Music Composed by John Williams, various
Rating: ****

If somebody were to call me a nerd, I would be helpless to deny the charge. My bedroom is filled with scores of movie soundtracks and toys, and my mind is cavern of obscure and entirely useless cult trivia. But however geeky I may be, I can take some pride in saying that I have never sat through an entire episode of either Star Trek or Lost in Space. Cult sci-fi trends just never caught my attention, I suppose. However, after pouring through La-La Land’s terrific Lost in Space: The 40th Anniversary Edition set, that pride turns to regret. Clearly, I have missed out on a terrific musical mini-legacy from the greatest period of television’s musical history. Combining over 80 minutes of early John Williams music with a heaping collection of cues from a multitude of unchampioned Golden Age greats, La-la Land’s package may be enough to make a convert out of me. I still haven’t seen an episode of Lost in Space, but I’ll try to stop snubbing my nose at it.

John Williams

The first disc is entirely devoted to John Williams’ music for the show’s first few seasons; this should be a big draw for serious Williams fans who don’t already have GPN Crescendo’s earlier Lost in Space releases. Now it’s no secret that most of Williams’ early film scores (generally swinger comedies) bear little resemblance to the sophisticated music that would later bring him so much fame (except, perhaps, for John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, a clear predecessor to serious Williams’ fare like Rosewood and Munich). Surprisingly, however, Lost in Space does not fall into that category at all. Though I’ve never seen the show, I’d always been under the impression that Lost in Space was a piece of family-friendly 60s sci-fi cheese. Williams’ score, however, carries a much more darker and frequently aggressive tone than I could have ever anticipated. If you want the Williams of clear melodies and thematic daring-do, this is not the place for you. But if you want examine the music that bridges the gap between the Golden Age of Williams’ mentors and the music he would eventually define for the Silver Age, Lost in Space is invaluable. To a large extent, Lost in Space sees Williams clearly following in the footsteps of Bernard Herrmann (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Voyage to the Center of the Earth) and Alex North (Africa, Cleopatra). Both were composers who could take the cheesiest scenarios and score them with so much uncompromising modernistic intensity that even cardboard robots seemed terrifying. Williams follows their lead with harsh and intimidating portraits that truly emphasizes the terror of being lost… INNNNN SPAAAAAAACE!!!!!!!! (forgive me, I’m weak). But as much as the music is guided by Herrmann and North’s shadows, Lost in Space also serves as a clear predecessor to Williams’ later and more renowned science fiction efforts. Listen to “Searching for John” and you’ll hear foreshadowing to first Star Wars score’s impressionist Tatooine passages, while “Operation Rescue” brings to mind the most brutal moments of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Even in the first season’s title theme, you can hear the frantic brass half-steps that would later define Star Wars: Attack of the Clones‘ “The Chase Through Coruscant.” As frequently difficult as the music can be, it’s frequently brilliant and entirely invaluable for listeners who want to study Williams’ evolution as a composer.

The second disc is a much more eclectic set, with scattered cues the later seasons featuring an enormous number of composers. Though few of these names were ever giants in the industry, many are responsible for some of the most wonderful but rarely-championed cult scores of the Golden Age; among them, Herman Stein/Hans Salter (The Wolf Man, Son of Frankenstein), Alexander Courage (Star Trek: The Original Series), Cyril Mockeridge (Miracle on 34th Street), Leith Stevens (Destination Moon), and Leigh Harline (Disney’s Pinocchio). The tone for these seasons was evidently a good deal more lighthearted, and though the music varies in style from composer to composer, everything on this disc is less stark and intimidating than Williams’ music for the first seasons. This even goes for Williams’ new title theme for season three, a swinging beach-party-in-space number that’s about as far from Bernard Herrmann as you can get. There are far too many talented composers featured here for me to pay adequate respect to every track on this disc, but the music ranges from gentle Americana (Herman Stein and Frank Comstock’s “Welcome Stranger”), psychedelic jazz (Peter Rugolo’s “Space-a-delic”), breezy adventure (Leigh Harline’s “Space Pirates”), and full-out comedy “(Robert Drasnin’s “Space Walk”). Occasionally, the music recalls Williams’ harsher textures (as in Fred Steiner’s “Space Circus” suite), but by and large everyone seems to be having a good time. Despite the abundance of cooks in the kitchen, the disc flows smoothly and works as a great sampler platter for a great number of wonderful composers who have never received enough attention from the film music community.

