Review: A great Thriller also needs a gripping soundtrack. Kwong Wing Chan composed with his work for "Infernal Affairs" precisely that. Sometimes subtle, at other times captivating and now and then very emotional, Kwong manages to set to music the whole range of emotions. This, he achieves through the use of different instruments. Unusual is the strong utilization of drums and guitars in the almost rock-like pieces "If I were him", "Let me quit" or "I want to be a good guy". These tracks are fully loaded with adrenalin.

It is the unconventional way, the different music genres are mixed together, that makes the listening so enjoyable and special. In "Let me quit" there is, besides the heavy e-guitar riffs, a lot of acousticguitar solos, that are in the style of spanish-guitar songs.
Even the more soft tracks can excite with a recognizable motive. You can nearly feel the tension that is build up in tracks like "Who are you" or "Mission abort".
"I am a cop!" is similar, though more meditative and peaceful, but sometimes the tranquility is disturbed by dissonant flute playing.

Arguably the highlight of the soundtrack are the sad pieces of the CD, sung/hummed by a female voice. "Goodbye Master" and "Goodbye Master, goodbye" have the same musical motive, but some small alternations are to be noticed. The sad-melancholic singing is accompanied by wonderful piano playing, until violins find their way in, too.
No matter if you've seen the movie or not, while hearing these two tracks you could end up brushing a tear away.
In almost the same manner "I dreamt about you" and "You are the only one" are composed, although they are a little bit more hopeful. Again, sung by a nearly etherial female voice, these pieces are something like the love songs of the soundtrack.

The rest of the tracks isn't bad neither. "Salute" delivers the typical sound of a trumpet played at a american funeral for "fallen heroes". Again the motive is emotionally very moving.
Besides the already mentioned singing, there are also a few pieces that use a choir, which adds even more to the religious aspect, which is present in quite a few motives anyway, though in a subtle manner.
Therefore, "The Inferno" is the final track, which delivers an actionpacked and worthy completion of the CD, using a choir, tympani and trumpets.

At the bottom line, there is an excellent soundtrack, which is devaluated by a few things. First, there is the running time of hardly half an hour, and second some pieces are missing. What's with the song, that is played when Yan tries to sell Lau the outrageously expensive stereo? Or why didn't the ending song with Tony Leung and Andy Lau make it onto the CD? For this, there has to be some deduction.

Fans of good, gripping and emotional touching scores shouldn't be bothered by that anyway and get the OST while they can.