Review: X-Files: I Want To Believe

SOUNDTRACK REVIEW: X-Files: I Want To Believe Mark Snow Label: Fox Music

The new X-Files movie X-Files: I Want To Believe may not be have been much more than a run of the mill television episode stretched the breaking point, but that doesn’t mean the whole thing was mediocre. Chris Carter, writer and director, seemed to be playing just to the most die-hard fans with his sleepy script, but he made one choice that ensured at least one element of the film would be something anyone could enjoy: hiring composer Mark Snow.

Snow, whose presence is no surprise, has pretty much composed anything musically related to the series, whether television show or movie. While the story and characters have pretty much gone out with a fizzle in I Want To Believe, Snow and his score go out on a high note.

At all the right times the music moves between the adrenaline driven at the bitter sweet the music, somehow capturing everything the script fails to embody. Snow wraps his music around every moment. The classic synthesized music that anchored the sounds of the television show have their place, but Snow makes strides sweeping gestures with the strings this time around, creating some effective and occasionally haunting themes. In particular, “The Surgery”, which adds in evocative vocals, is absolutely stunning and if it weren’t so short, would perhaps be strong enough to stand on its own as a concert piece.

Snow also drops in the famous X-Files theme from time to time, sometimes painfully obvious and others with an enchanting subtlety. Those first six notes have become a part of sci-fi pop culture and they are almost always played in the context of a minor key. But in the last track of the score, “Home Again”, Snow ends it all with a final reprise (which, for you trivialists, was whistled by Snow’s wife) on an up note and a major key. A lighthearted farewell to the characters, it will hopefully signal the end of the story. Dredging Mulder and Scully out for another boring sleepfest would be a shame, even if Snow were on board to craft the music.

The score is a must have for any X-Files fan, though it’s well worth a listen for anyone who enjoyed the original series and the music Snow created for it. For side-line fans who just want a slice of the pie for the IPod mix-up, be sure to grab track “X-Files (Unkle Variation on a Theme Surrender Sounds Session #10). I have no idea the significance of that title (nor do the liner notes give any hints), but it’s an eclectic mix of musical themes that does the X-Files justice and in general paying worthy homage to Mark Snow’s contribution to the series.

TOP TRACK: “X-Files (Unkle…)” - There’s a lot of great music on this disc, but this is one that seems to sum up the spirit of the series all in one reprise. It’s Unkle’s take on Snow’s themes and apparently his recording sessions, but it’s still a great track.

TRACK LISTING

1.	Moonrise	3:40
2.	No Cures / Looking or Fox	2:50
3.	The Trip To DC	3:48
4.	Father Joe	1:31
5.	What If You're Wrong / Sister	3:58
6.	Ybara The Strange / Waterboard	2:25
7.	Can't Sleep / Ice Field	2:34
8.	March And Dig / Girl InThe Box	4:57
9.	A Higher Conscious	5:29
10.	The Surgery	2:14
11.	Good Luck	1:35
12.	Seizure / Attempted Escape	1:54
13.	Foot Chase	3:34
14.	Mountain Montage / The Plow	1:44
15.	Photo Evidence	2:46
16.	The Preparation	1:35
17.	Tranquilized	1:46
18.	The Axe Post	2:53
19.	Box Them	1:41
20.	Home Again	4:17
21.	X-Files (Unkle Variation On A Theme Surrender Sounds Session #10)	5:51
22.	Broken	4:43
23.	Dying 2 Live	4:01