THE X-FILES

MARK SNOW

Rating:

Original Review: I have to admit, I've never been a big fan of The X-Files. While I'm certainly not aversed to watching the odd episode of Mulder 'n Scully up to their eyeballs in alien conspiracies and the like, I have never really been caught up in the whole furore. Still, when it was announced that an X-Files movie was in the mill, I was quite excited. Fight The Future, as it was subtitled in the UK, turned out to be a supremely enjoyable sci-fi thriller tale that, fortunately, didn't require you to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the X-Files universe to be able to understand it. It worked on two levels: primarily, as an enjoyable standalone movie about a government conspiracy to cover up an extra-terrestrial virus planted knowingly on Earth to allow aliens to take over human bodies. In addition, the film also apparently acted as a link to many key plot points left unresolved by the series, and provided the answers to many questions fans of the show had been brooding over for months.

As well as making international stars of lead actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, and making creator Chris Carter a multi- multi-millionaire, the X-Files TV series also finally brought a level of fame and recognition to its composer, Mark Snow. For years, Snow had been wearily plugging away on TV movies and straight-to-video features before finally plummeting into the big time during the mid-1990s. Spin-off albums, song compilations, and conceptual albums based on Snow's episodic underscore abounded, many of which were based around the composer's now legendary whistled main theme. To maintain consistency, feature director Rob Bowman kept Snow on the books for the big screen version, and Snow has repaid his faith with a top drawer action score which, although occasionally suffering from a little temp-trackitis, nevertheless makes for an enjoyable hour's listening.

The opening 'Threnody in X' is a superb piece of work which, after a brief and unadorned six-note whistle, descends into a cacophonous, murderous orchestral assault that slowly develops into a mysterious, yet powerful recapitulation of the main theme accompanied by powerful sampled percussion and synths. Sadly, the main theme is rarely used again, occurring only in brief snippets during tracks such as 'Plague', where the theme is performed on solemn cellos.

Instead, much of the score is built around action and suspense. There are several moments of extreme orchestral and electronic dissonance, especially, 'B.C. Blood', 'Come and Gone', 'Mind Games', and the terrible finale 'Pod Monster Suite', in which the strings seethe and writhe as if in agony and the brasses howl menacingly like the grey aliens that create much of the mayhem. Scenes of enlightenment and discovery, such as 'Goop', 'Cave Base', 'Crossroads' and 'Corn Hives', are depicted by rising string crescendos that speak of wonderment (in 'Ice Base' the music is even accompanied by a high-pitched choir), while the chase and fight scenes are kept on a fast track by several knockout action cues which reverberate to powerful orchestrations ('Soda Pop', 'Goodbye Bronschweig', 'Nightmare').

These chaotic sounds are tempered by a couple of softer sequences, including the briefly lovely 'Stung Kissing' and the beautiful, soaring finale 'Crater Hug'. Unfortunately, several cues seem to have adopted the stylistics of other scores ('Corn Copters', for example, is highly reminiscent of the famous "Futile Escape" cue from James Horner's Aliens, while 'Cargo Hold' seems to owe a great debt to John Barry's James Bond scores). However, moments such as these are few and far between, and credit should be given to Snow for creating a modern sci-fi thriller score which doesn't rip off every other score in existence.

Fans of The X-Files will likely have already been subjected to far too much inferior music packaged as being from or "inspired by" the series, and may balk at a score album coming hot on the heels of the commercial song compilation, but those who fear the worst would be missing a real treat. This is, by far, Mark Snow's most high profile score to date and, although not his best work (that honour still goes to the TV mini-series 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea), it is nevertheless very gratifying to see a composer of his standard finally getting a shot at the big time. And remember: the truth is out there!

Track Listing: Running Time: 68 minutes 27 seconds

Elektra 7559-62217-2 (1998)

Music composed and conducted by Mark Snow. Orchestrations by Jonathan Sacks, Lolita Ritmanis, Sean Callery and Louis Febre. Recorded and mixed by Larold Rebhun. Edited by Jeff Charbonneau. Album produced by Mark Snow.


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