Millennium
Reviewed by Justin Bielawa
January 18, 2009

By the mid 1990s, Chris Carter had written himself a blank check with Fox. The X-Files was the hottest show on television, its throwback to 1970s government paranoia and its 80s sense of the fantastic mixed well in the Clinton era. Hoping lightning struck the same place twice, Fox asked Carter for a sister series in an unexpected "hands off" approach. The result was Millennium, a more sophisticated and dark as midnight show about the rise of serial killers and apocalyptic prophecies as the new millennium approached. The show was met with critical acclaim but was a little advanced for its time; it found an audience but kept the general public at bay with its graphic depictions various gory crimes.

Mark Snow's material for Millennium is a more monotone and dour affair than the material he'd previously written for Carter. Where as each episode of The X-Files was something of a separate affair - aliens one week, flukemen the next - Millennium was more about the search for hope. Physically, this was given off by the main character Frank Black (Lance Henriksen, in a painful, internalized roll) and Snow follows his on-screen footsteps closely. Snow's music is synth dominated, with electronic oboes and sampled brass hits; normally such elements clash badly with the best composers, but the material gels together in a form and fashion that the listener does not know what is sampled and what is real. The finished result is an eerily organic mix, unearthly yet familiar.

The best representation of the show's style is the title theme, a sorrowful celtic fiddle against large ambient drum hits. The combination of lyricism and imposing musical thunder gives the title an air of anxiety, hope and dread - no easy feat for something that lasts under a minute. Both elements - especially the large drum strikes - are a constant in the show but outside of this, a great deal of the music is seemingly interchangeable. Don't expect many surprising "Oh yeah, I remember this scene" moments unless you're very familiar with the show; Snow's lush darkness passes by briskly at 74 minutes a disc but rarely with an identifying footnote. Exceptions can be noted with episodes "Maranatha" (its ethereal sampled choir marks the coming Antichrist character Yaponchik) and "Owls" (with detuned, retuned string instruments sampled and played forwards and backwards) and the final cue "Drilling" for the series finale, with a reflective piano as hope for a better world is kept alive once again.

The show lasted three years but is well remembered across the Internet. (Alternately, NBC's clone of Millennium called Profiler was more popular in its day and lasted longer - yet no longer has a fan base to speak of.) A major contribution to that is Snow's pained, anxious music that while is never especially "on the nose" with its themes, is so well written and so emotional, its music that is hard to shake.

LaLaLand's presentation is their usual five-star affair, with interviews with the composer and creators, along with descriptions of each episode and track featured and some beautiful art across the board. The end result is a valentine for fans; daring music for a daring show and highly recommended for those with a taste for the sombre.

(And be sure to stick around for the last track on the album. Its sure to brighten your mood after all that amazing, moody music!)

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