Various Artists Mark Snow - Songs In The Key Of X Music From And Inspired By The XFiles (15 tracks) +Album Reviews +Used CD available for Swap

Two Secret Songs!

Diane Michener | Minneapolis, MN | 05/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This really is a great CD but it is VERY important to note one thing that is over-looked by 99.9% of the people who buy this CD: There are two hidden tracks before the first track. These can be found by rewinding from Track 1 past 0:00 into "negative time". When you get to -9:15 let go and there are two new songs. One is by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds called "Time Iesum Transeuntem et non Reverendem" (Dread the passage of Jesus for he will not return) and the other one is by The Dirty Three and is a version of the X-Files Theme. This is one of the best hidden tracks I have ever found on any album. A hint is given to you on the inside of the insert above the info for Track 1 that says "Nick Cave and The Dirty Three would like you to know that "0" is also a number" Great CD."

X-File fan or not, this is a great CD

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 04/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Songs in the Key of X cannot really be called a soundtrack; it consists not of songs necessarily from The X-Files but songs inspired by and worthy of inclusion in the show. It's quite an eclectic mix, featuring many dark songs that sparkle with the horrid electricity one associates with The X-Files. The premiere track has to be Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This song is itself part of the lore and mythology of the show; any X-Files fanatic can tell you the story of how Chris Carter heard this song driving home from work one night and fell in love with it. Besides highlighting the road trip of abductee Duane Barry in Season Two, the song has also been featured prominently in the Scream movies, so this one will be familiar to many. Clearly, most of these songs are in the same dark, forceful vein - e.g., Danzig's Deep, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' Frenzy, and Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn) from the powerhouse duo of Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper. Soul Coughing's contribution Unmarked Helicopters may best fit the milieu of The X-Files and is an excellent song to boot. The Foo Fighters, a band that has never really captured my attention, makes a nice addition with Down in the Park. Frank Black's Man of Steel was a pleasant surprise to me, having only heard a much different kind of performance from him on Gordon Gano's Hitting the Ground. The great variety of songs here means two things: there is something for everyone here, but every individual will also undoubtedly have a few tracks he/she doesn't particularly care for. Sheryl Crow's On the Outside is a perfectly good song, but it doesn't seem to fit here in my opinion. Elvis Costello's My Dark Life has potential but never succeeds in grabbing my attention. Star Me Kitten from William S. Burroughs & R.E.M. is just strange and almost unexplainable (it also is the primary reason for the Explicit Lyrics sticker on the cover). The big mystery here for me, though, is P.M. Dawn. Not only does their song If You Never Say Goodbye seem out of place, their remix of Mark Snow's excellent X-Files Theme is quite unnecessary given the greatness of Mark Snow's original version that starts this CD off with a bang. You don't have to be an X-Files fan to enjoy this CD, but fans will have much more appreciation of the ingenuity and creative track selection that went into this album. The liner notes feature some perfectly odd artist drawings of X-Files characters and scenes as well as statements about the album from X-Files bigwigs Chris Carter and David Was. One should not think this album was released just to make money off of the hot X-Files name; there is a lot of quality music here that one might not ever have the chance to discover on one's own."

