INFERNO (OST)

If you like Dario Argento, and like what Goblin did for soundtracks to some of Dario's other movies. Then this soundtrack just may be what you are looking for.

Keith Emerson is a wizard on the keys, and this album shows no less, most of his work here is shown on the piano. A lot of the score is orchestral and really fits with the movies quite well, but a few of the tracks (i.e. The Taxi Ride, The Library, Mater Tenebrarum, and Cigarettes, Ices, etc.) are very much in the vain of his work with ELP, and really just bring the intensity of the movie to life!

I would recommend this soundtrack to you if you like the works of Dario Argento and are looking for some haunting piano, good orchestral work, and a few dabbles of ELP here and there.

Therefore I give this album 4 stars.

Actually I got this one by coincidence: the purpose was to buy 'Honky', another album by Keith Emerson, while I've been in London in a vacation, back than. It turn out that I got this one, and never felt sorry about that.

The soundtrack is made for an Italian movie called 'Inferno', written and directed by Dario Argento. Years after I've learned via internet, that this is a horror movie. The music is not exactly of the kind you expect for in a horror movie, because most of the time it sounds more solemn than frightening. Still it's dark, somber, and got some 'horror' moments. On the opposite, there are few tracks that rocks very well.

The soundtrack is constructed from short pieces, which describe the movie scenes and got names such as 'Rose leaves the apartment', 'Mark's discovery' etc. It is performed mainly by orchestra and piano. The orchestration and conducting made by Godfrey Salmon, and he did a great job. Also he is credited for the arrangements, along with Keith Emerson himself, and maybe done even more; but it's just a guess.

On the piano, our good old Keith Emerson. Try to imagine his fast and virtuosic playing on electric keyboards slow down dramatically, and performed seriously on acoustic piano, and you got an image of how this album sounds like. In about the middle, (in fact, side 2 of the vinyl version), things start to move faster and more dynamic, probably according to the movie script. There is really one 'horror' picture in 'A cat attic attack' piece, with very loud orchestra chords, performed by the brass section.

But don't get the wrong impression that you'll get here just acoustic piano and orchestra pieces. In addition to some electric keyboards that appear occasionally, there are three rock pieces: 'Taxi ride' features a screaming synth solo a-la Chick Corea. As I learned later, the main motif is taken from 'Nabuko' by the Italian composer Verdi, so its Chick Corea and Verdi combined together by the hands of a wizard. 'Cigarettes, ices, etc' features a fast, funky bass, with distant woodwinds. 'Mater tenebrarum', written in the best Emersonian tradition, features a choir chanting in Italian, a church organ, and Bach-like passages performed by Emerson and the choir.

All in all, in my opinion it is a great soundtrack, with superb music, and great orchestration and performance. It is very rewarding to follow Emerson at the 80's, at his post glory days with ELP, and to discover a great musician, who had still a lot to offer.

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.

Keith Emerson stepped down from his ambitions and pretensions after ELP was dissolved. By listening to the playing style and occasional virtuosity on his 80's and 90's albums, it's not hard to judge that this comes out of his shop, though. Inferno is first Emerson's solo album, let's call it a relatively virtuoso soundtrack. Emerson plays confidently on piano, synths, Moog and organ. "Taxi ride" has the drive and speed rivaling ELP but it is too short to gain momentum. The last soundtrack composition is in the same vein, though not interesting compositionally. "The library" is a solemn chord-based church organ piece however I doubt it is played on a real church organ. The album is rather patchy and does not provide a deep listening experience. Take is an occasional curiosity to listen to.