BY DARREN ALLISON
Following
the break-up of Emerson, Lake and Palmer at the end of the 1970s, Keith Emerson
ventured into the world of film soundtrack composition with his score for
Italian director Dario Aregento’s horror film Inferno in 1980. This, in turn,
led to Emerson being commissioned to compose and perform the music for the
Sylvester Stallone film Nighthawks in 1981. From here a succession of film
scores were to follow for directors in Italy, Japan and the United States. At
the Movies gathers together Emerson’s music for seven movies including
Nighthawks, Best Revenge, Inferno, La Chiesa (The Church), "Muderock,
Harmagedon and Godzilla Final Wars.
Disc
One (US Movies) contains 2 full soundtracks. Firstly, there is Nighthawks
(1981) an enjoyable cop thriller from Sylvester Stallone. The movie co-starred
Billy Dee Williams as Stallone’s partner, Lindsey Wagner (of TVs Bionic Woman
fame) as the love interest and Rutger Hauer as terrorist Heymar Reinhardt.
Emerson’s music, in consideration of its period, works very well indeed. Many
composers, including the likes of orchestral masters such as Jerry Goldsmith,
were experimenting tentatively with electronic music and synths during this
film making period, and many failed miserably. However, Emerson appears to
address the balance rather impressively. If you possess the patience to
overlook a few genuinely cheesy moments – such as ‘Nighthawkin’ and ‘I'm a man’
which contain a vocal style reminiscent of the dying disco era – than you are
in for a treat. There is some fine dramatic scoring here. Its main theme works
very well - listen carefully and you may even pick up on a motif which is not
too dissimilar to that of ELP’s ‘Fanfare for the common man’. The soundtrack is
sometimes deep and broody – sometimes light and soulful. ‘Tramway’ for instance
is a tense and edgy piece that never seems to rely permanently on synths –
Emerson instead feels confident enough to introduce and experiment – and in
this case – adds a delicate sound of a whirling police siren as part of the
soundscape. All in all, Nighthawks still works very well – which is a pleasant
surprise.
The
second half of the CD contains the soundtrack of John Trent’s Bad Revenge
(1984) which appears to be a European – British production? Nevertheless, it is
something of an obscure film which has disappeared under the radar. But it
contained a rather impressive cast including John Heard, John Rhys-Davies and
Michael Ironside. The story revolves around an American tourist in Spain who is
forced to take part in a $4 million drug deal, because his best friend has been
kidnapped and is being tortured by the drug kingpin who set up the operation.
The score begins with a somewhat lengthy orchestral suite (15.29) which serves
in setting the tone. Whistles, rhythmic clapping hands and maracas indicate a
strong European flavour. Bad Revenge certainly has a more established prog rock
feel to it, again there are some vocals which perhaps unflatteringly date the
score. But there are some real nice moments, too - The Dreamer, for instance is
the film’s love theme and is performed beautifully by simple piano and delicate
background synths. Because Bad Revenge is such a rarely seen movie, we don’t
ever enter this score with any preconceived ideas - no clues, which, whilst
refreshing, it can also, leave you a little empty. However, Bad Revenge is also
a very nice way to round off the first disc, look upon it as a generous bonus
and all will serve well.
Disc
Two (Italian Movies) contains 2 full soundtracks and an EP. Disc 2 begins with
Dario Argento’s Inferno (1980) the film in which Emerson cut his teeth in terms
of film music. Inferno is a wonderful score, opening with a truly beautiful
theme, which is so often the case with Italian horror films. However, there is
a rich diversity throughout the score; tracks such as Taxi Ride provide a clear
example of Emerson’s classically trained background and his virtuosity as an
accomplished pianist. Sarah in the Library Vaults also highlights his flair for
tense, dramatic scoring with the aid of lengthy, unsettling strings. Whilst
Mater Tenebrarum explodes like an assault on the senses and becomes a full
blown synth orientated operetta. The soundtrack as a whole remains quite superb
and bristles with a seemingly eternal energy.
