INFERNO (OST)

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).