Buy it... on the comprehensive 2011 4-CD set spanning all of the seasons of Mark Snow's impressive contributions to the concept if you desire most of the noteworthy and prominent cues heard within the context of the show.

Avoid it... on that set and instead seek the 1996 single-CD release if you have no interest in the more dynamic, humorous, and strikingly beautiful music from the show's later seasons and instead want the darker, more atonal and atmospheric music from the first three seasons.

Snow

The X-Files: (Mark Snow) An enigma on television due to its incredibly smart and imaginative science-fiction writing, Chris Carter's cult classic series "The X-Files" flirted with the mainstream while entertaining alien and conspiracy enthusiasts through most of the 1990's. Its complicated narrative arc spanned decades and dealt with the FBI's complicit relationship with an invading alien species, a plan foiled in part by a small group of agents determined to learn the truth of the matter. Although soiled by a pair of unfortunate feature films, the concept's legacy on television is almost unvarnished, only the departure of one of its two stars in its final two seasons diminishing its lasting appeal. Carter's regular composing collaborator for his several series on television at the time was Mark Snow, a veteran of small screen music on tight budgets. After nine seasons and countless hundreds of hours of music written for "The X-Files," Snow's library of material for the concept was eventually quite immense. As the composer for almost all of the original music heard in the series, his contribution improved as the series reached its pinnacle of quality in the late 1990's. He won the ASCAP Award for "Top TV Series" for the four seasons spanning 1996 through 1999 and was nominated for an Emmy for his music in episodes from five of the last six seasons (including the final episode itself). Fans of the series continue to debate about which distinct half of Snow's music for "The X-Files" is better matched for the series. His initial four or five seasons of music established the edgy, often dissonant low range tones that defined the "sound" of the series. In later years, and most notably starting in season seven, Snow began to branch out into music that was not only more easily harmonic, but also increasingly extroverted and humorous. From the powerfully percussive and somewhat lighthearted rhythms in the episodes "First Person Shooter" and "Fight Club" to the heartbreaking female vocals mixed prominently in the "Within" and "Without" episodes opening the eighth season, Snow began providing music for the series that stood distinctly in the forefront of the episodes' sound mix. Casual viewers of "The X-Files" were drawn to the more conventional harmonic style that Snow applied to the show with grace in later years, though the hardcore fans still maintain a loyalty to the bleak atmospheres of the show's earlier musical identity.

Interestingly, the only full album of music from "The X-Files" that was released during its run (or in nearly a decade after its finish) was "The Truth and the Light," a 1996 compilation of random cues heard in episodes from the show's first three seasons. As such, avid fans of the series seeking Snow's darker, ambient, and atonal music had for many years a very representative compilation of those creepy sounds. But, in the larger scheme of the "The X-Files" production, the releases of the feature film scores by Snow for The X-Files: Fight the Future and The X-Files: I Want to Believe did not compensate for the mass of superior unreleased music from the later years of the series' run on television. In 2011, La-La Land Records offered a long awaited 4-CD compilation of over 300 minutes of material from the show, a product limited to 3,000 copies. The label implied at the time that subsequent sets of music from the show would be forthcoming, filling in some of the gaps missed in the first product (in fact, the label went so far as to solicit feedback from fans as to the music desired for these sets). For the purposes of this review, all of the album releases for the music of the television incarnation of the show will be discussed in succession below. The 1996 single-CD compilation from Warner Brothers is a somewhat odd collection of music from the first three seasons; hardcore fans were immediately able to find significant cues missing from within even this subset of the show's soundtrack. Snow's choices for inclusion on the album cover many of the motifs that would reoccur in several episodes, however, including the hopeful, but restrained piano solo in "Lamenta" that was the earliest incarnation of a caring relationship between agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. The title theme, of course, is the most recognizable piece, and its extended performance here offers secondary sections of the theme's famous electronically manipulated whistling that are far more enjoyable than its primary statements. The more listenable portions of the Snow's music for the show often accompany individual moments of reflection by Mulder or Scully (that's true of even the later seasons) and in these solo performances of woodwinds, strings, or piano, Snow excels. The majority of the music on the compilation, however, is representative of the synthetic atmospheres famous in their gritty, unnerving contributions to "The X-Files." When compared to the vast variety in tonal sounds later in the show, most of these early cues are largely unlistenable apart from the shows, except, of course, for the most ardent fans of the concept.

