Search - Michael Giacchino :: Lost: Season 3 (Original Television Soundtrack) [2-Discs]

Giacchino's Work On LOST Continues To Be The Best On Televis

Kaya Savas | North Hollywood, CA | 05/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Giacchino's work on the first season was an astounding accomplishment in scoring, period. He was able to establish a musical map for an incredibly complex show dealing with countless subplots and a large amount of characters. He was able to make it intense and at times incredibly emotional. I can't count how many times his music has made me cry during the show's run thus far; it's amazing. The second season of the show continued to build on old characters and introduced new ones. Season 3 was an incredible arc of music that rises way above what he did for season 2 and dare I say even season 1.



Varese has blessed us with a 2-Disc release. Disc 1 containing the best selections from the season and disc 2 containing the complete score from the season finale. There are so many great cues on this release that it's hard to select stand out ones. I was looking forward to this release mainly for Disc 2 because in the season finale Giacchino brought back that amazing theme heard in season 1 and did a lot of variations on it. If you recall "Hollywood And Vines" from the season 1 score release you will definitely hear that theme in many variations on disc 2.



Giacchino is definitely having a great time with this show and I've noticed (especially in season 4) just how more "in your face" the score is becoming, and I love it. What his music does for this show is absolutely amazing and even casual viewers probably can't help but notice how important of a role the score has played in emotionally connecting the audience with these characters. I am amazed at how much music is in every episode and how Giacchino is able to consistently maintain a superb quality in the music despite the ridiculous time constraints a show like this has on a composer. This is a must buy for any LOST fan and of course any Giacchino fan.



The only thing I noticed while listening to this album that bothered me was the room tone left in during the recording. It's very noticeable when listening through headphones and especially on disc 2. During quiet parts of a cue you will hear sniffles and breathing from the performers, lots of sound of bodies moving in chairs, even the peddles on the piano. I have to say that this release was poorly mixed. It sounds like they recorded everything at once instead of each instrument in small groups or individually and then mixed together. I don't know if this was due to time constraints or what, but it did bother me slightly during some parts."

The best ever release of a television score.

Gregory Achen | Los Angeles, CA | 05/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just as Michael Giacchino continues to raise the bar for television scores, so now too does Varese Sarabande raise the bar for future soundtrack releases! Simply put, a lot of love has been put into this album and it shows. Keep in mind that soundtracks for movie scores are a rare niche and so soundtracks for television scores must be even rarer. The fact that a television score is getting the two disc treatment speaks more than any review ever could.



My only complaint about this release is that it doesn't have MORE music from the season. There are tracks I still want from seasons 1 and 2 and now I can add season 3 to that list. But with 67 tracks spanning two CDs, all for a little more than the price of a standard CD, it's hard to complain too much. Call me spoiled, but Giacchino has created so many magical moments throughout the show, I want them all.



Right now my favorite track is Claire-A Culpa. It's one of the most beautiful renditions of Claire's theme and it's arranged almost like a John Williams' suite. On that note, Claire's theme has a heavy presence in this release, but that's okay because I've always thought it was one of the more beautiful ones on the show.



Other favorites of mine include The Island, Leggo My Eko, Romancing the Cage, Ocean's Apart, A Touching Moment (Jack's Theme), Dharmacide, and Greatist Hits. I am also very happy that at long last we get a couple renditions of Charlie's "moth theme". I've been waiting for it since the release of the season 1 soundtrack and I am happy to hear it at long last.



Overall both CDs make for an enjoyable listening experience and by design I think the song selection chosen form a nice cohesive whole. The packaging is beautiful and so are the discs (with the first disc having the Hydra Station logo and the second disc having the Looking Glass Station logo).



With the music industry in the state it's in, CD sales are down across. The fact that Lost continues to get top quality releases of its music is infinitely appreciated by this reviewer. With any luck, we will continue to see releases of seasons 4, 5, and 6. Don't miss out on owning this impressive body of work!



P.S.



I am still not happy with the lack of a decent inclusion of Desmond's theme. There is a version on this CD, but it's not as powerful as others, in my opinion. Let's hope they include the version from the ending of the episode The Constant for the season 4 soundtrack."

Absolutely amazing!

J. Cardello | 05/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was greatly looking forward to this soundtrack, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Well, okay, there were a couple of little things. But overall, this is quite simply fantastic stuff.



Much of Giacchino's music for this series can be categorized as quiet and emotional, frenetic and action-packed, or suspenseful and eerie. Occasionally, something more lighthearted enters the mix, though that side of things is mostly absent from this season's soundtrack. The variety of music is really wonderful, though it certainly maintains a very strong stylistic unity. To anyone who doesn't like it, I would HIGHLY recommend giving it a few more chances. I still remember the days when I thought Lost's music was so dumb. My subsequent change of attitude could not be any more profound. Trust me...this is GREAT stuff.



I won't bother describing every single track, but suffice it to say that this soundtrack brings a lot of new material to the table. Most of season 3's new themes can be heard on it, along with new statements of older themes and--interestingly--a number of themes from seasons 1 and 2 that hadn't been included on their soundtracks. The result is a very satisfying album.



The flow of the first disk is, I think, much better than that of the second, but I'm totally fine with that because the second disk presents every single cue from the season finale. Sacrificing flow for amount of content is never a bad thing in my book; if we really want, we can always create out own playlists that omit the tracks that are less interesting to us.



My one initial disappointment with this album (aside from the minor sounds from the studio, which aren't nearly as unusual as some of y'all may believe) was the track "Dharmacide"--ironically, the one I'd been looking forward to the most. Apparently, the cue was significantly edited for its use in the episode "The Man Behind the Curtain", and I gotta say, I prefer the edited version. At first, I thought this was simply a different recording with a different structure, but then I realized that all of the elements were still there, but in different order and with a few additions. So it's actually possible to reconstruct the (IMO) vastly superior version heard in the show. I just finished doing so, and I'm quite happy with it. =D



But yeah, buy the album! And don't neglect to buy the soundtracks for the first two seasons, too."