Various Artists
'X-Files: Fight The Future' soundtrack
»
Various Artists
'X-Files: Fight The Future' soundtrack
Warner Bros., 1998
RiYL: Aliens |
Continuing in this tradition is the highly anticipated soundtrack for "The X-Files: Fight The Future," which seems to have more stars clustered inside than a small galaxy. The album succeeds, but just barely. Though it certainly has enough talent assembled to keep even the dullest of FBI agents satisfied for days, the soundtrack is not without its share of disappointing and outright laughable tracks (see Tonic's "Flower Man").
Filter kicks things off with an overly violent rendition of the Three Dog Night classic "One," the idea for which came after David Duchovny ad-libbed the song's lyric "One is the loneliest number" in the film. Unfortunately, Duchovny may as well have covered this song himself, as Filter butchers the job with flying colors.
The Foo Fighters get things back on track with a remixed "Walking After You," which sounds infinitely better than the original version on "The Colour and the Shape" thanks to peppier drumming, enhanced guitar fills and softer vocals from frontman Dave Grohl.
The only other songs that come close to matching this quality contribution are Noel Gallagher's solo instrumental "Teotihuacan" and Soul Coughing's "16 Horses." The latter combines a racing bass line with the typical vocal intensity and perma-rasp of versatile frontman M. Doughty. The song is bathed in shreds of distorted spaceship noises and carries a noticeable paranormal influence.
On "Teotihuacan," Oasis's Gallagher continues to evolve his songwriting craft by delving once again into the techno side of pop. On this song, named after a Mexican sun God, Noel combines a gentle piano and guitar melody reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" with some unobtrusive drum machine beats and a hint of distortion to keep things interesting.
The rest of the album is heavy on tiresome trip-hop beats and ethereal alien effects, light on melody and substance. The best of the not-so-great tracks is the Cure's "More Than This," although the Cardigans' Nina Persson manages to coo a mildly enchanting blues-tinged ditty called "Deuce."
William Orbit's remix of Sara McLachlan's "Black" is an ill-advised journey into the nether regions of distortion, opening with "Twin Peaks"-esque guitar tones and other noises that sound like electronic bats flying out of your speakers. Weird indeed. Elsewhere, X fails to do justice to the Doors' "Crystal Ship," even though Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek produced the track. Bjork does succeed, capturing a mysteriously compelling aura on the imagery-laden "Hunting." And poor Sting continues to dismantle his old Police hits left and right. His latest victim, "Invisible Sun," is simply ruined with a reggae beat and an inappropriate twist of ethnic zest.
Although the "X-Files" soundtrack doesn't really meet the standards of previous blockbuster soundtracks such as "Trainspotting," it does indeed deliver more than a fistful of worthwhile songs, all of which seem to be dipped in a marinade of the show's best seasonings.
BRIAN COHEN |