Various artists (Epic/Sony Music Soundtrax)
Album of the week
With a formidable lineup that includes Jamiroquai, Green Day, the Foo Fighters and Puff Daddy Combs, the Godzilla soundtrack was a monster hit the instant it was released last month. Now comes the soundtrack for The X-Files—and a movie-music face-off. While both collections feature tracks specially composed for the two films, as well as reworked versions of old material, the X-Files collection clearly stomps the competition. The Godzilla CD begins with Jakob Dylan and the Wallflowers doing a workmanlike version of David Bowie's "Heroes" that is appealing but no real improvement on the original. By contrast, the tense and edgy atmospherics that permeate the X-Files soundtrack are introduced by Filter, which turns "One," the 1969 love ballad popularized by Three Dog Night, into a stunning song of nightmarish isolation. Where Godzilla's best tunes are scattered among mediocre numbers and worse—Puff Daddy's vocals on "Come With Me" sound like they were recorded by Beavis and Butt-head—X-Files remains sly, amusing and scary throughout. (Among many highlights: tracks by X, The Cure and Björk, the avant-garde Icelandic rocker for whom alien weirdness has always been a hallmark.) Added bonus: For all who wish Oasis loud mouth Noel Gallagher would shut up, he does, contributing an eerie instrumental.
Bottom Line: In a duel of sci-fi soundtracks, the lizard loses
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