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I've been listenting intently to the 3rd disc which, for me, contains the musical jewels of Season 4. The quality of this product is great (I think there's some sonic improvement since Vol. 1). La La Land has a terrific product they should absolutely be proud of...right up there with Volume 1 and the Star Trek-The Motion Picture set. Some of you here have asked for my first thoughts since I got mine yesterday, so I'll give my own opinion of the contents:
Believing the Lie...
I'll start by saying that the tracks from "Gethsemane" are truly some of Mark Snow's greatest work in television, and this CD definitely bears this out. For me, these three tracks are what I paid for and I wasn't disappointed here. I'm sad that the first cue of Dr. Aurlinsky and Babcock climbing to the cave and discovering the EBE frozen in the ice wasn't included; however, practically every other bit of the score after that is represented, and that's where the meat of this epsiode transfixes the listener. We hear many fabulous variations on the "climbing to the cave" theme and "Trails" takes us on this musical journey. "Thawed" is a real tour-de-force...at 11:30 long, it bounces back and forth to the assault, identification, pursuit and confession of Michael Kritschgau. In particular, the scene where Scully ID's him through the computer with it's long sustained dirge-like chords and punchy pizzicato notes is a thrill...as is the Parking Structure chase/arrest of Kristchgau by Scully. A really great surprise is the EBE Autopsy music...it's fairly dialed down in the finished cut of the show, but here on the CD it really opens up and is VERY CREEPY. Wow! "Deep Dupe" begins with the betrayed strains of the "climbing" theme when they find the EBE is gone, Aurlinsky and Babcock are dead, but that didn't prepare me for the huge surprise: The cue was actually cut during Scully's "Believe the Lie" speech. From 1:05 to 2:15 Snow underscored this powerful confrontation between Scully and Mulder...I ran it against the picture...Guys you should have trusted in Snow and left it in. Brilliant Scoring! We finally hear with clarity Mark Snow's tragic "religioso" while a suicidal Mulder watches a tape of Carl Sagan and others mulling ETs perfectly melds to the segue to Scully telling the committee that Mulder killed himself...
Following the Lies to the Truth...
My reaction to the included cues of "Redux" and "Redux II" is a bit more muted. Don't get me wrong, the music is great, and I'm very glad to have it, wouldn't trade it for the world; howver, I'm not so sure the cues that were selected really capture the "essence" of these two episode's scores. It's more of a case of What's Not There vs. What Is There. If it were my project (which it wasn't) I would have dedicated a whole CD to this three episode arc's complete scores--yes, they're that good.
The cue on the CD, "Little Vials of Proof," takes us from Skinner's confrontation with Scully that Mulder is alive and she's lying about it through the Pentagon breach montaged with Scully running the DNA test. Make no mistake, it works a ton against the picture it was composed for. But, it does have this wandering quality that doesn't wholly rely on established themes and therefore doesn't seem to lead to a logical "getting to the point" and makes it a less involving listening experience than the "Gethsemane" cues. I would really have enjoyed the cue from "Redux" that takes us from the Govt. HQ scene when Kritschgau encounters Mulder through through the segue to CSM entering Mulder's apartment, believing he is really dead and sheds a tear and then realizes it may not be true after all. That's where "Redux" delivers some musical emotions and gives us a tremendous listening experience. Also the escape from the Pentagon is quite percussive and exciting. It's my feeling that the chosen cue seems to be both "emotionally" and literally in-between the two cues from "Redux" that pack a punch.
"Remission," the finale of "Redux II" is an exciting piece and does not suffer from the "Little Vials of Proof" problem for me. Picking up in Mulder's final hearing, through the naming of Blevins, CSMs "assasination," Blevins killing and the final "hopeful" scene at the hospital, really great stuff that I know a few here on the FSM Board really championed...You won't be disappointed. But, with "Redux II" this is a case of What's Not There for me...leaving out the lovely piano and strings melody that reoccurs 5 times in the score to accompany Scully's nearness to death is strangely no where to be found on the CD, and this to me is very puzzling. This melody is the "core" of this episode "musically." And its absence doesn't allow "Redux" or "Redux II" to coalesce into a satisfying listen. The final iteration of this melody with Mulder emotionally lost at Scully's bedside is one of the most highly affecting moments in Mark Snow's X-Files lexicon and is only 1:12 long and occurs just prior to "Remission"...I'm just very sorry this wasn't squeezed in.
