When I think of LOST's second season, there are many things that
spring to mind: Desmond. Henry. Tailies. Dharma Initiative. Computer.
WAAAAAALLLLTTT!!!! But perhaps more than anything else, the first word
that pops into my head is artillery. It was in this season that it
suddenly seemed everyone on the Island was packing heat, with deadly
results. So while in certain respects the castaways are in a more secure
position - they have shelter and ample food, and most of them have
learned to work together - I tend to think of season two as having a
somewhat oppressive flavor. I was surprised, then, to discover how
tranquil the bulk of the season two soundtrack is.
Michael Giacchino has composed all of the music for LOST,
and he has an army of musicians behind him to bring that score to life.
Some of the musical themes from the first season are revisited in the
second, while new ones are introduced. Surprisingly, none of the tracks
on the season two soundtrack incorporate Life and Death, the
iconic melody that I consider the drama's predominant musical theme. I'm
fairly certain it made an appearance in the second season, but of
course the album only gives us a small sampling of all the music
composed. Nonetheless, variations on this particular theme can be found
on the third and fourth soundtracks as well as the first, and I suspect
the tune will turn up again on the fifth. Moreover, I fully expect an
exquisite rendition of Life and Death that ingeniously ties together several prominent motifs to underscore the closing moments of the series finale.
While I'm on the subject of what the album lacks, DriveShaft fans are
bound to be disappointed yet again. Season two includes snippets of
flash-in-the-pan chart-topper You All Everybody and Charlie's contemplative, as-far-as-we-know unfinished ballad Funny Now,
but unless Dom Monaghan and Neil Hopkins get together and actually
record the fabled DriveShaft Greatest Hits album, YouTube is your best
bet if you want to listen to these songs in isolation. Nonetheless,
Charlie is well represented on this album, with three tracks bearing his
name. These are from The 23rd Psalm and Fire + Water, the second of which is the only Charlie-centric episode of the second season. All's Forgiven... Except Charlie
starts out heavy on the harp and strings and captures the emotion of
the moment in which Eko and Charlie recite the 23rd Psalm together while
the wreckage of Yemi's plane burns. The melody carries a hint of a
famous musical arrangement of that psalm. The track goes back and forth
between the sad, reflective Eko and Charlie music and the bouncier "back
at the beach" music, which features guitar and some type of percussion
that sounds like a mellow maraca. It ends on a note of suspense, which
is how Charlie's Dream begins. This short, intense track demonstrates Charlie's confusion and panic during his vision of an endangered Aaron. Charlie's Temptation returns to a familiar musical theme that plays out in low tones on one of the album's shortest tracks.
If you crave the adrenaline rush of LOST's most pulse-pounding moments, there are plenty of tracks to satisfy, including the action-packed Peace Through Superior Firepower, which accompanies Desmond running and is augmented by eerie windchime-like sounds; the almost-cacophonous Just Another Day on the Beach and The Tribes Merge,
in which oppressive drums are the predominant instruments as the
Tailies and some of the Fuselage folks meet for the first time. Other
tracks, like lengthy The Final Countdown and the brief Mapquest, are quietly menacing, which is how Claire's Escape starts before exploding into full-blown peril. Finally, all six of the tracks drawn from season finale Live Together, Die Alone have some element of danger about them. Toxic Avenger and I Crashed Your Plane, Brotha both feature spooky percussion that fits well with Desmond's deranged state of mind. Eko Blaster is short and punchy; The Hunt is sparse and suspenseful; McGale's Navy, which probably gets my vote for favorite track title, builds to a strong finish; and Bon Voyage, Traitor, which starts out quite lovely, finally puts a spotlight on Michael, whose centric episodes - Adrift and Three Minutes - are unrepresented on this album (along with seven other episodes).
If, like me, you prefer the emotional, character-driven tracks, you won't be disappointed either. The slow, strings-heavy Ana Cries
doesn't have a strong driving melody, but it accompanies a moment of
refreshing humanity from the usually-tough Ana Lucia, who receives some
condolence from Eko after an especially trying experience. The Gathering
is one of the prettiest tracks on the album, and it chronicles one of
the most-anticipated scenes. Some earlier themes are revisited in the
midst of many reunions, most notably between Rose and Bernard and Sun
and Jin. Shannon's Funeral is sad, though not nearly as affecting as Boone's on the first album or A New Trade, which explores Sayid's emotions in dealing with potentially villainous newcomer Henry. The Last to Know,
the backdrop to Sun telling Jin that she is pregnant, carries with it a
feeling of hesitancy amidst the happiness, as Jin is afraid to believe
such good news and Sun is afraid that he is not the father. My favorite
of the "character" tracks is Rose and Bernard, a musical theme
that stood out to me more when I listened to it after the season five
finale, in which it is revisited with such aching beauty that I can
almost guarantee it will be my favorite track on the season five album
(and if it's not there, I will be sorely disappointed). It reminds me
just a bit of the orchestral version of Unchained Melody at the end of Ghost;
few pieces of movie music have moved me so much, and the idea of
hungering for one's touch seems pretty appropriate for a couple who
didn't find each other until their 50s and who spent the first weeks of
their marriage separated from one another.
I ended my review
of the first album with Hurley, and I'll do it again here, since I'm
finding that music from any scene involving him tends to be especially
satisfying. While Dave, Hurley's second centric episode of the season, is unrepresented on this album, three tracks are drawn from Everybody Hates Hugo. World's Worst Landscaping
feels suspenseful until about halfway through, when the mood becomes
playful, as befits a moment in which he and his best buddy prank their
boss in a flashback. Mess It All Up is introspective and a touch mournful, accompanying his heart-to-heart with Rose. My favorite track on the album is Hurley's Handouts,
which is the deliciously mellow backdrop to his distribution of the
food in the hatch to everyone on the beach. Piano and guitar share the
spotlight with the strings in this perfect montage melody, a variation
on the tune found in season one's Leaving the Island. As in that album's unexpectedly amusing I've Got a Plane to Catch, the understated guitar adds a sense of fun, which eventually gives way to the emotion of the piano and violins.
The season two soundtrack is much less perilous and more
character-driven than I expected, so although most of its tracks are not
as iconic as those in season one, I find myself listening to this album
nearly as often. If you're only going to own one LOST album, I still recommend the first, but if you want to go all out, don't hesitate to invest in this one as well.
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