Unless you considered yourself to be among the most avid enthusiasts of "The X-Files," the 1996 compilation probably left you wanting far more. The album's production is somewhat controversial as well. Five minutes of music by sound editor Jeff Charbonneau open and close the album, leaving only 43 minutes by Snow. The product is littered with dialogue from the show, which is, in concept, a good move, especially considering the relationship that Snow's music has with that dialogue. The voices are layered with an eerie, wet mix, set back slightly from the music. In some cases, these vocal mixes are brilliant, including the "Adflatus" and "Progigno de Axis" tracks, but at other times, they hinder the flow of one track to another. At times, a shout or cry for help is used as a transition from one musical cue to another, a nice touch given the unpredictability of the show. But the inconsistent incorporation of dialogue hinders the album's continuity. The use of Latin track titles, along with no information about which episode each cue originally comes from, causes significant dissatisfaction with the album. While it remained a very basically adequate souvenir of sorts from the first three seasons of "The X-Files," Snow's music from the later years of the show was always far more deserving of release on CD, rendering this product frustrating. Interestingly, the Warner album remained relevant even after the 4-CD set from La-La Land, though, because the massive collection released in 2011 concentrated far more heavily on Snow's more palatable music. The presentation on that large set is streamlined, too, leaving behind the eccentric qualities of the previous album (including the dialogue) and instead opting for a conservatively comprehensive presentation of Snow's arguably best music from the entire duration of the show. Those seeking an emphasis on the tense, edgy side of Snow's overall soundtrack will still need to reference the 1996 album. While some of that material is provided on the 2011 set, the product instead focuses on Snow's rhythmic action material, quirky humorous sideshows, and gorgeous moments of lament. The spread of material is mostly even across the life of the show, emphasizing the most important episodes to a greater degree and usually providing anywhere from two to four cues from them. On each of the four CDs, a varying recording of the main theme opens and closes the presentation, conveying the many different long and short main title versions as well as the remixed suites that had been touched upon on previous albums. The set closes out with the "I Made This" and "20th Century Fox Fanfare" snippets that always concluded the end credits.

What follows in this review is an abridged track analysis of the 2011 4-CD set, and some of the references may not make much sense to those who did not watch "The X-Files" with regularity. Some general observations for casual listeners will be saved for the end of the review. The music from the pilot that opens the first CD is very sparse, slightly contemporary at its outset; it's interesting to hear not because of its immediate prowess, but rather its display of how far the music evolved through the years. Snow often conjured his most interesting instrumental techniques for the villains of the individual episodes, and the score for the episode "Squeeze" would be sadly generic if not for the random plucking effect for its antagonist. More palatable in an ambience sense is the light rhythmic movement for "Fallen Angel." Likewise a first season highlight is the pretty piano theme for the titular character in "Roland," an idea well adapted into dying variations in the rest of the score. Snow's standard, percussively slapping chase formulas are explored in "The Erlenmeyer Flask," yielding here to creepy, tonal ambience for Scully's discovery of the aliens' existence. Season Two's portion of the set opens with a rambling piano line that sadly expresses Mulder's despondency in "Little Green Men," an idea that would inform much of the later sad material stated by Snow throughout the series. In "The Host," Snow opens with a synthetically sharp suspense cue with a slight Russian choral hint that leads to harsh stingers for the toxic villain. The highlight of Season Two is likely "One Breath," an episode well represented on this CD. After the first two tracks toil with troubled but inoffensive ambient chords, Snow returns to the rambling piano loops for Mulder's concern about Scully and his job. The final two tracks in this suite softly reprise the earlier ambient chords, but this time with a sense of resolution; the synthetic choir and tonal nature make these cues quite easy on the ears. Slightly less impressive is the music from "Anasazi," soft plucking with ambient synths in "The Mourn" stating the title theme softly but the two following cues building from equivalent suspense to percussive action. As the series progressed, Snow would reference the title theme more frequently within the various emotional states of the underscore, the fragmented hints finally producing full quotations in the last few seasons' romantic music. The second CD in the 2011 set moves on to Season Three, the piano material from "One Breath" in Season Two returning in the first track from "Nisei." An ethnic woodwind phrase for the Japanese scientists in this episode is joined by a tapped percussive rhythm for the train on which their work is conducted.

