Keith Emerson: Inferno (soundtrack) [1980]

Keith Emerson: Inferno (soundtrack) [1980]

The Inferno soundtrack was Keith Emerson’s first film score and his first album of new material after Emerson, Lake & Palmer disbanded in 1978.

Release Information

Film

  • Release date (Italy): 7 February 1980
  • Directed by Dario Argento

Soundtrack Album

  • Release date: 1980
  • Labels: Atlantic (UK); Cinevox (Italy); Barclay (France); Ariola (Germany)
  • Produced by Keith Emerson

Tracklist

  1. “Inferno (Main Title Theme)” (Keith Emerson)
  2. “Rose’s Descent Into The Cellar” (Emerson)
  3. “Taxi Ride (Rome)” (Emerson)
  4. “The Library” (Emerson)
  5. “Sarah In The Library Vaults” (Emerson)
  6. “Bookbinder’s Delight” (Emerson)
  7. “Rose Leaves The Apartment” (Emerson)
  8. “Rose Gets It” (Emerson)
  9. “Elisa’s Story” (Emerson)
  10. “A Cat Attic Attack” (Emerson)
  11. “Kazanian’s Tarantella” (Emerson)
  12. “Mark’s Discovery” (Emerson)
  13. “Mater Tenebrarum” (Emerson)
  14. “Inferno Finale” (Emerson)
  15. “Cigarettes, Ices, Etc.” (Emerson)

Personnel

  • Composed and produced by Keith Emerson
  • Arranged by Keith Emerson & Godfrey Salmon
  • Orchestrated and conducted by Godfrey Salmon
Source: Liner notes. Keith Emerson at the Movies. Esoteric Recordings. 2014.

Gear

In a September 1980 interview with Contemporary Keyboard magazine, Emerson listed the equipment he was using in Nassau, the Bahamas, where he was living and recording at the time. “Here in the Bahamas,” he said, “I’ve got a Korg 3300 and a Korg 3100 polyphonic synthesizers, a Minimoog, a Yamaha CP-30 electronic piano, a Yamaha upright, and a vocoder.” In response to questions about the Inferno soundtrack, he said the organ sound on “Mater Tenebrarum” came from one of the Korg synths running through an MXR Stereo Chorus, “plus a bit of echo.” The Korg 3100 provided the “bell-like” sound on “Taxi Ride (Rome).” As for the guitar-like lead on the same track, “I think that was the Minimoog going through a flanger.”

Source: Milano, Dominic. “Keith Emerson.” Contemporary Keyboard, Sept. 1980, pp. 16-20+.

Studios

Source: Liner notes. Keith Emerson at the Movies. Esoteric Recordings. 2014.

Video