Lost: the Final Season

All the stops were taken out for this masterful collection of 51 amazing titles. While we can all agree the script writing and execution of the final season was shady at times, Giacchino was constantly innovating and creating new and beautiful themes for this chapter. The problem is that, while we get 51 titles, there are DOZENS of things missing from this release, most notably the variations on Desmond's sideways theme, the best of which was heard as Hurley met up with Desmond, Kate, and Sayid after Ana Lucia let them out of the cop car. Not to mention the beautiful music from "Across the Sea" or the dozens of cues from "The End". Nevertheless, this release does have some big surprises.

Let's start with the audio. The recording quality of these CDs seems a bit higher than the previous five releases. It sounds like Giacchino might have chosen to isolate each section so levels could be balanced afterward. The performances have a few flaws here and there, which you'd rarely expect to make it through post-production on a release of this magnitude. The final piece, "Moving On," for example, has an obvious wrong note in the upper strings at 3:34, for example. The overall effect of the pieces as a whole overshadows these minor details, in my opinion.

Many the themes that you'd want from the final season are in here. It's a unique season for Giacchino, as he not only expanded on existing character themes, but wrote entirely new ones for the flash sideways characters. Some of the best pieces, like "Peculiar Parenting" and "None the Richard" show that Giacchino's head was most definitely in the game, writing arguably the best music he did for the series in this season.

DISC 1

1. A Sunken Feeling - Reminiscent of season 2's "Peace through Superior Firepower" and many of Giacchino's underwater motifs, we get a nice performance that accompanies some of the worst CG ever displayed on TV. Really, go watch the underwater opening scene in HD. Or SD. It's just as awful.

2. Heavy Metal Crew - Revisits Juliet's theme for like a second. Good with the visuals, but nothing impressive in standalone format, to me this is just CD filler.

3. Doing Jacob's Work - We actually hear this track in New Man In Charge, the special bonus epilogue with Hurley, Ben, and Walt. We hear some good uses of Jacob's theme throughout this CD. Get's fun at 1:06...it seems like Giacchino revisited a lot of the season 1 and 2 percussive elements.

4. Smokey and the Bandits - There's a nice performance of Juliet's theme around the middle of this one, but it's the same key and similar orchestration to how we heard it last year. And the year before.

5. LA X - Brilliantly weaving together "Life and Death" and "There's No Place Like Home", it's hard to believe that Giacchino didn't know exactly what the flash sideways is. This theme is among my favorite season 6 themes, and for a good reason: it's simple and elegant.

6. Temple and Spring - It seems way too soon to hear the adopted Sawyer/Kate love theme...wasn't it just a few hours ago that Juliet died?

7. Locke At It This Way - Introduction of Locke's flash sideways theme. This one's great, because we never got a "happy" Locke theme. It's reminiscent of Locke's struggle theme (see the last few minutes of "Walkabout") but it's a great spin.

8. Richard the Floored - While listening to this one, anyone can answer the question "why isn't Giacchino doing movies?" He is. And his ability to make even a dramatic underscore endlessly interesting is illustrated with the driving and percussive nature of this track.

9. Coffin Calamity - Have I mentioned the names of these tracks are great? I think I read somewhere that Giacchino's sound editor writes the names, but I could be making that up. This is a really fun piece in that we get to explore the Temple theme a bit. The last 30 seconds are the best.

10. Lie Thou There - There's not much to say about this track, it feels more like filler to me.

11. Trouble is My First Name - Starting out with a slow run of Jacob's theme, this track bends very nicely into some dark strings and then back into a typical Giacchino cliffhanger swoop at the end.

12. Death Springs Eternal - More of the Temple / Dogen's theme, Giacchino fills up over 6 minutes with some really interesting melodies and chords. It's tough to do even half of that for TV, and he makes it seem interesting. Really nice to listen to cranked up.

13. The Rockets' Red Glare - This is the point where we all say "yes, we all know the Temple theme...next!" There is a nice little 8th note drive at :54. In the series, this is where they prep to shoot the rockets from the Temple to signal that they're not safe from Smokey and/or something happened to Jacob.

