Journey

In writing reviews, I've often found that written language is better suited to those scores whose content is of low quality, shoddy workmanship, or overall bad instrumentation. It seems easier to mock and criticize a lackluster score than to highlight and extol it. With composer Austin Wintory's score for the 2012 video game Journey, however, so profound was its effect upon me that not only had I a need to find a way to glorify its lavish wonder, but also to translate into words its preternatural and somehow spiritual emotion. A more difficult review than this I have not yet written. Prior to the score for Journey, Austin Wintory's name and musical works had totally eluded me. He's been highly praised for his mostly ambient-type musical score for the video game flOw, to which Journey has drawn some comparisons, but truly, I have to believe that Wintory's magnum opus thus far is indeed Journey. The video game is really an open-ended eponymous experience centered on a nameless character traveling towards a mountain for reasons unexplained. And like the game, Wintory's musical score teases and entices one's interest to the point of rabid obsession, but in my opinion, completely eclipses the game's content in favor of slack-jawed awe. Early into opening tracks "Nascence" and "The Call," Wintory's musical and compositional gifts are easily evident. The foundation of the Journey score is rooted in cello (masterfully played by Tina Guo) and electronic ambient, and right from the start both are equally and effortlessly represented as the score begins with a heart-wrenching cello melody transitioning to gentle, brooding, electronic synth of the highest order. I'm reminded immediately of the melodies on James Newton Howard's score for The Village, as well as Bulgarian dark ambient artist Shrine's The Final Asylum. "First Confluence" begins with the "Nascence" theme buried in the background, almost as if the listener's journey already has taken them a fair distance away from where they began, when suddenly wavering synth begins to flirt with harp melodies. "Second Confluence" continues this pattern, adding a slight industrial tinge when faint electronic buzzing and feedback mingle with bubbling bass lines. "Threshold," a beautiful and lithe track where comparisons to The Village again come to mind, almost immediately also recalls the lead lines to Clint Mansell's The Fountain, when the harp creates a dominant cascade of sound giving way to slight ethnic influences. Wintory may or may not have been trying to steep the listener with emotional impression, but "Threshold"'s conclusion gives a feeling of rebirth after the primordial and serene sound of the first few tracks. "Third Confluence" greets with a foreboding yet wonderfully withdrawn and skittish melody, which quickly introduces "The Road of Trials," a much different and upbeat track than prior with a full-on ethnic drive and pulse, incorporating cello, flute, and harp in a beautiful amalgam of sounds, within a delicate framework of bleeding excess yet somehow juxtaposed with effortless structure and poise. The drums, once in the background, are more forceful and pronounced than before. "Fourth Confluence" is a short track hearkening back to the score's beginning, incorporating ambient swell leading into "Temptations," which features one of the best melody lines on the album, a mysterious harp tune being penetrated first by ambient drift and then by waves of coalescing strings. "Descent" follows, which quickly moves from blinding beauty to what its title suggests: gloomy, nonchalant percussion and low-octave horns. The pace momentarily is quickened entering into "Fifth Confluence," a song comprised of slight, low, and thunderous bass lines underneath a layer of aquatic strings and synth. "Atonement"'s sound again pays homage to Mansell's The Fountain, joined by atonal gongs and warbles of percussion seeming to interrupt the potent cello melody therein, and after two minutes the whole composition bleeds into a network of strings first emulating the cello's captivating beauty, then building and ascending their own structural tone and delving into a swirling, amorphous mass of cello, strings, and metallic percussion. "Final Confluence," the best of its similarly-named cousins, starts out displaying synth backdrop, but then transforms into colossal string collections of heart-rending beauty. Following "The Crossing," the spine-tingling and high-pitched string work of "Reclamation" funnels into "Nadir," which, as its name implies, illustrates a menacing sound akin to Hans Zimmer's work on The Ring, before spiraling into a tumultuous assembly of scratching strings and harrowing drums. It's with "Apotheosis," however, that Journey's penultimate track yet spiritual denouement begins; with a quickening pace of slight percussion and string work, the track breaks into the best melodic section on the album at around the one-minute time frame, capturing the wavering and weeping cello in parallel with a repeating skeletal string composition. Then roughly halfway through the song, the melody shatters upon itself to produce one of the most beautiful and tear-inducing sequences of music I've heard in my lifetime, lending "Apotheosis" an air of unparalleled gravitas with equal and frightening ingeniousness. Final track "I Was Born For This" is the first to incorporate vocals, courtesy of Lisbeth Scott, which otherwise portrays the prototypical sound of the entirety of the Journey score while seeming to casually pay an homage to the awesome beauty of Wintory's sound, before closing on the same level of resplendent beauty on which it all began. I hope I've begun to do justice to Austin Wintory's Journey in only the slightest; never have I heard a musical score that has such left me feeling simultaneously as if I've been infinitely inspired and yet robbed of all hope, joy, yearn, and sorrow. Journey is simply that, in summary: a musical work of drowning, almost emotionally and spiritually vampiric power whose splendor and grandeur cannot be effectively portrayed in words. Stop at nothing to obtain this musical work in any form; Austin Wintory's Journey is a score of stunning and heart-stopping majesty, zealous and indescribable aesthetics, and utterly flawless magnificence.

