As the Placebo song goes…

Twenty years ago, a show nobody would have expected to last more than a couple of seasons started broadcast, and put the channel FOX on the map of the large US television networks. It was a simple beginning, with a humble budget but big ideas and ambitious production values that kept being pushed towards the better by showrunner Chris Carter.

The beginning of The X-Files is now as far away from the present as was The Night Stalker, the show that inspired Carter to do his series, from when The X-Files began!

Twenty years later, many people still remember it as an important show for television history. The greatest gift that one could hope for at this day would be that the people involved in this small part of history are still active and creative. And indeed, Chris Carter, after a long period of absence from television and all things cinema, is returning with several creative projects simultaneously! The pilot for one show, “The After“,  has been ordered for production, and the pilot for another, still untitled, is in advanced writing stages. Here’s to hoping that Carter’s creative batteries have benefitted from a decade of surfing and of discovering the world. Quite unsurprisingly, no word on X-Files 3 from Carter, although Spotnitz still strongly promotes it in interviews.

Tributes to the X-Files for its 20th anniversary have been many in the media. The best, by far, that I have encountered is in French: Sullivan Le Postec’s series of 20 articles is perhaps the most complete history of the series, be it in print or online, that one can find!

The other gift, in the absence of the announcement of a BluRay set and FOX’s complete radio silence around this important anniversary of a once trademark show, is La La Land Records’ release of a Volume 2 of Mark Snow’s music for the show! Volume 1 was released in May 2011, after a long wait since The Truth and the Light in 1996, and Volume 2 has been expected since then, going through an extended production period until the date was set for today (as a result of teasing of the anniversary date opportunity by yours truly!). Here’s to hoping there will be a Volume 3! Here is the announcement and track listing:

THE X FILES: VOLUME TWO: LIMITED EDITION (4-CD BOX SET) LLLCD 1270
Music by Mark Snow
Limited Edition of 3000 Units
STARTS SHIPPING Sept 10th
RETAIL PRICE: $49.98

ORDER “THE X FILES: VOLUME TWO: LIMITED EDITION (4-CD BOX SET)” starting Sept 10th at 12pm PST at www.lalalandrecords.com and get your CD tray card (clamshell front cover) autographed by composer Mark Snow at no additional charge. Autographs are available while supplies last and are NOT guaranteed.La-La Land Records and Twentieth Century Fox mark the 20th anniversary of the beloved television series THE X FILES with this second, 4-CD volume of Mark Snow’s original score to the award-winning landmark program. More than 5hrs of incredible X-Files music, complied from many episode favorites, have been assembled in this strikingly attractive collection, produced by Mark Snow, Nick Redman and Mike Joffe and mastered by James Nelson. The 40-Page CD booklet contains exclusive, in-depth liner notes from film music writer Randall Larson and features comments from show creator Chris Carter and writer/producers Frank Spotnitz, Glen Morgan and James Wong. Limited to 3000 units, the set’s CD Booklet and 4-CD Clamshell case are housed in a hard cover slipcase, in the same fashion as our acclaimed, sold-out first volume. The truth is in here – this is truly some of the most daring and enthralling music ever created for television.

Disc One1. THE X FILES Main Title (Season 1) 0:47 1X11 – EVE 2. Swinging Dead Daddy 1:26 3. Meet Your Clone 1:19 4. Attached 0:53 1X16 – YOUNG AT HEART 5. The Eyes Don’t Lie 1:46 6. Ain’t Dead Yet 4:03 7. Youth 3:37 8. Shot in the Crowd 2:29 1X17 – E.B.E. 9. Swimming With Sharks 5:14 10. Here We Go 2:42 1X21 – TOOMS 11. Druid Hill 2:42 12. Rats & Babes 1:59 13. Toilet Tooms 5:49 1X22 – BORN AGAIN 14. Psycho-Electric Attack 6:27 2X03 – BLOOD 15. Drive for Blood 3:26 2X14 – DIE HAND DIE VERLETZT 16. Prayer 0:45 17. Suicide Exam 2:34 18. Snake Hold 1:22 2X16 – COLONY 19. Hypothermia 2:43 20. Alta 2:35 2X17 – END GAME 21. Scully’s Discovery/Mulder’s E-Mail Message/Skinner Helps Scully 8:19 22. Showdown/Saving Mulder/ Faith to Keep Looking 11:18 Disc One Total Time: 74:49

Disc Two1. THE X FILES Main Title (2nd Season) 0:49 2X23 – SOFT LIGHT 2. Eaten by Light 2:44 3. Spontaneous Combustion 4:39 4. Shadow on the Wall 2:21 2X22 – F. EMASCULATA 5. Flesh on Bone 4:31 6. Pustule Package 3:21 3X01 – THE BLESSING WAY 7. Blown Up and Beaten 2:50 3X02 – PAPER CLIP 8. Smoky Gets in Your Eyes 2:52 9. Outmined 2:23 10. Sacrifice/ Skinner Gets Skinned 4:04 3X04 – CLYDE BRUCKMAN’S FINAL REPOSE 11. Yappi 2:18 12. Dumpster 3:00 3X14 – GROTESQUE 13. Disarmed 1:28 3X24 – TALITHA CUMI 14. Fries and Faith 2:38 15. Discreet Distance 3:04 4X01 – HERRENVOLK 16. Needle Neck 6:54 4X02 – HOME 17. Newborn 2:11 4X09 – TUNGUSKA 18. Worm Rock 12:48 19. Chicken Wire Wrap 7:57 20. THE X FILES End Credits (Extended #1) 0:35 Disc Two Total Time: 74:23

Disc Three1. THE X FILES Main Title (7th Season) 0:35 4X10 – TERMA 2. Black Vermiform 6:03 3. Fire of Terma 8:47 4X17 – TEMPUS FUGIT 4. Pieces 6:28 5. Nine Minutes 3:24 4X24 – GETHSEMANE 6. Trails 5:37 7. Thawed 11:30 8. Deep Dupe 4:17 5X01 – REDUX 9. Little Vials of Proof 8:23 5X02 – REDUX II 10. Remission 5:42 5X14 – THE RED AND THE BLACK 11. Red Letter 2:46 12. Resist or Serve 3:45 13. Lil’ Cabin in Quebec 8:42 Disc Three Total Time: 76:35

Disc Four1. THE X FILES Main Title (9th Season) 0:36 5X17 – ALL SOULS 2. Baptism 3:45 3. Four Faces 7:28 6X09 – S.R. 819 4: Orgell 2:26 5. Bill of Health 4:29 6X22 – BIOGENESIS 6. Map of the Genome 4:00 7X14 – THEEF 7. Voodoo Doll 7:19 7X22 – REQUIEM 8. Déjà vu 3:55 9. Ray 5:09 9X04 – 4-D 10. Pulling the Plug 9:00 8X21 – EXISTENCE 11. Something Feels Off 3:03 12. Replicant Revolution 6:21 13. Under Investigation 3:14 8X15 – DEADALIVE 14. Deep Six 2:53 15. AliveAlive 11:03 16. THE X FILES End Credits (1st Season) 0:30 17. I Made This/ 20th Century Fox Fanfare* 0:08 * – Music By Alfred Newman Disc Four Total Time: 76:04

Total Set Running Time: 298:27

Elsewhere on Eat The Corn:

• La La Land’s X-Files Volume 1
• The Massive Music Compilation of all Mark Snow cues that would be worthy of a CD release — you can send your own additions, and I will have to update it with what has been included in Volume 2
• Mark Snow’s The Truth and the Light