The first really poignant, outward piano melody of the 2011 set comes for the mass grave sequence in Season Three's "731." The long action cue that follows, "Derailed," is sufficient but doesn't really cook until its rambunctious end. Swishing two-note phrases accompany Sully's investigation tonally in "Piper Maru." It's hard to take the music in "Jose Chiung's From Outer Space" completely seriously, opening with an appropriately quiet abduction sequence that lacks gravity. Still, that episode does feature a piano motif for Chung and Mulder that represents their equivalent loneliness; this melody in "Closure" is one of series' better, concluding with a main theme statement. The element of beauty really takes off in Season Four's "The Field Where I Died," a haunting choral cue to represent the idea of reincarnation running through the episode's music on this set and offsetting some striking percussive riffs in the second track. Standing apart from the normal music for The X-Files is Snow's approach to "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man." More than most episodes, this one is treated to a structure that necessarily follows that of a feature film. The three consecutive cues provided on this set follow the integral character through recent history's notable assassinations, quietly tense piano phrases introducing a conspiracy tone in "Extra-Ordinary Men" before the surprisingly cohesive narrative of the martial "A Place in History" and a more yearning, sad piano environment for the shooting in "Respect." The sorrow of Mulder's lonely material for piano returns in the Emmy-nominated episodic score for "Paper Hearts." The topic of Mulder's abducted sister first moves through an alternately ominous, melancholy light choral tone in "El Camino" and then develops Mulder's piano turbulence into a full crescendo of agony in "Watergate Heart." Far less appealing is the comparatively formulaic music from "Kaddish," a somewhat non-descript score except for hints of Middle-Eastern woodwind lines and some unique percussive jabs to represent the villain. At the end of the second CD comes perhaps the best extended cut of the main theme; the interlude of harmonically pleasing shifts near the end has always been a curious favorite. The third CD blasts through Season Five relatively quickly, but it does include music from the popular Emmy-winning black and white episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus." Known for its primary chime theme for the town (fashioned after The Elephant Man), much of the music from this episode reflects a nasty little waltz that reminds in many ways of Danny Elfman's early sensibilities; in the second track, Snow bloats the devious waltz into a full, synthetic carnival of horror.

Season Five's presentation on the third CD in the set dives into Snow's wealth of melancholy material for the heartbreaking elements that thrive in the latter seasons of "The X-Files." A touching piano and celesta theme for Scully's discovery of a daughter in "Christmas Carol" is translated into a choral conclusion to this cue that is among the show's many brief musical highlights. An even lovelier higher choral tone is afforded to that theme in the following "Emily." The inclusion of the track from "The End" seems done because of the episode's importance rather than the merits of the music alone. Aside from a resounding conclusion to the track (with the importance of a chime and a hint of the title theme to denote finality), the cue is a bit generic in sum. The substantial Season Six portions of the 2011 set open with the episode "Triangle," known for its long, single-shot scene showing Scully's growing panic over Mulder's disappearance. Snow's layering of activity and samples of orchestral sounds seems much improved by this point in the show, smartly utilizing a tense rhythmic series of main theme fragments as well. The comical "Dreamland" body-switching pair of episodes has some of Snow's lightest comedy thus far, represented best in "Home Sweet Home," but the score's oddly effective glue is an oboe identity for the character of an Area 51 crony in whose body Mulder finds himself trapped. The second part of that story continues development of that identity and smarty uses the oboe motif for actual Mulder at the end as a bit of a joke. The monumental suite on CD3 in the set comes from the very memorable "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas," another large, film-like score for a particularly mind-bending episode. Amongst its obvious tongue-in-cheek suspense and light-hearted comedy are dancing organ and harpsichord performances that touch upon all the stereotypes of a haunted house score. The choral and piano gravity in "Fair Warning" finally takes the suite darkly dramatic, though the climax in "Star Crossed Bullets" is manic and entertaining. As the episode closes out with long-overdue romantic gestures between the leads, Snow unveils very pretty, touching piano and string renditions of the main theme in almost unrecognizable beauty in "A Gift," foreshadowing the inevitable closure of the series' music. In "Two Fathers," Snow struggles through some generic ambient keyboarding for an important scene before reprising Mulder's early piano motif for the slowly unraveling panic in "A Mother's Abduction." Also adequate in sum but saving the best for last is the track from "One Son," concluding with appealing piano rhythms and brass figures.

