1997 for the song, losing out to Rage Against the Machine's "Tire Me". Several of the songs on the album were used in episodes of the series. Soul Coughing's "Unmarked Helicopters" appeared in the fourth season episode "Max", while Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" was heard during the second season episode "Ascension", and Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "Frenzy" appeared in the second-season episode "Humbug". Three of the artists featured on the album would also go on to contribute songs to The X-Files: The Album, the soundtrack to the series' 1998 feature film adaptation—Foo Fighters' "Walking After You", Soul Coughing's "16 Horses" and Filter's "One". Release and reception Songs in the Key of X was released on March 19, 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. Reviews for Songs in the Key of X were generally positive. Upon the album's release, Entertainment Weeklys 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,