Soundtrack Review: Journey (2012)

Journey Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the video game score Journey by Austin Wintory.

“Austin Wintory has created the perfect score for Journey, so much that the music can be a journey by itself.”

Journey is one of the most beautiful games I have ever witnessed. It’s from the same people who brought us Flower so you are in for something special here. The developer Thatgamecompany has focused on making this game visually pleasing and also a joy for the ears. Guiding us through this very short adventure is composer Austin Wintory.

Track List

1. Nascence	100
2. The Call	80
3. First Confluence	80
4. Second Confluence	80
5. Threshold	100
6. Third Confluence	100
7. The Road of Trials	100
8. Fourth Confluence	100
9. Temptations	80
10. Descent	80
11. Fifth Confluence	80
12. Atonement	80
13. Final Confluence	100
14. The Crossing	80
15. Reclamation	80
16. Nadir	60
17. Apotheosis	80
18. I Was Born for This	100

The game itself can be completed in around 2 hours, and the score here is about an hour long. First when I watched the trailer to the game, I heard Austin’s score for the first time and it hit me that this was something I needed to experience for myself, both the game and score. In this game, there are no long-winded story and complex dialogues, just a simple idea executed beautifully. This is also a game where the score has to be perfect for the game because it places so much emphasis on the visual and the audio.

Austin Wintory has created the perfect score for Journey, so much that the music can be a journey by itself. Of course you would have to experience the game for yourself to truly understand, but even as a standalone score, this is an hour well spent. If you are like me, you will be listening to the score again and again. Starting with the beautiful ‘Nascence’ that was present on the first Journey trailer, the bar has been set. The dark cello opening is fantastic and the meat of the track is from 1:05 and onwards. ‘Threshold’ is a another stunning track with a much more uplifting and energetic opening than most of the other tracks. The solo string parts stands out for me, but the whole track is a feast for the ears.

Perhaps some of you will ask: Where is the identity? Where are the powerful themes? To that I say: The identity is the journey itself, every track here has a small story to tell and there’s more than enough beautiful music here ranging from minimalistic to the more complex to compensate for the lack of a killer theme.

Conclusion

You simply have to join Austin Wintory on this wonderful musical journey, there’s simply no excuses for you not to do so. You also need to play the game itself to get the complete experience but if you don’t get the score ASAP.

GEEK SCORE: 86.6

Listen to Journey by Austin Wintory below:

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