Bruno Nicolai – Tempo Sospeso (1975, LP, Italy)

Bruno Nicolai is a leading figure in the world of Italian soundtracks although he is primarily known for being the most important of Ennio Morricone’s collaborators and his orchestra conductor in the period of Morricone's greatest production (60‘ and 70’s). But Nicolai's solo works are certainly not of lesser artistic relevance. Tempo sospeso (Suspended Time) is one of the most representative albums in this sense that it was produced by Nicolai in 1975 without any filters or restrictions, in the period of his greatest artistic maturity. The style of his thriller soundtracks of the time, such as The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, and Eyeball, is evident here, as well as the vibe of the "electrified" western, largely for the acid fuzz guitar of Alessandro Alessandroni. The instrumentation is varied and the Maestro plays piano, harpsichord, organ, and synth. What is presented here is library music that is definitely above average.