The final CD on the 2011 set takes the score further into the romantic realm while also wrapping up some loose ends for Snow and Carter. Season Seven opens CD4 with a few strangely non-descript choices, the light, slightly urban piano rhythms of "The Goldberg Variation" and the suspense cue with chimes and a few stingers from "The Sixth Extinction" failing to retain attention. From "The Sixth Extinction II," however, the short but famous "kiss cue" of pretty ethereal choir and piano solace is nice to hear and is reminiscent of some of the fantasy-like ambience of Snow's 1997 television score for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Carter devoted some time in Season Seven to wrapping up his cancelled "Millennium" show, which Snow also scored. The composer's music for the epilogic episode here isn't spectacular in its droning suspense approach, but it does offer sampled violin performance of a theme from the other show. The second track, "The End of the Crusade" has additional closure to "Millennium" and then returns to the previous, beautiful, piano-led main theme references for another kiss at the end of the episode. An interesting, but not particularly enjoyable sample of the source-like chime material for Gillian Anderson's "All Things" follows. It's overshadowed by an immense parody score for "Hollywood A.D." and its intentionally over-the-top scoring techniques that directly (and appropriately) refute the actual music of the series. "Sniper Zombies" is a feature-like brass and string action cue with a romantic end that is a funny play on the previous kiss scene music with the main theme. Meanwhile, "Dancing Bones" is an amusing play on the "Skeleton Dance" for organ and xylophone and "Hollywood" offers a silly 1950's-like showbiz motif for dreamy strings and choir. Another lofty variation of previous romance material from the episode in "The Kiss" again references the main theme at its end. The amount of music from Season Eight on this compilation is frightfully minimal, but what exists is both important and a highlight of the entire show's duration. The duo of "Within" and "Without" follows Scully's solemn search for clues about Mulder's whereabouts (after David Duchovny skipped out on the series), and for the entirety of this season, Snow provides "Scully's Serenade" as her lonely identity. This cue's 90 seconds is heard almost unimpeded at the start of the season, carrying the full weight of the episodes' mix at times and serving as the voice of a character lost without a partner. The female vocal version of this theme remains the most famous because of this prominent position in several places during these episodes, the performer singing "we are near" in an unrecognizable but gorgeously appropriate incantation.

