Austin Wintory
Journey OST

Release Date: 2012 | Tracklist

In our society video games keep getting shunned by the media because they get generalized as being bad influences and lacking substance. The media depicts video games as one of the lowest forms of art and as a result it gives them a bad reputation. What the media fails to touch on are the games like Journey that can only have a positive effect on us. Journey gets its point across without the player firing a single bullet, splattering one drop of blood and absolutely no dialogue. To top it all off, it features some of the best music to grace any form of interactive media. It's stirring, ambient, calming and happens to be one of the major driving forces that really makes Journey hit so hard in terms of genuinely feeling. Music in any type of art of visual art is meant to convey the scope and severity of the situation and Journey's music not only expresses these aspects: It takes on a life of its own.

A video game about an unknown figure on a "journey" that involves simply walking to the bright light at the top of a mountain needs the music that expresses determination and catharsis. Right from the start, "Nascence" fits with it's slowly simmering strings and beautiful ambience. This carries over into "The Call" with its incredible post rock like build. Plenty of the pieces that Austin Wintory composed for Journey showcases an immediate post rock aesthetic with their slow rising builds and breathtaking crescendos that always seem to explode at the right moments while playing. The music capitalizes on bringing out all of these breathtaking moments in the game with all of these inspiring pieces like "The Road Of Trials" when gleefully sliding down the hills of the unknown desert and "Fourth Confluence" where you look at the stone tablets that vaguely tell the cloaked figure what happened before starting his pilgrimage to the light. Austin also flushes out the sinister moments as well with the ominous drums in "Descent" while struggling to ascend the bottom of the mountain. With no dialogue and only a lone companion to interact with along the way, the game needs the perfect way to express the gravity of what exactly is happening and Austin Wintory accomplished just this with his grammy nominated soundtrack.

Even though listening to this soundtrack alone doesn't have the same effect, it's still worth a listen simply to be inspired. Austin created an evocative soundtrack like no other and it really shows in songs like "Apotheosis." This song embodies the end of your trial with it's extremely gleeful mood and intense string string arrangement. As soon as you fly to the top of the mountain while the simmering strings swell, you will be at a loss for words. No other video game soundtrack has ever perfectly delivered in this type of mood before like Journey's soundtrack does. It's still worth it to give this gem a listen alone, but to experience it right play the game. Anyone with an appreciation for music and art will not regret it.

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4.2 excellent

Rank: #0 for 2012