Blade Runner (Music From The Original Soundtrack)

Rating

Album: Blade Runner (Music From The Original Soundtrack)(Vinyl)
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Main Titles	More Info...
2)	Blush Response	More Info...
3)	Wait for Me	More Info...
4)	Rachel's Song	More Info...
5)	Love Theme	More Info...
6)	One More Kiss, Dear	More Info...
7)	Blade Runner Blues	More Info...
8)	Memories of Green	More Info...
9)	Tales of the Future	More Info...
10)	Damask Rose	More Info...
11)	Blade Runner (End Titles)	More Info...
12)	Tears in Rain	More Info...

Performer Notes

This is the complete, original soundtrack to BLADE RUNNER, not released until 1994 because of contractual difficulties. This release also includes some soundscapes which were not in the movie.
Personnel: Vangelis (programming); Mary Hopkin, Don Percival, Demis Roussos (vocals); Dick Morrisey (saxophone).
Engineers include: Frederick Rousseau, Philippe Colonna, Raphael Preston.
Recorded at Nemo Studios, London, England. Includes liner notes by Vangelis.
Composer: Vangelis.
Arriving 12 years after the release of the film, Vangelis' soundtrack to the 1982 futuristic noir detective thriller Blade Runner is as bleak and electronically chilling as the film itself. By subtly interspersing clips of dialogue and sounds from the film, Vangelis creates haunting soundscapes with whispered subtexts and sweeping revelations, drawing inspiration from Middle Eastern textures and evoking neo-classical structures. Often cold and forlorn, the listener can almost hear the indifferent winds blowing through the neon and metal cityscapes of Los Angeles in 2019. The sultry, saxophone-driven "Love Theme" has since gone on as one of the composer's most recognized pieces and stands alone as one of the few warm refuges on an otherwise darkly cold (but beautiful) score. An unfortunate inclusion of the 1930s-inspired ballad "One More Kiss, Dear" interrupts the futuristic synthesized flow of the album with a muted trumpet and Rudy Valle-style croon. However well done (and appropriate in the movie), a forlorn love song that sounds as if it is playing on a distant Philco radio in The Walton''s living room jarringly breaks the mood of the album momentarily (although with CD technology, this distraction is easily bypassed). Fans of Ridley Scott's groundbreaking film (as well as those interested in the evolution of electronic music) will warmly take this recording into their plastic-carbide-alloy hearts. [Blade Runner was released on LP in 2015.] ~ Zac Johnson

Professional Reviews

Q (8/94, p.130) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Avoiding big, intrusive themes, Vangelis integrated his electronic soundscapes perfectly into the film-noir ambience of Ridley Scott's claustrophobic future..."

Muzik (12/00, p.59) - Included in Muzik's "Top 10 Electronic Soundtracks" - "...The grandaddy of them all....Much imitated, never equalled..."

Mojo (Publisher) (6/02, p.67) - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks" - "...Vangelis's masterpiece..."

NME (Magazine) (6/11/94, p.32) - 9 - Excellent Plus - "...The soundtrack album stands on its own...a pioneering ambient classic..."