She is in strong voice here [...] 'Almost Home' nestles well into the long tradition of Disney soundtrack songs. There is no new ground broken here, but this is a solid, enjoyable recording." Lamb concluded by remarking that "Carey's voice [has been] buried in the production on recent releases. The clip of 'Almost Home' has her singing in full voice that recalls many of her past hits."

Jessica Sager from PopCrush gave the song a critical acclaim awarding it 4 and a half stars out of 5: "Mariah Carey is, somewhat ironically, making a much more triumphant comeback with ‘Almost Home’ than she did with, well, 'Triumphant (Get 'Em).' The song is a return to form for the multi-octave diva." The writer also stated that the song "sounds like a Carey track from the days of yore — her 90′s heyday — in the best way," fitting in with songs from Carey's previous albums Music Box and Daydream.

Jocelyn Vena from MTV News gave the song a positive review: "The up-tempo pop piece plants Carey right in the mythical land from the famed movie. It's weaved together by a bouncing beat and bright synths, as Carey's signature vocals soar over Stargate's sparkling production work.". Robbie Daw from Idolator hailed the song:[...]"And, from what we can see here, it contains everything you’d expect from American Idol‘s current whistle-register songbird in residence: hair whips, a jacket toss and Mimi’s luxurious locks flinging courtesy of a wind machine." He asked while reviewing the music video that was premiered on Good Morning America [...]:" Does the above preview clip of the vid have you eager to part with your dollar and 29 cents?"