Next
is an EP containing music (Four tracks) from Michele Soavi’s La Chiesa (The
Church) (1989). The film told of an old Gothic cathedral, built over a mass
grave, which develops strange powers. The Church trap a number of people inside
with ghosts from a 12th Century massacre seeking to resurrect an ancient demon
from the bowels of the Earth. Emerson’s music for La Chiesa takes on a much
darker element, the emphasis is centred very much on its gothic surroundings.
Much of its fifteen minutes are brooding, tense and full of dread, but Emerson
does dabble with some electronic percussion which does inject a burst of much
needed elevation.
Rounding
off Disc 2 is Emerson’s score for Lucio Fulci’s Murderock (Uccide a passo di
danza)(1984). By Fulci’s standards, Muderock was something of a standard
thriller which saw the owner of a prestigious New York ballet school team up
with a male model in order to solve a series of bizarre murders of a few of the
students. The soundtrack is something of a mixed bag - following a fast paced
opening theme, the score wastes little time in reverting to a very dated vocal
(Not so innocent) provided by Doreen Chanter. Hereafter, the album takes on a
very mainstream life. Instrumental keyboard pieces are broken up with some nice
individual cues, Prelude to Candice is a sweet, subtle composition, and Coffee
Time provides some light Jazzy relief (and a rare excursion) before we are
launched back into a standard prog rock landscape. The score concludes with a
lift in the shape of The Spilone, a funky bass driven track that seems somewhat
out of place with what has preceded it.
Disc
3 (Japanese Movies) consists of 2 full soundtracks starting off with
Harmagedon: The Great Battle with Genma, a science fiction anime movie released
in 1983. Emerson’s score for this rarely seen movie is probably the lightest
from this box set. The music is pretty safe throughout – entertaining organ
riffs dominate and provide a jolly enough experience if this is your kind of
thing. Totalling some 18 minutes in length, it is thankfully rather short.
To
finish disc 3, there is the score to Ryûhei Kitamura’s Godzilla Final Wars
(2004). This turned out to be something very different. I found myself quite
enjoying this score. Perhaps it was due to the fast forwarding - a quantum leap
of some 20 years in the evolution of Emerson’s film music? I’m not sure. The
music for Godzilla Final Wars is without doubt, more upbeat, and arguably down
to the advances - not only in Emerson’s compositions - but in technology and
instrumentation. The score is incredibly diverse – tracks such as EDF
Headquarters fight are pure club dance! EDF museum is a track bordering on
trance, whilst Infant Island has more than a passing resemblance to Jean Michel
Jarre’s ambient classic Équinoxe. All of which is wonderful, so why do I remain
confused? Well, I just can’t match this music to Godzilla… Featuring elements
of break beat and electronic rock mixed with orchestral elements, it is unlike
any other Godzilla soundtrack. A little research revealed that Emerson was only
given two weeks to write the score of the film and that only a small percentage
of his score made it to the final cut of the film. Having not seen the movie –
I can’t comment on what appeared in the film, but I’m led to believe it
contains more music by the director’s regular collaborators, Nobuhiko Morino
and Daisuke Yano, who were later hired to complete the rest of the film's
score. So, as a result, I’m assuming this is Emerson’s music for the film -
most of which did not make the final cut. However, as a standalone listen, the
soundtrack works well and benefits enormously from Akira Ifukube’s original
Godzilla theme arranged by Emerson - which is very good indeed!
Overall,
this excellent set is always going to intrigue – as a collective, it is a fine
representation of Keith Emerson’s film work. Sound quality is absolutely spot
on, as is the packaging which uses individual card covers for each of its 3 CDs
and sits in a very strong clamshell box alongside a 16 page book. Released by
Esoteric Recordings and available through Cherry Red Records priced at £17.99,
it’s well worth taking a look at.
Click here to order.