The sweet notes of redemption, the rhythms of lust, and the cacophony of damnation--this is the paradoxical fanfare André Previn captures to complement the fire and brimstone of Richard Brooks"s film about that demented preacher of literary lore. Previn"s musical showmanship is as feisty as that of the movie"s title character--a spectacular passion play about the war between blasphemous brass and deceptively tender strings. Here, the staid hymns of revivalists, the orchestral maneuvers connoting the American heartland, the uneasy interludes into melancholy, and the sleazy textures of what could best be termed "whore jazz" interweave in a vibrant and villainous tour from churches to bordellos. The Dixieland version of "Onward Christian Soldiers" alone tells us that God is pissed, if he exists at all! --Joseph Lanza