X-Files [SOUNDTRACK]

Mark Snow, The X-Files (Related Recordings)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (June 2, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 2, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000006OAV
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,310,240 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Soundtrack Can Be Summed Up In One Word -- Awesome, November 30, 2001

By	Lee DeWald (Nebraska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score (Audio CD)

This was the third soundtrack I bought, after "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World," when I started building my film score collection over three years ago. I only had to listen to it one time, and I was hooked. Mark Snow not only hit a homerun with this soundtrack, he hit the ball clear out of the stadium.

I really didn't know what to expect from this CD when I bought it. Being a hardcore X-Files fan, I bought it the same day I first saw it. I knew from watching the TV series that Snow had the ability to create some great music ("Colony"/"End Game" and "Nisei"/"731" and "Gethsemane"/Redux I & II"); however, I also knew that he wasn't great all the time. But when I popped this CD into my CD player, I knew as soon as the orchestra struck the opening notes that it was going to be unlike anything I had ever heard from Snow before. And what I heard I liked.

This score contains 24 tracks of, in my humble opinion, Snow's best work. Not only does he use his standard synthesizer type music, but he also integrates an 80-piece orchestra into the framework as well. This gives the score such an incredible and unique depth that it can only be appreciated upon listening to it. All 68 minutes of it.

I hadn't even seen the movie yet before I had purchased the soundtrack, and for some reason this has always worked for me. I can usually tell by the quality of the score whether or not I will enjoy the movie, and this perfectly parallels with the movie in every regard. The music is haunting when it needs to be; it's sweet when it needs to be; and it's pulsing with intensity when it needs to be. Snow did have, after all, four years of practice before he ever set out making this score, so it's not like he was just winging it.

In short, I love this score. There is not one bad track on the entire CD, and that in and of itself is a rarity for a movie soundtrack. I'm pretty sure most X-Philes will be pleased, but I also think film score buffs will like it as well.

Kudos to Mark Snow for creating such a great piece of work. Here's hoping his work on the second X-Files movie (if there is one) is just as good, if not better, than the first.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dynamic and beautiful expansion of the X-Files theme., November 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score (Audio CD)

I've had this album for well over a year now and find myself going back to it constantly. Mark Snow has done a beautiful job working and reworking the haunting X-Files theme and expanding it with a more traditional orchestral sound. He thankfully resisted synths for the most part and the fuller and richer sound traditional instruments give it really elicit the romance I often find in the TV series. The romance I'm talking about is the romance of adventure and discovery rather than anything erotic. Snow's score retains the mystery of the series, but the movie has allowed him to reach further and deeper into his repetoire. The results are often epic. For some reason this score reminds of Jerry Goldsmith's excellent music for "The Wind And The Lion". Both have a soaring quality about them that I find intoxicating (albeit Snow's work here is more subtle). All the tracks are complete pieces unto themselves. None of them sound like bits of scoring that some scores are composed of. This is one of my favorite scores of the decade.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy of abduction..., May 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score (Audio CD)

Allow me to say this much, Mark Snow is pure composing genius. How many people do YOU know could create such beautiful resounding melodies. I'm listening it now, and all I have to say is that it's brilliant. Well, that's not all I have to say, but it is one thing. It's hauntingly profound and deep. A strong beat when necessary (Threnody in X) or a decided lack of it when it's not (Stung Kissing/Cargo Hold). And while I'm on those two songs, ANY, be it original, remix, or rewrite, X-Files Theme is, and forever shall be, my favorite. Threnody in X just happens to be at the top of my list. And everytime I hear Stung Kissing/Cargo Hold (love the oboe and harp solos, by the way) I'm reminded of the poignant and touching (did I mention heartfelt?) scene in which our heroes ALMOST made it to that ultimate happiness of blissful love confessions (darn Africanized Honey Bees, always getting in the way of a good love scene!). So anyway, if you actually read all of this, you'll see I'm such a diehard Shipper and true music fan and X-Phile to the core, that I naturally love this. I would love it anyway because the music is sooooo great! But anywho, you've read my personal thoughts on the matter, why don't you post your own! If you actually could stand me this long, I congratulate you on your achievment! Good day!