[1]
The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees have just been announced, and with it, a piece of history. For the first time ever, a video game’s full soundtrack has been nominated for this award. Austin Wintory’s beautiful score for Journey, the downloadable title from thatgamecompany (makers of 2009’s Flower) finds itself among the biggest of the big boys up alongside other nominees like Hans Zimmer (for The Dark Knight Rises) and John Williams (for The Adventures of Tintin). Although we have a seen a huge influx of accomplished, big-studio film composers make their way over to gaming, it is not any of them or Activision or EA that can boast of such an honor, making this an even more notable occasion.
I do not expect Mr. Wintory to come home with the prize as I am sure that too many who vote have not heard Journey‘s unique and sweeping score. Even still, this is an incredible boost to the legitimacy of the art produced in this genre. The exceptional music writing in video games comes as no surprise to the readers and contributors to this site, but it’s about time the rest of the world took notice and learned what it was missing!
Congratulations, Austin Wintory! A well-deserved nomination for a beautiful score that helped to shape one of the most memorable experiences I have had in quite some time. And if any of you have not yet bought this soundtrack, what the hell are you waiting for [2]?