INFERNO (OST)

What is needed to say about this album?

It should need more vibrant passages. It holds too many classical parts. It should have been more powerful. We were all expecting a lavish affair. Keith could have blown his fans away. This album was quite a deception. Keith should have done better etc. etc.

The first two tracks are purely classical piano; the listener needs to wait for "Taxi Ride" to listen to some good ELP stuff: wild, dynamic and complex. Like in the good old days?But this is quite a short break in this whole affair. A trilogy of very short tracks (around one minute) completes the mixed feeling about the start of this album (soundtrack).

There are hardly interesting parts available: some fine piano collapsing under tons of orchestrations. This is what "Inferno" is. It might sound better while watching the movie but this is not sure and I haven't done so.

This album is pretty hard to categorize but prog rock is not the main stream to be honest. Still, the finale should please any ELP fans: same technical skills and fine beat to wake up the listener who was waiting for such a track for a long time (a bit similar to the "Tarkus" start). Actually, since "Taxi Ride" which was the third track.

The long bonus track "Inferno Outakes" is more than welcome: it offers some sort of "Renaissance" feel (the band I mean). At least for three minutes. What comes next is a fine and spacey section which sounds much better than most of the rest of this soundtrack. Some frightening parts are included as well (no wonder though since it was meant for a horror movie).

I throw a second star here thanks to the long bonus track. I really can't do more.

If you are thinking of getting this album to relive the joy you felt when first hearing those early Emerson Lake & Palmer albums, I would say think again. If, however, you like Keith Emerson's Piano Concerto No. 1, and his modern classical impressions, this would be an excellent purchase.

This is a movie soundtrack, so much of the music is meant as incidental background music, only providing a mood, and not meant to overwhelm the listener. But there are some good pieces here. The best of it is somewhat reminiscent of ELP's take on Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition". Other sections sound like pieces rewritten from Emerson's above mentioned concerto.

And for the ELP fan, there is Taxi Ride, the only band style piece. It sounds like it could have been a slightly lesser piece on one of the early album.

All in all, this is good modern classical, with Emerson's magical piano playing (this was before his wrist problem had manifested). A very fine album, but I would recommend the "At The Movies" collection, which contains this album in it's entirety (including the outtakes track, which my LP does not include).

This was Keith Emerson's debut solo album , coming after the split of ELP a year earlier in 1979. He retained conductor Godfrey Salmon from ELP's Orchestral Works Tour for what is mainly a traditional horror soundtrack that recalls Hitchcock movie scores . Perhaps not that surprising as Italian film maker Dario Argento is quite a disciple of the master of suspense. It's not all typical soundtrack music though as Emerson shows his proggy brilliance on Taxi Ride, Cigs Ices Etc and Mater Tenebrarum. I love that latter piece especially , weird time signature, pipe organ, choir et al. Prog madness at its best. Overall perhaps this may disappoint ELP and prog fans a bit but there is no wasted moments as Emerson manages to add his own little twists to well trodden ground.