Buffy the Vampire Slayer
is the ultimate cult television series of the '90s, eclipsing even
The X-Files
in some ways, because it's about teenagers and demons -- the perfect subjects for cult audiences. Like most cult shows,
Buffy
built up its audience steadily over several seasons, reaching some sort of critical mass in 1999, as it launched a spin-off series in
Angel
, and its stars --
Sarah Michelle Gellar
,
David Boreanaz
Seth Green
, and
Alyson Hannigan
-- became inescapable, appearing in the movies and on magazine covers. If any further proof of
reaching a zenith in 1999 was needed, there is the fact that a soundtrack was released in the fall of that year, as well. Appropriately, almost everything on the album matches either the gothic atmosphere of the show or its indie cred. Unlike most TV soundtracks, there isn't an abundance of major artists here -- only
Garbage
, the
Sundays
, and (inexplicably)
Alison Krauss
, plus such cult sensations as
Guided by Voices
and
Face to Face
jump out among the 18 tracks. That's fine because several of these songs were actually in the TV show -- another thing that separates
from other TV soundtracks. Also, the goth rock of
Rasputina
, the vague trip-hop of
Velvet Chain
, the folky pop of
Hepburn
, the aggressive post-
PJ Harvey
rock of
Furslide
Bif Naked
's singer/songwriter alt-rock all fit the show like a glove. There may be no real standouts on
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album
, but it creates and maintains a specific mood that matches the show itself, which is a rarity among '90s soundtracks. And that's exactly what a show like this deserves. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine