The Journey of Natty Gann (Bootleg)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

There was a time James Horner stood for something, now its just controversy and overlong releases. Way before that it was fun, mere fun. And one of his early efforts proofs that again. The Journey of Natty Gann was apparently first scored by legendary film composer Elmer Bernstein but was rejected for whichever reason, and James Horner stepped onboard. It would become one of Horner's first adventure scores and considering what we heard now, he again laid the entire foundation down which would return later in beloved efforts as American Tail: Fievel Goes West, Bicentennial Man, Land before Time and others. One of the first things to mention is the fact the main theme is (you guessed it) one we will remember from a more known score, namely the song theme of The Land Before Time. Why Horner used it in another movie is of course a question. Was it because he didn't want to let a theme as beautiful as this go to waste considering it was and still is a commercially unreleased album? Or is it the mere fact that Horner continues to barrow and reuse his themes and methods? Take it the way it is, its here and its nice to here a slightly altered performance of it. In 'Track 1' its with the concert version immediately setting the tone, what's also noticeable is the dodgy sound quality which makes the entire effort sound like a flat listen, No extra layer of sparkling energy can be discovered in a quality as this, despite the score actually having that energy in score material. Also noticeable is the string gliding of emotional content he used in so many other scores, mostly known from Bicentennial Man. Its nice all the same despite we have heard it many times before. 'Track 2' lays the soft underscore with a string variation on the theme and the emotional strings.

'Track 3' is a real doozy, moving from rapidly increasing piano to a heroic energy move beloved in efforts ala Star Trek III, to guitar variations on the theme. If the quality could alone unleash us that energy, it would have been fantastic. However, that unleashed energy is sadly the only link we have with Star Trek, the other links are the mentioned Land before Time, Bicentennial Man and American Tail: Fievel goes West influences, with 'Track 6' being that Fievel tune, with a violin and piano start moving to a fun bouncy piece reminiscent of Fievel's bounciness. The other tracks mostly are centered around the theme, 'Track 9' having the familiar underscore, 'Track 10' containing a wonderful racing fanfare of the theme in lively form (sadly the sound quality not following) while the concert versions and emotional string versions of the theme are awaiting us in tracks 11 and 17, while the Bicentennial Man strings take an emotional response from us in 12 and 14. Altogether, The Journey of Natty Gann is an impressive early score from Horner, it was in fact one of his first in the genre and a lively beautiful piece at that. Sadly neither Bernstein (rejection) nor Horner (unreleased) was happy considering it fell a bit in the secondary place, due to its unknowing status today. However if ever the sound could be beefed up to today's standard proportions and if ever a label could release it properly the way they have done with various other Horner fare, then this score could become a much beloved effort, no doubt about it. And in truth it must be said, the sound's lack of clarity and energy takes a half star of it rating, because it just can not bring the fun that is present. Hopefully the call goes out to people who feel the same way too. For now, I hope people can accept the dodgy sound and respect Horner remaining Horner, because its an influential score but then it became an influence to many to come. I think that part says it all the quality present here is of fun standards.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Track 1 (1.59)

2. Track 2 (3.21)

3. Track 3 (2.46) Excellent Track

4. Track 4 (3.29)

5. Track 5 (2.33)

6. Track 6 (2.27)

7. Track 7 (3.55)

8. Track 8 (2.04)

9. Track 9 (1.47)

10. Track 10 (1.21)

11. Track 11 (3.24)

12. Track 12 (5.03)

13. Track 13 (0.35)

14. Track 14 (1.11)

15. Track 15 (2.21)

16. Track 16 (1.21)

17. Track 17 (2.04)

Total Length: 41.49

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: James Horner ===