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

Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by The X-Files
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	March 26, 1996
Genre	Soundtrack, alternative rock
Length	62:37
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Mark Snow
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 received generally positive reviews, and peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart.

Production

When plans for the album were initially proposed, executives at both Fox Broadcasting Company—the network responsible for the series—and Warner Bros. Records began compiling a list of possible inclusions, most of which were eventually rejected. Artists such as Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and Seal were approached to possibly contribute material; and although all three were admitted fans of the series, none were able to get involved in the project.

Elvis Costello and Brian Eno's track, "My Dark Life", came about as a result of one record executive asking Costello to provide a song that would sound like "'you went into the studio with Brian Eno or something"—the two musicians had recently met at a film screening, and reconvened to record the song the following week. 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". 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".

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"X-Files Theme (Main Title)"	Snow	Mark Snow	3:24
2.	"Unmarked Helicopters"	Soul Coughing	Soul Coughing	3:22
3.	"On the Outside"	Crow, Trott	Sheryl Crow	4:36
4.	"Down in the Park"	Numan	Foo Fighters	4:04
5.	"Star Me Kitten"	Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe	William S. Burroughs & R.E.M.	3:30
6.	"Red Right Hand"	Cave, Harvey, Wydler	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	6:11
7.	"Thanks Bro"	Filter, Patrick	Filter	4:10
8.	"Man of Steel"	Black	Frank Black	4:59
9.	"Unexplained"	Kirkwood	Meat Puppets	3:44
10.	"Deep"	Danzig	Danzig	3:50
11.	"Frenzy"	Hess, Stevenson	Screamin' Jay Hawkins	2:10
12.	"My Dark Life"	Costello	Elvis Costello with Brian Eno	6:20
13.	"Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)"	Clouser, Zombie	Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper	4:12
14.	"If You Never Say Goodbye"	Carter, Cordes, Was	P.M. Dawn	4:06
15.	"X-Files Theme" (P.M. Dawn Remix)	Snow	P.M. Dawn	3:59
Total length:				62:37

Producers used the Compact Disc's pregap, so a listener would have to actually manually rewind the first track a full nine minutes to hear two additional hidden tracks, "Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum" and a cover of the X-Files theme song, both performed by Nick Cave and Dirty Three. This is hinted at in the CD booklet - "Nick Cave and the Dirty Three would like you to know that "0" is also a number." Not all CD or DVD players will allow you to "rewind" back to these tracks as this violates Red Book standards.

Release

Songs in the Key of X was released on March 26, 1996. It would eventually reach a peak chart position of 47 in the Billboard 200 album chart on April 13 that same year, spending a total of ten weeks in the chart. The album also spent five weeks in the Swedish Sverigetopplistan charts, peaking at number 42, and six weeks in the Finland's Official List chart, reaching a peak at number 24.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Entertainment Weekly	(B)
Los Angeles Times

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. 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. 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 collaborations between R.E.M. and William S. Burroughs, and Elvis Costello and Brian Eno, ultimately turned out to be "more interesting in theory than in practice"; although adding that "Down in the Park" was the best track present on the compilation, with the contributions of Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and P.M. Dawn also noted as highlights.