Personal quote Joel McNeely is the kind of composer everybody should love, eventually loves but not too much. Already in the first years he was seen as the clone of John Williams, so scoring Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was not a bad thing to do, more it got him noticed very much. Yet McNeely has a lot of orchestral capabilities and even if it remained with various highlights per score, Wild America, Flipper, Iron Will and Virus contained them all, those capabilities and highlights. Yet, McNeely is a bit stuck since he doesn't score real grand movies but just several very light blockbusters or even some crappy Television series. I mean what the hell is Frankenstein: The College Years? Why on earth does McNeely has to score that? Hopefully, Joel McNeely will eventually become the composer everybody saw in him, meaning a grand one showing the orchestral capabilities to us again in big commercial movies. Biography Joel McNeely was born in the United States. Both Joel's parents had a strong impact on his choice of education. His parents were musicians (not professional) and Joel studied piano, flute and saxophone at an early age. He played in numerous bands as a saxophone player and later he joined the Innerlocken Arts Academy in Michigan. After several years, education at the University of Florida followed, learning to write jazz arrangements. His start in the music career began in the Eastman school of music, where he applied for a masters degree as a writing major. Soon discovering after years to come, it wasn't easy to get scoring assignments and his sole occupation being a studio musician resulted in a frustrating experience. He then wrote and recorded a demo tape, shiped it to composers and producers and Joel received word of Bruce Broughton, David Shire and Pat Williams. It got him into the Sundance Film Institute in Utah, run by Robert Redford, a place where young composers have the opportunity to meet agents of all the world. It got McNeely into the Television community, Splash Two, Parent Trap III and IV and Tiny Toon series are some of the scoring examples. Nonetheless The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles of George Lucas introduced a new world to McNeely, opening the doors to fame and glory. Iron Will and Terminal Velocity became McNeely's first major gigs and scores such as Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Flipper, Soldier, The Avenges and Lover's Prayer, Sally Hemmings brought him into the spotlight of Hollywood. Also credited is his additional work on Goldsmith's Air Force One and Virus, a science fiction horror film. Recently he scored Peter Pan II and The Jungle Book II, back to Disney I'm afraid. Also he scored James Cameron's TV (Dark Angel) and James Cameron's IMAX (Ghosts of the Abyss). Mulan II for video release, Disney's Holes, Pooh's Heffalump Movie and Lilo & Stitch 2 are his more recent work. Joel McNeely is also known as an accomplished conductor.
(overall impression) June, 1998 Inexperience. Budget. Tiny Toon Adventures. How not to get too depressed doing "Frankenstein -- The College Years." (on challenges)
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