On the whole, this is a terrific package, with more than enough to offer for both fans of Williams, fans of neglected Golden Age treasures, and fans of Lost in Space in general. Even if you have GPN Crescendo’s previous volumes of music from the series, La-La Land has loaded this package with so much fresh material that you’re bound to find something new that’s worth your dollar. The set is limited to an unusually large 5000 copies, but with the combined cult appeal of the show and the draw of John Williams, it won’t stay in print long. Don’t miss your chance; believe it or not, it’s possible to enjoy this music without feeling like a complete geek. . . usually.

Music Composed by John Williams, Herman Stein, Alexander Courage, Leigh Harline, Cyril Mockridge, Gerald Fried, Fred Steiner, Leith Stevens, Robert Drasnin, Hans J. Salter, Lionel Newman, Pete Rugolo; Executive Album Producer: Kevin Burns; Executive Album Producers - La-La Land: MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys; Album Produced by Mark Banning; Availability: Limited edition of 5,000 copies; Label (Catalogue): La-La Land Records, (LLLCD 1042); Release Date: December, 2005

Disc One
01. Lost In Space Season I Main Title (0′53)
The Reluctant Stowaway
02. Smith’s Entrance ( 2′45)
03. Final Countdown ( 4′33)
04. Escape Velocity/Meteor Storm ( 5′41)
05. Weightless Waltz ( 3′37)
06. Monster Rebels ( 3′40)
07. Walk In Space/To Be Continued (7′35)
Island In The Sky
08. Strange Planet/John’s Descent (1′30)
09. Helmet It (1′19)
10. Strangle Hold/Landing (6′24)
11. Lil’ Will And The Robot (1′29)
12. Search For John (4′13)
13. Monkey’s Doo (4′52)
14. Operation Rescue (1′16)
15. Personal Chauffeur / Electric Sagebrush / Will Is Threatened (2′34)
The Hungry Sea
16. Earthquake (2′45)
17. Temperature Rising / Boring Company / Don’s Rays (4′08)
18. Warming Rays/Sun Storm (3′00)
19. Land Ho/Kid’s Play-Off (2′36)
My Friend Mr. Nobody
20. Wonderland Discovery / Penny’s Problem/ Gathering Wild Flowers (9′33)
21. New Galaxy (2′26)
22. Lost In Space Season I End Title (0′50)
All Music by John Williams

Total Playing Time: 78′55

Disc Two
01. “CBS Presents This Special Program In Color” (0′08)
02. Lost In Space Season III Main Title (1′02)
The Derelict (Stein/Salter)
03. Derelict Title / Frontal Robotomy / Family (2′00)
There Were Giants In The Earth (Stein)
04. Microscope/Pod Almighty (1′49)
Welcome Stranger (Stein/Comstock)
05. Stranger/Friend Or Foe/Permission/ Spore Sprayer/The Robinsons/
Upper-Ration/Hapgood/Star Charts/Tall Tail/ Blast Off (17′33)
06. Lost In Space Season III Bumper (0′05)
Blast Off Into Space (Stevens)
7. The Family/Quake/Mine Entrance/Galaxies Wins/Spilled Cosmonium/
It’s Alive/Cosmonium Fiend/One Last Check/ Family/Blast Off/
Thruster Control Short/Thruster Control Continued/Freeze Frame (15′58)
Curse of Cousin Smith (Drasnin)
08. Mississippi Shuffle (1′28)
09. Little Joe’s Yes (1′22)
Girl From The Green Dimension (Courage)
10. Mulberry Bush/What A Knight (4′26)
Cave of The Wizards (Courage)
11. Mummy’s Boy/Draconian Anthem/King Queen (5′16)
Collision of Planets (Fried)
12. The Aliens/Sampson March/1st Blast (3′27)
The Promised Planet (Rugolo)
13. Space-A-Delic (3′50)
14. Senior (’Sky Pirate’/Harline) / Introduction (’Ghost In Space’/Harline) /
The Search (’Sky Pirate’/Newman) (3′58)
15. A Nice Little Bank/Investigation (’Sky Pirate’/Mockridge) (2′52)
16. Terror Stinger/Another World/Ominous Signs/Awful Monster/
Silly Monster (’Space Circus’/Steiner) (8′02)
Forbidden World (Drasnin)
17. Space Walk (0′39)
18. Lost In Space Season II Main Title (unused) (0′58) (Warren Barker)
19. Lost In Space Season III End Title (1′09)

Total Playing Time: 77′32