Soundtrack For The Unknown, Misunderstood, & Beyond

S. R Robertson | Oh Henry? | 05/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this album because it is so very artistic and musically moody, where shades of paranoia, loneliness, misunderstood expression, dark prophecies, and sadness rage throughout. It was this album that got me into alternative music in the first place, and now I am a fan of most of the artists. After Mark Snow wonderfully covers the show's trademark creepy anthem, beat poetry band Soul Coughing starts talking of complex conspiracy while the mixture of off-beat music takes a hold of you. ("Unmarked Helicopters" is an in-reference to the 'Duane Barry' show, in which they are the U.F.O.s that abduct people.) Sheryl Crow gives a sense of loneliness and depression with "On The Outside", which can also relate to anyone who has ever been looked down upon or been referred to as an outcast. Foo Fighters cover "Down In The Park", a great rock song about dark men & alien world domination. William Burroughs recorded a shoddy remake of R.E.M.'s "Star Me Kitten" about a year before he died, and is a great place to get into the spoken-word absurdities that make his writing great. The always gothic Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds continue their walk of solemn decay portraits with the eerie lyrics and sound of "Red Right Hand". It is about Satan. Filter take a leave of absence from their hardcore sound with the largely acoustical "Thanks Bro", a great mellow song for the album. If you like their new hit "Take A Picture", you will like this one. Aw, now to Frank Black, one of my favorite artists. His words aren't as profound and mind-bending as usual here, but "Man Of Steel" is still one of his best because of its "lonely, on the road, looking for life in space" mood. Sounds like he's talking right through the eyes of Mulder and his guitar is great here. Meat Puppets philosophize about the paranormal with the hard-rocking "Unexplained", right before self-loathing devil worshipper Danzig haunts you with the disturbing "Deep", but not as disturbing as the dark duet of Alice Cooper & Rob Zombie on the hardcore "Hands Of Death(Burn Baby Burn)". Elvis Costello & ambient explorer Brian Eno drift off into artistically formed sadness with "My Dark Life", fantastic songwriter Costello telling a story of wicked mankind. P.M. Dawn tell a pop rock filled story of the apocalypse which was written by Chris Carter. Carter's words go right along with Dawn's semi-psychadelic rock, and the result is beautiful. A sense of hope or a loss of hope? Hmm. They also do a great reworking of the X-Files theme. So if you are a big fan of "The X Files", can relate to Mulder's sense of rejection, loneliness, paranoia, and misunderstood genius, and have wierd theories on life, than this is the album for you."

Brilliant CD!! Great music which takes a back seat.

S. R Robertson | 10/12/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've had this CD for about 3 years and it's still one of my faves, simply because it's unusual and expresses the mood of the X files so perfectly. I love the artistic lyrics especially, as well as the wide variety of music styles. It goes from slow rock stuff like William S. Burroughs "Star Me Kitten" to heavy stuff like Rob Zombie & Alice Coopers "Hands of Death". Personally I like the in between stuff best, and my faves would have to be Foo Fighters "Down in the Park", Filter "Thanks Bro", Meat Puppets "Unexplained", and PM Dawn "If you Never Say Goodbye". I think probably the best track to play during an episode of the x-files would be Nick Caves "Red Right Hand", as it has a groovy paranormal conspiracy like mood to it, but then again all of them do which is why they're on this CD. But it's all great music which is lesser known than the more popular radio hits which people listen to all the time. I think if you listened to the X files CD, you'd appreciate the alternative music more. So give it a chance and make up your own mind, but remember, everyone is entitled to my opinion. hehe."

For the most part, a great album

Matt | New Jersey, USA | 01/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for variety, you would do well to purchase "Songs in the Key of X". Being a fan of "The X-Files" would probably help, but it's not neccesarily required. Where else could you find Sheryl Crow, Rob Zombie, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins all in the same place? Not only is this album a worthy soundtrack to one of the great shows of the 1990's, it's also an interesting collection of music that you probably don't get to hear quite often. While there are some big-name musicians like Foo Fighters, REM, and Sheryl Crow (as mentioned above), their contributions to "Songs In the Key of X" are significantly different from their more popular songs. REM's contribution is noteworthy, for it features novelist William S. Burroughs reciting the vocals to their song 'Star Me Kitten' with music done by the band. It's a moment that's as strange as anything Burroughs devised for one of his novels. While this song doesn't have much in common with the show, it's still one of the finer tunes on here.

In addition to mainstream alternative rock, there's also music by bands who didn't quite make it to the top. Meat Puppets and Soul Coughing both offer up musical tributes to paranormal phemonena, while the normally aggressive Filter tones things down a bit with their song 'Thanks Bro'. Not the best song on this album, but it's worth a glance if you enjoy their other music.

While this album earns points for its eclectic lineup of artists and the high quality of the music featured on it, some of the songs are total disappointments. Danzig's 'Deep' is a monotonous dirge about the usual topics: evil and death. He's done better in the past. PM Dawn's remix of the classic X-Files theme is tolerable, but not as memorable as Mark Snow's original. Perhaps someone like Moby or the Chemical Brothers would have been a more appropriate choice to redo the theme?

So yeah, "Songs In the Key of X" is not the perfect soundtrack. But despite some weak offerings, anyone who enjoys offbeat music and 90's alt-rock should give this album a try. Out of the two X-Files compilation albums released, it's by far the superior choice to the movie soundtrack. At least this album didn't have Sting trying to sound like Bob Marley..."

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