X-Men: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2000 filmX-Men featuring the original score written and composed byMichael Kamen. It was released byDecca Records on July 11, 2000 featuring 12 tracks. An expanded edition containing the full score and unused cues processed during the composition and alternate themes, released by La-La Land Records under the "limited edition" of 3,000 units on May 11, 2021.[1]
For the film's score, Singer approachedJohn Williams to compose music, but turned down the offer as his schedule conflicted with that ofStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).[2] Singer then set on his usual composer,John Ottman.[3] However, once Fox pushedX-Men from December to July, Ottman's commitment to directUrban Legends: Final Cut made him unable to work with Singer.[4] In February 2000,Michael Kamen was eventually hired to compose the film's score instead.[5] He had previously collaborated with Fox to produce his scores for various film projects, including theDie Hard film trilogy.[6]X-Men was the first film directed by Singer to have a different composer for its score instead of Ottman.[6]
As Kamen was not familiar with the comics, he only tried to "represent Bryan Singer's filmic tone that he's made, for a comic book, a quite serious movie, which is about the capacity of humanity to categorize people by race, religion or type, and prejudice people against them based on their innate characteristics". Character-specific themes were written to "identify these characters, as you go through the film, because they're not always clear". For instance, Mystique's motif, focused on thecello as Kamen found it "a very erotic-sounding instrument", played in the soundtrack as she was disguised as Wolverine.[7] He initially planned to record the score first in London, but due to time restrictions, the recording was held in Los Angeles instead.[8]
Kamen's first draft of the score had been described as having an abundance of themes and rich orchestrations. During early recording sessions, producerLauren Shuler Donner expressed her dissatisfaction with Kamen's music and forced him to rewrite the entire score by using fewer themes and more electronic elements.[9]
James Southall ofMovie Wave commented "Exploring the score reveals it has surprising depth – including a surprising thematic depth, with Kamen taking an unheralded leitmotivic approach to the score – motifs, sometimes just tiny little fragments, are heard throughout the album in different guises."[10] Steven McDonald of AllMusic wrote " the score would have benefited from the absence of most of the electronic elements, which serve only to jar the viewer/listener out of the moment".[11]Filmtracks.com critiqued the score saying "the score requires patience and an acceptance of Kamen's extremely dark treatment of the concept" while the sequels (X2 andThe Last Stand) scored byJohn Ottman andJohn Powell were "superior efforts that provide the concept with better themes and far more engaging action material".[12]
