Christopher Lennertz’s Lost In Space 2 marks a spectacular return to the epic action orchestral style of the first score, so simply put – if you liked that one, you’ll love this one.

Lennertz’s score for the first season was one of the first reviews that I ever wrote for this website. As it happened I also really quite enjoyed the score, so when I saw that an album for season two had been released a few weeks back, it only felt right to dive right back into that classic sci-fi action-orchestral world (despite admittedly not having seen either of the show’s now two seasons) with another review. So, without further ado – let’s see what compositional delights the composer has in store for us this time around.

The album begins with Will Wakes, a cue that starts out softly with light, rather peaceful-sounding strings and gentle backing brass notes. This occupies the opening minute before the music then begins to rise at about the minute mark, with the brass becoming rousing and the now triumphant strings joined by epic percussion as several notes from the main Lost In Space theme are played. Things then settle back down for the cue’s quiet, strings-led ending, closing just as a subtly as it began, and overall making for one hell of an album opener. Loud, fast-paced percussion then kicks in for Smith-Raise The Sails, with near frantic brass joining the fray seconds later. Just listening to the orchestral style of this happily three-minute-long piece sends you back to the now classic sci-fi action scoring style of the 80s and 90s – it’s quite simply glorious. Setting Sail then sort of concludes the action from Raise with a loud, triumphant and brass-heavy two minutes before closing with a particularly upbeat and brassy finishing flourish. Compositional style was something I remember highly praising Lennertz for with his score for the first season, and I’m happy to say that here it’s back and honestly sounding better than ever.

Robinsons Reunited continues the hopeful and rather upbeat vibe with slow, cheerful strings that are then joined by the now established rousing brass at the end of the piece. Small elements of the main theme also appear here, though only at various short intervals in the background. Things then get considerably tenser in Towards The Falls with loud, imposing brass and at one point some rapid, high-pitched, almost horror-like strings. Ominous vocals and loud percussion then join the fray about halfway through, substantially adding to the already anxious atmosphere. Flashlights then heads directly down the horror road, doubling down on the high-pitched strings and frantic backing percussion for three minutes of rapid, restless and at times rather scary action score. To The Resolute then brings us back into the happier, hopeful orchestral world with upbeat, rousing brass and light, tender strings. The main Lost In Space theme makes its most prominent appearance yet here, though sadly it’s still fragmented and a little all over the place. I just want to hear some John Williams, damnit.

The Book-Robots starts out almost pensively with light piano notes, but before long the high-pitched eerie strings join the fray and the tone quickly descends into ominous territory. This however doesn’t last for long before optimistic strings arrive alongside some new chanting vocals and the now expectedly loud and rousing brass, which all together then build towards quite an epic and rather spectacular musical conclusion. Slow, calming strings then open John And Judy, with vocal elements making a short appearance before the strings fully take over for a section of quiet, thoughtful score. At about the two minute mark the vocals then return in hopeful fashion and the music then begins to rise, with brass then arriving shortly after to end the cue on a gloriously loud and very triumphant note. So far the album seems to make a habit of introducing a fantastic track and then trying to outdo it with subsequent ones, and this couldn’t be truer than with Pod Flying, a truly sublime three minute action setpiece with an emphasis on rapid, heroic brass and loud, epic vocals. There are hints towards the main theme about halfway through, but these are then pretty much drowned out by enthusiastic, dramatic orchestra that simply just isn’t afraid to go all out when it needs to, and that’s a great (and nowadays – quite rare) thing.

Frantic brass starts off Chariot In The Hallways, with fast-paced strings and boisterious percussion taking up the background along with several short notes from the main Lost In Space theme. Being only a minute and a bit long, the track then ends just as quickly as it began. Math-No Will Robinson then opens similarly rapidly before slowing right down and giving us the album’s first full rendition of the main theme in big, heroic and particularly grandiose form. Considering that we’re almost twenty tracks in I must admit I’m a little disappointed in the lack of thematic content on the album, but the spectacular compositional style is doing a good job of distracting me from that.

Jupiter Landing opens with some very interesting-sounding electronics before then moving back into the tense orchestral manner that has now become quite familiar on this score. The pace then slows down towards the end of the piece for an inspirational, strings-heavy finish. Solemnity is then the focus at the start of The Children Say Goodbye, with heartfelt strings taking centre stage for much of the cue alongside slow, pensive brass notes. A piano starts playing towards the end together with a rather saddened strings rendition of the main theme which then segues rather seamlessly into The Rift, a similarly pensive cue. At about a minute or so in quiet brass arrives in the background, injecting a small amount of hope into the otherwise quite solemn score that then slowly builds into a somewhat cheery but rather short appearance from the main theme. Loud action orchestra is always a welcome musical style in my mind, but honestly – it’s here in the slow, careful, elegant strings-heavy side of the score that I feel Lost In Space 2 is at its best.

Overall then, Christopher Lennertz’s score for Lost In Space 2 is nothing short of spectacular, just like his work for the first season was. Above all else his compositional style here is abosolutely fantastic, harkening back to the unafraid to go all out sci-fi action orchestral scores of the 80s and 90s that I am ever so fond of. John Williams also gets many a musical hint across the album, though I must admit I did feel that the score could have done with a bit more of his Lost In Space theme. It appears even less here than it did on the first season’s album, and it was sporadic there. Despite this though the score is really quite something, with fast-paced action cues like Pod Flying and A Bumpy Ride truly standing out as well as slower, more thoughtful strings-heavy pieces like John And Judy and The Rift, proving once and for all that Christopher Lennertz was very well chosen to compose for the series.

Score: 8/10

Standout Cue: 12. John And Judy

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