Vangelis ‎– Blade Runner

If you havn't had the chance to sit down and listen to this record start to finish, I recommend you do so as soon as you can. From beautiful ambience of Main Titles to the energetic, and perhaps best known and sampled track on the album, Blade Runner (End Titles), to the emotional Tears In The Rain via the surreal One More Kiss, Dear, this is a piece of music that you can lose yourself in, recommended to all.

I know there are a lot of reviews for this already, but I feel compelled to review this anew in this, the "trilogy" version. I have never supported bootlegs, and certainly am not going start anytime soon, so I have not been exposed to any of the additional material on here before. That said, on with the review.

Like others, the soundtrack to Blade Runner had a profound effect on me. Its thick electronic sound was before it's time in terms of movie soundtracks and set a heavy tone for a similarly heavy movie. Most people smartly avoided the abortion of a soundtrack that was the "new American orchestra" version, which was likely cooked up by some lazy studio exec. Who wanted to make a quick buck, and instead opted for the official release in the early 90ties. Of course, the only thing about that was it was far from a complete score. That said, it is still a decent record, and it both carries the mood of the movie, and works fairly well as a piece of early 80ties ambient electronica. It is included in as the first disc of this set, and aside from a remastering; the track list remains the same, so nothing new for aficionados there.

Its disc two where things start to get interesting. This disc is comprised of further music from the film that did not make it onto the first round of the soundtrack. There are some standouts for me that I was surprised did not make it onto the first release like dr. tyrells owl, Leon’s room and empty streets, which are favorites of mine, but really this disc is as strong as the first by virtue that it is "more music from blade runner."

Where things really go off the rails is on disc three. there has been a lot of commentary on why they just did not release the full score over three cd's essentially emulating the long circulating bootleg copies that are floating around, and give Vangelis his deserved share in the artist profit from his music instead of fans needing to support pirates. However, instead of doing that, this is a disc of "new" material inspired by blade runner. So, what the hell does that mean? Well, before you read on, let me say: it aint good news. The third disc is full of under produced sketches, some incorporating some of the synth work from the score over "new" beats or rhythm ideas that sound very underwhelming and pale when put next to the material on the first two discs. I bought this on iTunes, so I don’t have the benefit of liner notes, but I don’t really need them after listening to the material. Unfortunately, I think its crap. Not there is anything inherently wrong with it, besides from being incredibly average sounding. it's sad because a generation of incredible electronic music composers, from Detroit, to Sheffield to Berlin, who may have been influenced by the original score and went on to create such amazing music, sit next to this "new" music by Vangelis, and poor Vangelis seems stuck in a time warp. This disc is full of that special kind of limp electronic sound that has traditionally been ruled over by people like tangerine dream and jean Michael jarre. No im not talking about their vintage 70ties stuff, but the fact that artists like these, and Vangelis it would seem have not joined modern society, and their music isn’t even cool in a "retro" way, its just euro-synth-prog-cheese that grates on nerves. listen closer, and you can hear an abundance of pointless voice samples that have little to do with the movie, unless you can consider Vangelis sampling ridley scott, presumably from the commentary to the DVD box set, saying how he wishes he was in more regular contact with Vangelis. uh, what????

Ok, ive ripped on it enough, but this third discs is really an insult to the tone set by such an excellent original soundtrack. Perhaps you will love this disc if you are a huge fan of Vangelis. As you might have guessed, I am not. The Blade Runner soundtrack did not make me endeared to the music of Vangelis; it made me endeared to electronic music in general.

Is this trilogy worth it? Well, no, probably not. In the end, truly: the best way to enjoy this soundtrack is to buy the final cut on blue ray and listen to it along with the movie. Although I don’t mind having some of the songs from the second disc, in retrospect, I should have stayed away and just keep the original one disc soundtrack release and save my money. You should do the same.

There's a sticker on back cover:
ADVERTÊNCIA: PRODUTO INVENDÁVEL
Amostra Grátis Tributada
Exclusivamente Promocional
(What means: WARNING: NOT FOR SALE
Only Promotional Use)
Maybe this record belonged to some studio or Radio station in the past.

unfortunately many of these - otherwise great - bootleg pressings of that record have spots (small craters) on one side of the vinyl that cause constant, silent noises/pops each rotation throughout most parts of the songs.
that's very annoying, especially on the decent, quieter parts of the music (and there are a lot ..), and on a soundtrack of that league.
as said, otherwise a very appreciated pressing as the eastwest brazil press is rare as hen's teeth
an the soundtrack otherwise has not been issued on vinyl.

Best movie, filled with soul, atmosphere, music, story, best in all ways. Something that no one can repeat again or ever will be.

An album that showcased how important the right music & sound effects are to make a memorable film.

Vangelis wrote this music to perfection, capturing all the emotions and feelings you need to feel what you are seeing, hair raising stuff thats for sure.

A great movie with a great soundtrack.

This has to be the best soundtrack ever. Eternally fresh and inspiring, Vangelis' music works without its perfect visual side (without any doubts my favourite film ever). I first watched "Blade Runner" way back when I was a kid and it totally blew my mind, probably changing my life forever, hehe. So did the music. A unique masterpiece which is not to be omitted by anyone.

This album is utterly superb, without fault of any description. It's such a fitting companion to the movie that many consider to be the epitome of its genre. Here we have an electronic album that also represents the epitome of its genre. Repeated listening results in a deepening familiarity and relevance, and for me this is an album with which I have a relationship, along with other masterpieces such as Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here", Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygene", and Yes' "Close to the Edge". My only regret is the lack of an available vinyl pressing.

A truly astounding soundtrack to a ground breaking film. The end titles theme inspired countless dance remixes, but the album over all is a very gentle and ambient piece. Some tracks, especially Tales of the Future, are influenced by eastern culture and traditional music. Also notable on
the album is a 1940s-inspired "One More Kiss, Dear" which emulates the style of the era with uncanny accuracy.

The overall impression is of a dark and troublesome future with brief glimpses of hope and great beauty. As a musical score this truly captures the moods and feelings inspired by reading the novels of Philip K Dick, far more than any other adaption of his material to date.

This is truly a landmark release in the history of electronic music.

Great record! But...
BR remains an outstanding movie, and the score is an important part of it. Thank God for this album, the sometimes mentioned re-recording is an insult and so unbearable it hurts. But here we have the original tracks, and they are the best I ever heard from Vangelis. Blade Runner(End Titles) is one of my all-time favourites. But-I also must tell you this:
as a representation of the music as heard in the film, it's a lousy album! There exist at least two different bootlegs with lots more stuff on them. There you can find the opening track, the music heard when Batty kills Tyrell, a complete version of the End Titles(over 7:00) and, very important, the music for the Deckard-Batty fight, the truly thunderous "Wounded Animals", a 10:00-track that is an amazing piece of music-it's raw and very powerful, which is probably why it's not on the official release, which seems to be aimed at female fans in need of music they can fall asleep to(just kidding).