In the early 1960s, when television was still in its infancy, pioneering
producer Irwin Allen introduced the most lavish and expensive television
shows up to that time. These fantastical science-fiction programs came
complete with grand, exciting musical orchestrations by those who would
become the most prolific composers of the Twentieth Century. For the first
time ever, the classic scores for Irwin Allen's television classics are
featured together in the historic six-disc box set FANTASY WORLDS OF
IRWIN ALLEN, released by GNP Crescendo Records, the sci-fi
soundtrack giant who has released virtually every Star Trek soundtrack.
Legendary composers Alexander Courage and George Duning, as well as
Oscar winners Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams and others converse on
the package to create music that is literally out of this world.
On Disc One, music from Lost In Space, John Williams sets the
mood with the premiere episode to what would become the most
recognizable sci-fi show in history. As a lonely spaceship dodges the deadly
rockets of alien enemies and barrels through outer space, lost on a crash
course to nowhere, Williams' quirky melody blasts the screen, propelled
by brass with wild flute lines and an electric tonality. Disc Two includes
several L.I.S. episodes with exotic themes ranging from haunted
lighthouses to talking vegetables.
Disc Three features tunes from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,
where on our own planet, a sea vessel plunges into the deep, dark
unknown, encountering unimaginable beasts of danger. Inventive
supercomposer Jerry Goldsmith, on the cutting edge of the day's musical
technology, engages viewers with a dark and foreboding, theme, full of
brass and percussion as well as pre-synthesizer keyboards to produce
highly effective sonorities that reflect the mysteries of the deep and the
drama of the moment.
Brave explorers embark upon a massive gateway on Disc Four, a
channel through which they journey through The Time Tunnel to find
untold adventure and peril. There, John Williams incorporates a steady,
clock-like rhythm into his distinctive score of woodwinds, electric bass and
grand cymbal crashes.
Travelers find a new world on Disc Five, a Land of the Giants
where immense inhabitants dwarf them to insignificance and challenge
their very existence. In this score, hints of danger in the theme quickly
segue to a rhythmic, upbeat sound featuring French horns and propulsive
percussion to chronicle cosmic phenomena and the crash landing and to
create an eerie atmosphere, foreshadowing the suspense and excitement
Allen would later use for his big-screen disaster epics.
These are the FANTASY WORLDS OF IRWIN ALLEN. As a
special bonus, GNP Crescendo Records has also included Disc Six, which
features alternative main title themes, an extensive 38-track sound effects
library, vintage radio spots and interviews with original cast members, and
special Rock musical performances by Bill Mumy (Will Robinson).
Each CD includes an extensive collection of classic photos and
informative liner notes that tell the unique stories of Allen's (Television)
Worlds. This historic archive of treasures is packaged in a space-age
chromium case and is available exclusively as a complete box set.