14. Temple and Taxi - Giacchino loves using sul ponticello, and he always does it right. Some really great percussive 8th note ditties in this, and it get's really fun and driving around 1:55. The accent nature of this piece is reminiscent of "The Battle of Hoth" from The Empire Strikes Back.

15. My Orca - Beautiful theme used for Clarie/Kate in the flash sideways. This is short, but it works. Beautiful recording quality.

16. Helen of Joy - Yeah. He went there. Obviously a titular nod to Helen of Troy, the track is great. GREAT. The solo line at 1:08 is one of the best featured in LOST's history.

17. Jacob's Ladders - We build on Man in Black's early season 6 theme (he gets a new one at the end of Ab Aeterno), and then go right into some flat suspense music that serves its purpose. There's some eerie suspenseful use of piano at the end, which makes this track worth it, even on it's own.

18. The Substitue - One of the great tracks on the CD. There's an eerie line that carries through the whole piece, and it's truly beautiful. Not much to say about this one, except that you should listen to it. Now.

19. Peculiar Parenting - Even though this evokes a flash or two of ABC World News theme, Jack and David's theme (which also stands as just Jack's sideways theme at times) shines in it's full glory here.

20. Door Jammer - Fun chord progressions, a fun percussion track, and a beautiful ending make this THE best <1 minute track on either CD.

21. The Lighthouse - Variations on Jacob's theme. Well, Jacob's chords. They never get old because tracks like this let us really explore that eerie progression, which, while reminiscent of "The Map Room/Dawn" from Raiders of the Lost Ark, is one of the most powerful of the series. We also hear the beautiful hemiola melody which creeps up here and there (later in the last seconds of "Ab Aeterno," for example).

22. Sundown - Sweet for the first three minutes or so, but when Smokey comes, we hear some of the best underscore in LOST's history. Listen at 5:20 and tell me Giacchino isn't one of the most innovative composers out there today. 5:45 shows us a beautifully tragic rendition of the old school LOST theme. Then Kate at 6:01 with a dramatic pulsation underneath. Ends beautifully.

23. Catch a Falling Star - Watch this with the lights on. CREEPY. This is when Sayid, Kate, and Claire see the dead bodies after the massacre by MIB. The BEST rendition of MIB's first theme towards the end of it.

24. Linus and Alpertinent - The last half of this song is genius. The progression against the mid strings playing tremolo...it's great. I believe this is where the dynamite doesn't end up killing Richard and Jack...not sure.

25. Karma Has No Price - After Ben gives up the big chair for Alex, this theme speaks volumes about him as a person. This combo captures it all. The track is the only one to contain both Ben's new theme and his older season 3 cue (Dharmacide).

1. Recon - This might illustrate how some of the songs are wildly out of order, but it's welcome (so we don't hear the same theme or variations on a theme six times one after another).

2. Crazy Town - This is when Locke tells Kate about his mother. It's another particularly troubling track because of it's repetitively twisted nature. There's some great dramatic suspense music here, most notably at 1:24.

3. None the Richard - Now we're talkin. This is where Richard's theme is first unveiled to us as he rides a horse back to see Isabella. His theme, both epic and nostalgic, serves it's purpose well. When listening to this track, one has to think, "he wrote this for TV??" It's just so full and well-thought-out that it's hard to believe this isn't from a film score.

4. Love in a Time of Pneumonia - We get a fuller exploration of the same theme here, with some nice tremolo from our strings to generate suspense.

5. The Fall of Man - This is the cue that plays as Richard Approaches the statue to kill Jacob. Another variation on Richard's theme with a much more dramatic pulse from trombones.

6. Dead Man Talking - NEW MIB THEME! Excellent. Full glory at :37. We get the fantastic Ebmin-Bmaj-Ebmin-F#min progression, which, with its inversions evokes an effective Vader-like backbone to the theme.

7. Jacob's Advocate - This is where Jacob and Richard talk and Richard gets his new job on the island, and also where MIB finds out Richard was persuaded by Jacob. Basically, we get a restatement of Jacob's theme and MIB's new theme, with a bit of exploration of Jacob's theme towards the middle, and a reprise of Richard's theme at the end on harp and string.

8. Standing Offer - Richard comes back in present time to ask MIB if the offer still stands to join him. Some nice percussion here, and yet another reprise of Richard's theme.