This soundtrack for the video game "Journey" is a true marvel and achievement in all of music, and sets the bar for future video games. The game itself is about a nameless traveler who journeys across a vast desert filled with ruins of a lost civilization to a large mountain in the distance, where a light at the top of it beckons to this traveler. Without any dialogue, this video game tells a story through its visuals and the majestic score, composed by Austin Wintory. The music is phenomenal. There is not another musical score for any video game that amounts to Journey, and I'm divided in saying this because, even though i love many great scores, this one is just the best. In comparison with other video game scores, here's my conclusion. The Uncharted trilogy (mainly 2 & 3), the musical scores set the standard for all future adventure games. The Last of Us, it's musical score sets the standard for all action/horror games in the future. Mass Effect 3 set the standard for all future sci-fi related game scores. Now, with Journey, it doesn't set the standard for just a specific genre or style of game, but for all games. The way it conveys beauty with mystery is astonishing, and very prevalent in the track Temptations. But the one track that encompasses the full greatness of the score is track 17, Apotheosis. Clocking at a wee bit over 7 minutes, the track is both haunting and gorgeous, having a sort of hopeful feeling towards the end, as if the end of the journey is merely the beginning of another. Recommended for anyone who listens to video game scores, movie scores, or someone who appreciates classical/instrumental music. 5/5 Stars*****

Journey's soundtrack is one of the principal elements of the game's story. Your character begins amidst sand dunes, alone. As you walk and leap toward the distant light on the mountain peak, you see glimpses of the past: crumbling buildings, lonely, mournful creatures - pets? pieces of technology? magic? The sun shines pink in the morning as you start, and the colors change as you enter the abandoned city, pass through its great sanctum, and press desperately on into the blizzard. Along the way are shrines which tell the story of your people, guarded by a serene being who is subtle comforting presence even when hope wanes that you will ever reach your destination. And the shifting of the landscape. There is always sand, or snow, blanketing everything. Likewise, a soft flowing string orchestra is always there, offering shifting ground cover for the solists' melodies. Your character doesn't speak, and may encounter others, but the Journey isn't simply about the landscape; it's a journey of inner discovery, and you will experience in the visuals and the music loneliness, hope, despair, guilt, innocence, joy and maybe a little enlightenment too. Master solo work on cello, viola, serpent (deep woodwind), soft percussion, and from the voice of Lisbeth Scott help bring to the surface these moods. Having played the game several times, I don't know that the soundtrack would make as much sense to someone who hasn't. But for me, listening brings back those haunting images and emotions and lets me experience again Journey's power, beauty and poignancy.

Lo compre para un regalo de cumpleaños y fue todo un acierto. La edicion es preciosa y la banda sonora espectacular, nostalgia pura.

Simply perfection. I just love this OST and Im so happy I can have it on vinyl.

Il cd è molto bello, è stato un regalo davvero gradito, l'unica pecca è che la copertina di plastica frontale era leggermente rotta! Il cd comunque era perfettamente integro e funzionante.

De esta forma puedes apreciar muchos detalles de la musica, que mientras se juega no, me gusto mucho toda la banda sonora

Journey as a game is an emotional experience, dripping with symbolism that can be freely and widely interpreted, in addition to offering a gameplay experience stripped of unnecessary mechanics. The soundtrack, composed by Austin Wintory, is a wondrous compliment to the game, in addition to being one of the best soundtracks in any medium. Relying primarily on harp, strings, and wind instruments, the soundtrack tracks the titular "journey" in its progress from barren desert to barren mountain, taking in the feelings each area has. You don't need to have played the game to appreciate this. The "Confluence" tracks are nice codas which act as transitional elements between each segment of the soundtrack. Standouts between these include "Threshold", "Temptations" and "Atonement". The penultimate track, "Apotheosis", is more bombastic than the other tracks, but still manages to stir the heart. The vocal theme, "I Was Born For This" sung by Lisbeth Scott, is superbly performed, and emotive in a way that's both sombre and uplifting. From a purely practical and technical perspective, this is an excellent release for the price. The music quality on the disc is equal to that from the game, but without any ambiance and so allowed to shine in all its glory. The recording is top quality, with no track skipping or sloppy transitions between pieces. The sleeve notes provide some interesting insight into Wintory and other members of the staff. It also features some stunning artwork which captures some of the atmosphere of the game. It's very seldom any soundtrack is able to evoke both sadness and elation. It's a beautiful example of symphonic composition, a blend of Western production values with Eastern styles of music-to-game interaction. This is a must-buy for anyone with half an ear for good music.