Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files

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Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files
Warner Bros.
ProducerDavid Was
The X-Files chronology
Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files
(1996) 		The Truth and the Light: Music from the X-Files
(1996)

Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files is a 1996 compilation album released in association with the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The album contained a mixture of songs that were either featured in the series, or shared thematic elements with it. Songs in the Key of X peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart after its release. The album's title is a play on the title of Stevie Wonder's 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life.

The album has received positive reviews from critics, with one review describing it as "easily the most ambitious record ever assembled for a TV soundtrack". The song "

The Dirty Three
.

Production

When plans for the album were initially proposed, executives at both

Sony Music Entertainment, while Seal was "snowboarding in South America or somewhere".[1]

Elvis Costello and Brian Eno's track, "My Dark Life", came about as a result of album producer David Was asking Costello to provide a song that would sound like "'you went into the studio with Brian Eno"—the two musicians had recently met at a film screening at Paul McCartney's home, and reconvened to record the song the following week.[1] R.E.M. and author William S. Burroughs collaborated on a new version of "Star Me Kitten", a song that had originally appeared on the band's 1992 album Automatic for the People.[2] Rob Zombie has described his collaboration with Alice Cooper on the song "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)" as one of the "great moments where you really feel like you've made your dreams come true".[3] Zombie and Cooper were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1997 for the song, losing out to Rage Against the Machine's "Tire Me".[4]

Several of the songs on the album were used in episodes of the series.

third season episode "Syzygy", while the Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper song "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)" was featured in the fourth season episode "Small Potatoes". Three of the artists featured on the album would also go on to contribute songs to The X-Files: The Album, the soundtrack to the series' 1998 feature film adaptation—Foo Fighters' "Walking After You", Soul Coughing's "16 Horses" and Filter's "One".[8][9]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Daily Herald
[13]
The Buffalo News[14]
Los Angeles Daily News[15]

Songs in the Key of X was released on March 19, 1996.

Finland's Official List chart, reaching a peak at number 24.[18]

Reviews for Songs in the Key of X were generally positive. Upon the album's release, Entertainment Weekly's David Browne rated it a B, calling it "easily the most ambitious record ever assembled for a TV soundtrack". Browne felt that the contributions to the album by Sheryl Crow and William S. Burroughs were amongst its highlights, though felt that the compilation was "dragged down by ponderous contributions" from Nick Cave and Elvis Costello.[11] AllMusic's Steven McDonald was mostly positive towards the album, rating it three stars out of five and stating that "while not perfect, the album makes a nice alternative compilation", noting that it shares the television series' "blue-light glow of twisted mystery". McDonald felt that the Foo Fighters cover of Gary Numan's "Down in the Park" and Elvis Costello's "My Dark Life", along with Mark Snow's theme for the series, were the highlights of the compilation.[10] Sandy Masuo, writing for the Los Angeles Times, rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of four, finding that the compilation's "unsettling ambience" suited the "deliciously creepy" atmosphere of the series. Masuo felt that the R.E.M./Burroughs and Costello/Eno collaborations ultimately turned out to be "more interesting in theory than in practice", naming "Down in the Park" as the best track on the compilation, with the contributions of Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and P.M. Dawn also noted as highlights.[12]

A review for the album in

Daily Herald, described the album as "a who's who of modern rock". Cox rated the album three stars out of five, noting that "most of the material hits the fair-to-middling quality level of a neglected album cut or a good B-side"; adding, however, that the album's overall "atmosphere of paranoia and alienation" helped to tie it together.[13] Writing for The Buffalo News, Anthony Violanti rated the album four stars out of five, calling it "a strange, delightful trip". Violanti felt that "Star Me Kitten" was the album's best song, and that Danzig's "Deep" was its "weakest cut".[14] Writing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Fred Shuster felt that compared to other television tie-ins that "aren't worth the aluminum they're recorded on", Songs in the Key of X "is a rare exception because of the unusual quality and rarity of the tracks". Shuster rated the album three stars out of five, describing it as "more imaginative than the show that inspired it".[15]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
0."Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum"/
"X-Files Theme" (includes pregap hidden tracks
The X-Files Theme" (P.M. Dawn remix
)		SnowP.M. Dawn3:59
Total length:72:55
Notes
  1. Red Book standards.[23]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 8

Year-end charts

Chart (1996) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 48

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[24] Platinum 70,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b "Making "Songs in the Key of X"". Entertainment Weekly. March 29, 1996. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  2. Warner Bros. Records. 1992.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
    )
  3. ^ Kane, Billson and Oregan, p. 192
  4. ^ Campbell, Mary (January 8, 1997). "Babyface is up for 12 Grammy awards". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  5. ^ Meisler, p. 196
  6. ^ Handlen, Zack (August 22, 2008). ""Sleepless/Duane Barry/Ascension" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  7. ^ ""The X-Files" Humbug (TV Episode 1995) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  8. ^ Olson, Catherine Applefeld (May 3, 1998). "'X-Files' Soundtrack Due in June". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2012. (subscription required)
  9. ^ The X-Files: The Album (back cover). Various. Elektra Records. 1998. Track listing.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ a b c McDonald, Steven. "Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by 'The X-Files' – Original TV Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  11. ^ a b Browne, David (March 29, 1996). "Songs in the Key of X: Music From and Inspired by The X-Files Review | Music Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  12. ^ a b Masuo, Sandy (March 23, 1996). "ALBUM REVIEWS / POP : 'Songs in the Key of X': Suitably Creepy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  13. ^
    Daily Herald
    . April 19, 1996. Retrieved April 13, 2012. (subscription required)
  14. ^ a b Violanti, Anthony (March 27, 1996). "Picking up the X Vibrations". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2012. (subscription required)
  15. ^ a b Shuster, Fred (April 12, 1996). "Sound Check Pop". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2012. (subscription required)
  16. ^ "Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by 'The X-Files' – Various Artists". Billboard. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  17. ^ "swedishcharts.com – Songs In The Key Of X". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  18. ^ "finnishcharts.com – Songs In The Key Of X". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  19. ^ "Pop: Various Artists Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by 'The X Files' Warner Bros 9362-46079-2". The Independent. April 12, 1996. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2012. (subscription required)
  20. CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 35. CMJ
    . July 1996. p. 8.
  21. Warner Bros. 1996.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
    )
  22. ^ Jewett, Dave (April 4, 1996). "Swiftly Will Go the Bidding". The Columbian. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2012. (subscription required)
  23. ^ Katz, p.98
  24. ^ a b c Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 311.

Works cited

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