9. And Death Shall Have No Dominion - Somehow this theme never gets old, especially since the violins sustain whole notes in a particularly sweet fashion above the harp which states Richard's theme. We hear his theme played a few times here and in a few different ways, but the important thing in this track is its switch to MIB around 1:40 and its magnificent cliffhanger ending, which is reminiscent of some of the music we heard in "The Lighthouse".

10. Sayid After Dentist - Clearly referring to the YouTube hit. Search now if you haven't before. The first half of this song is an exploration of Sayid's dark theme, but it picks up and gets extremely fun around 1:08, with some great use of darker strings, trombones, and pitch bends on the upper string voices.

11. Shepharding Sun - Even without the touching scene to accompany it, this track is a great standalone for listening. We start out with a beautiful reprise of the old school LOST main theme and then we transition into Sun and Jin's theme.

12. Tesla Tester - We hear this theme a lot with Widmore's people, so I've dubbed this "Widmore's Team's Theme". I'm pretty sure this one is first used the technician gets fried in the chamber. It's percussive and entertaining...definitely worth a few listens.

13. George of the Concrete Jungle - First time we hear Desmond's new theme. It's faster here than we're accustomed to in the later episodes, but it's a welcome inclusion on the CD.

14. World's Worst Car Wash - Yeah, way faster than we're used to. More variations on Desmond's theme, this time much more percussive, it's where Charlie crashes Desmond's car into the pier. This whole track jumps up to AMAZING at 1:10 where we hear Charlie's theme with eerie violin over the top--musically, this evokes the SAME emotions felt when Charlie died in "Through the Looking Glass" -- masterful, Mr. Giacchino. Nice parallel.

15. None the Nurse - More Desmond theme, this time a little slower, which is great. It really is a nice theme, and I'm glad they decided to put these cues in, but even happier that we get a transition to Desmond's retro theme (aka the Desmond/Penny theme) at 1:06. Things get fun in this track after Desmond leaves the MRI machine.

16. Happily Ever After - This one brings us back to season 2's finale with a variation on Desmond's main theme. It transitions back beautifully into his flash sideways theme. Definitely a keeper.

17. Hugo Reyes of Light - One of the three tracks from "Everybody Loves Hugo", this one is my favorite. Lots of simple chords with not much else going on...the progression just screams beautiful, though. We also get some nice pizzicato, old-school Hurley theme towards the end. Definitely worth several listens.

18. Passing the Torch - More from the same episode, this time we get some eerie music at 2:02. This is where Michael and Hurley talk.

19. A Memorable Kiss - I'm not sure where we hear the first part of this theme, but the middle is from when Hurley and Libby kiss. We end with a short reprise of Desmond's theme. Beautiful recording, nice take on Hurley's original theme.

20. The Last Recruit - An awkward variation on "There's No Place Like Home" is the starter for this track. Things really pick up when we hear Desmond's alt theme again 2:45, this time with some killer percussion behind it to really drive it forward.

21. Kool-Aid Claire - Reminiscent of David Arnold's early work on the first few Bond films he did, this track is a welcome addition to the LOST theme collection.

22. The Sub Group - Oddly, we hear this theme used in different places to build suspense. Locke's dark theme is heard here once or twice, a hint of Jack's theme, and a hint of Claire's theme. I would have given up this track for something from some of "What They Died For" or "Across the Sea".

23. Sunny Outlook - Another variation on the old-school main LOST theme, it's pretty, but nothing mind-blowing.

24. Reunion and Reneging - Beautiful performance of a variation on Sun and Jin's classic theme. More percussive Widmore music after that, followed by some more suspense. Then Widmore bombs Jack and everyone, but, of course, Locke and Jack survive. "You're with me now." Creepy.

25. The Hole Shabang - Even in the craziness of preparing a billion themes for the finale, Giacchino manages to add a new one, and it's incredible. This is where Jack is lowered by Ben and Hurley to go put the rock back on the Source to save the island. We cut back and forth a few times but end up with the amazing cue as the plane takes off--GREAT music.

