The first volume of Lost in Space is entirely Williams, which of course seems a very promising prospect, but the Williams of 1965 is some way off the famous composer he became. Touches of his style are reasonably obvious throughou - it has the feel of a Williams score, but apart from the main theme, there isn't a great deal memorable about it. There are a few fun moments, notably the graceful Weightless Waltz and some Herrmann inspired eerieness during The Reluctant Stowaway, but otherwise this is incidental music in its most incidental form. Anyone expecting some kind of preview of Star Wars is liable to be disappointed.
Volume two opens with Williams' new theme for the third season and episode scores by Alexander Courage and John Mullendore. Courage's music opens the album with a suite from Wild Adventure, although based on the music, the adventure evidently wasn't that wild. Still, it's effectively dramatic underscore, with plenty of invention within the fairly small orchestral palette. Courage also contributes to The Great Vegetable Rebellion, most memorably with a rather silly comedy march. Frankly, anything less than silly would be a disappoint as the show reached its most daft and campy. Joseph Mullendore's The Haunted Lighthouse is perhaps the standout, with more variety in terms of drama and tone than either of Courage's efforts. It still retains the ambling, TV underscore feel, but the important moments are signalled by some more clearly focused passages and a couple of pleasing tunes.
For some reason, The Derelict required three different composers and is credited to Hans J Salter, Herman Stein and Richard LaSalle, but for all that, it turns out to the one of the best scores of the three volumes. The extended prologue is appropriately dramatic, while the plaintive moments have a sense of purpose that sometimes seems to be lacking elsewhere. It moves towards brassy climaxes, the way American drama shows seem to do when leading to the commercial break. One of the more successful Williams scores makes up the second half with music from the episode My Friend Mr Nobody where Penny has an invisible friend. As the actress who played the character gushes in the liner notes, Williams' score has a slightly whimsical innocence coupled with a lurking sense of danger. The score is also based around a reasonably memorable flute tune which helps keep the music focussed. The album ends with an unused 2nd season main theme by Warren Barker which is a rather silly march, even if the shape of the theme does vaguely resemble both of those by John Williams.
All three discs have reasonable mono sound, although they are some way behind the quality stereo of the original Star Trek television scores. Indeed, the music is some way behind in quality too. It's not that there's anything wrong with it per se, but whereas Star Trek had its repeated themes and bold drama, too much of the Lost in Space music feels like music that's marking time. Yes, it's television music with time and budget constraints limiting what composers can achieve, but it makes them difficult to recommend on album. The production cannot be faulted, with fairly lavish, detailed notes about both the show, the episodes featured and the composers who scored them. It is depressing for me as a reviewer to seem so scathing about the music as many of the comments in the notes from people who worked on the show are so passionate about the music. Maybe the nostalgia is enough to listen past the short comings.
The first two volumes are included in The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen and that can be purchased from the link at the top. The albums are available separately: Volume One, Volume Two and Volume Three.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 58:26
Total Time ~ 45:27
Total Time ~ 69:05