Hello, this is your requested review.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- Right away, I can say for sure that you have too much going on in the mids. Before 0:45 it isn't too bad, but after that point you have the pads, arpeggios, and multiple leads all playing in the mid and high mid frequencies. Notably, your bass isn't even that much actual "bass", but it seems to be playing mostly in the low mids. While I can't be entirely sure since there are so many instruments, it sounds as if you have some reverb on these instruments (and definitely on your cymbals/noise sweeps) which are also causing extra mud in the mix. There's a certain principle of "less is more" when it comes to mixing a lot of the time. In professional mixes, even some of the largest "sound walls" tend to be quite clean, using plain chords and a firm bass sound. For example, check out the drop at around 0:43 in this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg1qZq5yjps Notice how the bass comes in, grounding the chord and helping with impact. There also aren't too many mid instruments to cause complication. For a reference with more harmonic lines, give this one a listen at 2:13 or so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBR3s7YZzzM There are harmonic lines but they're all background to the chord progression focus and melodies.

- Now, let's talk about the harmonies and melodies you have going on here... and really the overall arrangement of the track. Notice how the reference tracks are formatted in such a way that there are clear builds, climaxes, and breakdowns, with multiple themes you can recognize between them. This is because they're using two principles which I believe would benefit you greatly to study and work on: Contrast and Familiarity. Contrast is all about having distinct sections that have different tones and dynamics. Notice how in Miss You there are three different climaxes, with breakdowns between them that are each unique, often featuring variations on the main chord progression. This allows people to rest in between climaxes and have multiple times where excitement builds in anticipation of those climaxes. Each climax in Miss You also uses very similar formatting and ideas with variation in each... which brings us to Familiarity. People like familiarity. It's a common preference used in movies, advertisement, education, and... yes, music. Having multiple themes that can be woven into your builds, climaxes, and breakdowns allows you to retain consistency over time and develop these ideas. This actually helps with the 'journey' feel you were aiming for, since it's taking something familiar and bringing it to new places - as opposed to a constantly changing and unstable chord progression with themes that are, unfortunately, fairly buried in the mix.

Compliments to the Composer:

- I really appreciate the inclusion of some variation and small drum fills like at 0:30 or 0:45. These are actually really nice even though the reverb gets in the way a bit. Having some consistent variation is fantastic. I can also tell you have multiple themes and sections with the instruments you use, once you have the mix cleaned up a bit you'll be much better situated to really show off those melodies clearly.

If this were in my score group, I would give it a 6.5. Solid start, and you have a good few ways to take a big jump in quality. Take it higher!