Nine Minutes?...Luckily almost Ten!
What can I say about the music from "Tempus Fugit," well, "Pieces" gives me chills (yes I'm one of those odd-ducks who has a fascination with aircrash events and stories of survival, destruction and analysis). Snow's "time ticking" music for piano and glockenspiel captures both sadness, dread and the inevitable, much like the later cues in Goldsmith's PLANET OF THE APES score...a brilliant example of using another's work as inspiration and not a blue-print for copying. Listening to "Nine Minutes" the first time was an emotionally exhilliarating experience for me, this is a cue I've longed for since I first heard the music for the episode...Another "religioso" passage that accompanies Mulder's walk among the bagged human remains in the make-shift hangar-morgue that decends into the "time ticking" motif and nervy tremolo violins and violas...The Synclavier never sounded so good!
All that said, I'm not trying to downplay anything in or about the set...Haven't got through it all yet! To try and produce a set of CDs for a TV show that had 202 episodes is a Herculean Task and (much like the Academy Awards) there's always much to discuss, cheer, lament...I will say this: If you like Mark Snow's work on the X-Files, JUST BUY IT. Plain and simple. If you've already bought it, there's plenty to hear and to satisfy your appetite.
Discuss!
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Can someone post some photos please?
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Thx for your first listen impression  Could you tell me something about the EXISTENCE tracks?
Just listened through the EXISTENCE tracks. Truthfully, I don't know the episode real well (or well enough to give the kind of examination I did for GETHSEMANE, REDUX & REDUX II) I can tell you that it was very exciting and satisfying listen through almost 13 minutes of music.
I may be just winging it here, forgive me if I'm in errata, but it picks up when Mulder and Doggett follow Kryceck through a parking garage where he's seen with Knowle Rohrer. From there the rest of the music for this episode seems to follow. The sonic quality and character really shines, particularly the solo trumpet lines in both martial and melodic versions of the six-note Scully grief theme.
BTW, I've noticed that after FIGHT THE FUTURE feature, Snow's "sound" got a lot better, utilizing, I'm sure, a combination of live orchestra samples from FIGHT THE FUTURE and newer sampling technology rather than exclusively using the aging (both technologically and literally) Synclavier.
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Posted: |
Sep 13, 2013 - 4:48 PM
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By: |
MKRUltra
(Member)
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I've listened to the entire set twice through now. Not as uniformly excellent as Volume 1, but still a great follow up.
Fan gripes: lengthy, ho-hum suites from "All Souls" and "Theef", but no room for the bridge scene score from "The Red and the Black", the centerpiece of the episode? Only one cue from "Biogenesis", containing only a brief statement of the episodes interesting "chase motif"? And many of the lengthier cues could have been improved by editing them down a bit, especially when they contain minute long stretches of histrionic stingers that don't make for great listening on disc.
But enough of that -- there's tons of amazing stuff in this set that's remarkable to finally have. I'm especially wowed by how great the interweaving scores for "Gethsemane", "Redux" and "Redux II" are, especially "Redux", which is a pretty terrible episode, but Snow's score carries it completely through those ridiculous, endless montages of purple voiceover narration. (Really love the cue where Scully chases down Kritschgau in the parking garage from "Gethsemane"!). The selection from "Existence" is also superb; love the way Snow works Scully's beautiful "grief theme" in to become the dominant theme for the episode, rising up between passages of brutal snares and finally closing Season 8 with the grief theme on piano and strings. Really powerful. (Too bad the series didn't end there where it should have).
Two years well worth the wait!
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And Disc 3 is off to a fantastic start! 