A strong orchestral action cue with a quote of the main theme from horns represents "Without" on this set's presentation of Season Eight, but the serenade theme returns for another phenomenal rendition in the cue "Starspeak" from the frustrating episode "This is Not Happening." In this stunningly clear version, Snow replaces the vocalist with a solo trumpet for an even longer performance of the idea. The instrument returns in the important "Hidden Truths/Big Happening" cue, joined by chorus as Mulder is discovered and then lost again. The anguish heard in the trumpet part at end has a strange touch of Mark Knopfler's The Princess Bride but is nonetheless very appealing. Like "Millennium," Carter sought to wrap up his work on the "Lone Gunmen" spin-off involving three supporting characters in the arc of "The X-Files." The episode "Jump the Shark" accomplishes that task, opening with the "Lone Gunmen" theme on hard electric guitar and segueing to a humorous reference to the oboe theme for the Area 51 operative from the "Dreamland" episodes. The "Lone Gunmen" theme returns playfully on piano in "Weird Organs" and "Requiem" follows some light action with a trumpet tribute to their theme as well. The sudden burst of guitar attitude at the outset of "Triangle" will definitely wake a person out of a slumber; most of Snow's cues for this show don't explode with such volume at the outset. From the episode "Release," Snow writes one of his most accomplished rolling piano rhythms in the cue "The Tip," his elegant neo-classical performances over plucked strings a highlight of the final season. This theme returns in "A Synopsis & Release," ending with pretty, solemn closure on synthesizers. For his work on the finale, "The Truth," Snow earned his sixth Emmy nomination for the series, and it's somewhat surprising that a wider assortment of music from this pair of episodes is not presented on this product. The first part of that two-episode finale is represented solely by "Mount Weather," an ambitious action cue with pulsating militaristic rhythms and slight statements of the main theme. From "The Truth Part 2," Snow's important climactic cue of action, "Scary Story/For Whom the Smoke Blows," isn't particularly notable until its ominous choral conclusion over powerful percussive hits. Far more palatable is "The Truth is Inside," Snow's tribute to the show's main theme in the form of a softly dramatic but finally resolved series of keyboarded performances. The bittersweet harmony of this cue concludes with the whistling from the titles in unison with the ensemble sound, the progressions of the theme allowed an opportunity to say goodbye in rare harmonic partnership.

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Overall, the 2011 set is an outstanding summary of the show's music. Some memorable cues, like the punchy rhythms from "Fight Club" (a.k.a. the Kathy Griffin episode), are absent, but time will perhaps yield another set from La-La Land. Enthusiasts of "The X-Files" will need little introduction to any of the music existing on the first volume. For casual observers looking to dabble their toes in the muddy waters of this expansive and expensive set, it's difficult to say if it will offer enough unique highlights to justify the cost. Aside from the occasional episodes requiring crazy, unique music, most of Snow's output can be classified in one of three categories: ambient suspense, sparse action, or sorrowful beauty. The first two are somewhat betrayed by the limited electronic setup employed by Snow; no matter how much the sampling of orchestral sounds improved over time, the action music especially continued to lack gravity (or balls, if you wish) in the final seasons. The suspense music, most often represented by shifty synthetic chords in an unnerving environment of dissonance, all begins to sound alike after a while. Thus, the only common portion of Snow's music to accompany the outwardly unique episodic scores is the material he wrote from the melancholy aspect of "The X-Files." Fortunately, a person could take all of these cues on the 2011 set and assemble them into twenty to thirty minutes of outstanding music, putting a stamp of approval on the product simply for these assembled tracks. Sound quality on the product is fitting for the ambience sought, but there are moments when the mix sounds less resounding than in the episodes themselves. The "Scully's Serenade" cue is perhaps the easiest benchmark by which to make this comparison. Since it existed in its debut episodes in a mix by itself, the cue was easy to transfer to hard drive for lossless appreciation over the ten years to follow. Interestingly, even after boiled down to its standard stereo mix, the version heard in the episode is significantly clearer in its presentation of the vocals than what you hear on the CD track. That said, such quibbles are only for extreme fans of the show, and the 2011 set still speaks volumes about the quality of Snow's output for the series. His work for "The X-Files" cannot rival the instrumental complexity of music forthcoming on the small screen for "Lost" or "Battlestar Galactica," nor does it really maintain the motific coordination that those later shows would enjoy. But as a largely one-man compositional and performance result, Snow's music remains an impressive body of work that evolved greatly in conjunction with the show. Despite its $50 price tag, the 2011 set is a long overdue and highly recommended reminder of that fact.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Music as Written for the Show: ****
Music as Heard on the 1996 Album: **
Music as Heard on the 2011 Set: ****
Overall: ****