Joe Brausam 215 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 So I'm just finishing up my first listen of this piece and I couldn't help but notice a few similarities thoughout it to some previous Williams pieces, such as "The Land Race", "Jim's New Life", "Dry our Tears, Afrika", and the last movement is screaming "Hymn to the Fallen" at me. Maybe there's more in there, I've been doing other things while listening so I haven't been paying a ton of attention. I do feel sort of let down by this though, I was really looking forward to something new to hear but instead I was greeted by reworked cues from other films.How do you all feel about the piece? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,059 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 I have no problem with it. It's quite possible Williams decided to pull from previous score he wrote for films with similar subject matters. Maybe Spielberg requested that he stick close to the temp track or use those scores for references. Or he could have had a short time frame to compose and decided to rework some passages from previous scores.There's only 3 that truly stand out, the land race material from Far And Away, The Patriot's theme and Angela's Ashes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,796 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 The usage of the land race and the patriot (well, this was released before the patriot...) seems very fitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Brausam 215 Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 The Patriot and Angela's Ashes too? Guess I'll have to give it another listen.I do suppose there was a reason for those all to have been worked into the piece, it was just sightly dissapointing on the first listen. Maybe I'll change my opinion after I hear it a few more times. It really isn't even that bad...Mozart reused his own material all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,211 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Only noticed Patriot and Land Race. Those don't bother me too much; it's a very good score overall and if anything, I get the feeling that Williams decided this would be the best use for the material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Flight and Technology sounds more Spacecamp-ish to meI remember in 2000 when we thought this would never be released on c.d. American Journey is the luckiest JW c.d. release ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,796 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 And without Narration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Oh yeah,I remember the fear it would be released with the obtrusive narration when it was announced,as this was post-Angela's Ashes Sony Classicalk.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williamsfan301 11 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Yeah, whenever my wife and I listen to American Journey we usually calling "American Journey: A John Williams Retrospective"It's a great work though. Wonderful to listen to while watching fireworks or going on a road trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odnurega1 0 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 I really like American Journey. Even though it has many pieces of music that Williams' has written for other films, it is still very original, and a great listen. Perhaps I am biased, though. If Horner had written it, and copied himself, I would be up in arms. On a sidenote, I just discovered you could italicize something by highlighting it and then pressing the italics button. Before, I had been pressing the button, and then inserting my text inside.Ahh, technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 On a sidenote, I just discovered you could italicize something by highlighting it and then pressing the italics button. Before, I had been pressing the button, and then inserting my text inside.wow,after all these years i never figured that outitsworkingk.M,who will now speak with more special effects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,796 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 On a sidenote, I just discovered you could italicize something by highlighting it and then pressing the italics button. Before, I had been pressing the button, and then inserting my text inside.wow,after all these years i never figured that outitsworkingk.M,who will now speak with more special effectsOh god, KM has been trolled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Meh... lazy fools. I use Fast Reply and BBCode for my italics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FattyMcButterpants 1 Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 He could use some flash to detract from his posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fommes 153 Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 I was just listening to this for the first time in years. Actually I like it that Williams refers and sort of reworks portions from other scores. He'll often make a concert version of one or two themes after composing a score, conduct it on one or two occasions - mostly not for an album - and then leave it, so it's good to have him revisit something he did before for a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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