26. Moving On - The best piece written for LOST, this wraps up the CD nicely. It HAD to be included. The music starts when Jack is talking to Christian and goes all the way until the last second of the show. What's incredible is that there's absolutely NO audio other than the score played in the church after "let's find out". There's only the sound of Vincent barking towards the end, which is accompanied by the classic "Life and Death" theme. We explore several themes in this piece, starting with Jack's theme, Life and Death, then the most beautiful reprise of "There's No Place Like Home" ever, then Hurley's theme in a new light. The piece finishes off with the main LOST theme and a beautiful harp pluck at the end.

After listening at length to each of the LOST releases, I can easily say this one tops them all in terms of compositional and audio quality, but lacks in the titles included on the CDs. I am disappointed, because it seems as if we'll never get some of the best cues of the season as standalone. What happened to the epic restatement of MIB's theme that plays after he finds the settlement burned and all his friends murdered? What about the epic fusion of Hurley and Desmond's theme at the end of "What They Died For?" It's remarkably frustrating, and it's the only reason I'm giving this release 4 stars instead of 5. One thing's for sure. LOST got snubbed at the Emmy awards, with the outstanding score being the worst snub of them all. Worth purchasing for any LOST fan who appreciates Giacchino's masterful work on the show.

Update: It seems as if Varese Sarabande has released "Lost: The Last Episodes". Now that there are two clear releases and Varese Sarabande has made it clear that the last episodes are on a separate release, I have changed my rating to reflect, at 5 out of 5 stars. The dual release makes these two items a pricey investment for those who want to buy both, but those who want the complete experience of season six should definitely make the investment if the quality of "Lost: The Last Episodes" is anywhere near the quality of this release. I will amend this review after I have explored the new CDs.

Well, here it is. The last piece of the puzzle. Season 6 just came out on Blu-ray. The entire series has been released in a gorgeous box set also available on Blu-ray and now here is Michael Giacchino's final Lost album. I applaud Varèse Sarabande for handling Giacchino's score with the dedication it deserved over the years with the constant 2-disc releases. This selection from the final season spans 2 discs packed with 2.5 hours of Giacchino's emotional and masterful music.

Never in the history of television has a TV show's score done what Lost's has. Forget the fact that it has become iconic and a staple of the show, but look at how it functions as a score. The pure emotion that bleeds from every note gives us new dimensions to the story as we watch it unfold. The characters become hallow if it weren't for the score. The show would become empty. I can admit that Lost has consistently brought me to tears throughout its 6 seasons, and while being emotionally invested in the characters played a part of it I can't look past that it was because of Michael Giacchino's music. Honestly, how bold is a show to end its ENTIRE series solely on score? That's what Lost did. In the final 5 minutes or so of the final episode there were maybe 2 or 3 seconds of diegetic sound.

It is not an understatement when I say that this season's score represents the biggest accomplishment in television history and in Giacchino's career. The beauty, the tragedy, the love, the terror that echoes through these melodies is something that can barely be described through words. In fact I feel like I'm doing the score injustice by writing about it when one should be experiencing it for themselves as a standalone experience.

The last track of this album is titled "Moving On" and is pretty much the final moments of the final episode. That track embodies everything that Giacchino set out to do with these characters, this journey and bringing the story full circle. The raw emotion in those 7 minutes and 55 seconds is such that it will leave you trembling with tears streaming down your cheeks especially because it will instantly replay those last 2 minutes in your head. It's beautiful. Lost's musical journey is one that reminds us all of the power of score and how if used to its full potential turns the medium of film and television into something extraordinary. Never have I seen characters, story, editing and score work so amazingly together to create such a momentous effect. Michael has crafted something to stand the test of time and I promise that people will look back upon his work here till the end of days. It's that special. If you're reading this then the likelihood is that you have listened to and have watched Lost and know what I'm talking about. If you haven't then I really feel sorry because you don't know what you are missing. Bravo, Mr. Giacchino.

Lost was one of the best shows ever, and for six seasons stayed that way, there were many reasos why, one of them was Michael Giacchino. No one has ever written a score for a television show like he did. Every note was perfect and perfectly placed for every scene. The final season featured some of his best musical and the final scene was perfect and a perfect way to end this great show, with great music.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  4.4 out of 5 stars