BladeRunnerCDFrontIntroduction

“Blade Runner” is an American science fiction film from 1982, directed by British filmmaker Ridley Scott and with original music composed by Vangelis. The score is considered by many as some of his finest work. For reasons never fully clarified, Vangelis ‘found himself unable’ to release a soundtrack album at time of the film’s release, leaving a growing base of admirers of the film and its music in search of a recording. For the lucky people that were able to find it, an hour long recording of Vangelis’ score appeared on a rare bootleg cassette just before the release of the film, but for a long time most fans had to do with the disappointing orchestral adaptation by The New American Orchestra released by Warner Brothers Records to compensate for the unavailability of Vangelis’ music.

The situation slightly improved in 1989 with the release of “Themes”, a compilation album including both the original ‘Love Theme’ and ‘End Titles’ from Blade Runner (as well as ‘Memories Of Green’, although this track had already been available on the album “See You Later” since 1980). Interest in the film renewed in the early 1990s after cinema screenings of an early workprint of the film, leading to the release of a Director’s Cut of Blade Runner in cinema’s in 1992, and subsequently on home video. EastWest, Vangelis’ record company at the time, was able to convince the composer it was time to release an official album of his score for Blade Runner in July 1994, shortly after the appearance of the OWM bootleg on CD, an event that according to Vangelis spokesman Andrew Hoy did not trigger the official release as Vangelis was not aware of this bootleg until after the official album release.

BladeRunnerTrilogyFrontSBoth the OWM bootleg and official release have in common that they are the first releases to include decent quality recordings of Vangelis’ score for Blade Runner, but otherwise are very different in nature. The OWM bootleg contains much more music as heard in the film, and many tracks even in their full length version (e.g. ‘Main Titles and Prologue’, ‘Blade Runner Blues’ and ‘End Titles’), unlike the official album. Despite that the official album contains shorter versions and mixes dialogue from the film on several tracks, it has the advantage of a pristine quality, as well as including multiple tracks that Vangelis composed for the film back in 1982 but that were ultimately not used (such as ‘Blush Response’, ‘Wait For Me’, ‘Rachel’s Song’ and ‘Damask Rose’). The differences between the two albums triggered a plethora of new bootleg releases, most trying to combine the music from different sources into a complete version of the Blade Runner score.

In 2007 director Ridley Scott was given a free hand to return one last time to editing a version of Blade Runner the way he envisioned it, resulting in the release of ‘The Final Cut’, a remastered and ultimate version. This event inspired Vangelis to return to the world of Blade Runner once more, resulting in the release of “Blade Runner Trilogy, 25th Anniversary”, an album consisting of 3 CD’s. The first CD is an exact copy of the 1994 official soundtrack album, this time expanded with the second CD containing more music from the film, combined with several unused cues. The third CD is titled "BR 25", a completely new album with music inspired by Blade Runner on behalf of its 25th Anniversary.

The 2007 releases did not stop the flow of Blade Runner bootlegs, on the contrary, they triggered even more attempts to present a complete version of Vangelis’ score. Despite being critically acclaimed and nominated in 1982 for BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for best original score, even today the music of Blade Runner still awaits the release of a truly complete version.

 

TrBladeRunnerTrilogyBackacklist and credits

   First release (1994)

  Second release (2007)
  1. Main Titles (3:42)
  2. Blush Response (5:47)
  3. Wait For Me (5:27)
  4. Rachel's Song (4:46)
  5. Love Theme (4:56)
  6. One More Kiss, Dear (3:58)
  7. Blade Runner Blues ( 8:53)
  8. Memories Of Green (5:05)
  9. Tales Of The Future (4:46)
  10. Damask Rose (2:32)
  11. Blade Runner (End Titles) (4:40)
  12. Tears In Rain (3:00)
  1. Longing (1:58)
  2. Unveiled Twinkling Space (1:59)
  3. Dr. Tyrell's Owl (2:40)
  4. At Mr. Chew's (4:47)
  5. Leo's Room (2:21)
  6. One Alone (2:23)
  7. Deckard And Roy's Duel (6:16)
  8. Dr. Tyrell's Death (3:11)
  9. Desolation Path (5:45)
  10. Empty Streets (6:16)
  11. Mechanical Dolls (2:52)
  12. Fading Away (3:32)

BladeRunnerCDBack

  • All music composed, arranged, produced and performed by Vangelis.
  • Engineered by Raine Shine.
  • ‘Memories Of Green’ engineered by Raphael Preston.
  • Rachel’s Song’ performed by Mary Hopkin.
  • ‘One More Kiss, Dear’ performed by Don Percival, lyrics by Peter Skellern.
  • ‘Tales Of The Future’ performed by Demis Roussos.
  • ‘Love Theme’ saxophone by Dick Morrissey.
  • Special thanks to John Martin, Andrew Hoy, Ian Lane, Frederick Rousseau, Philippe Colonna, Rob Dickins and my friends from the Indian restaurant, London. Well done Ridley.

 

BladeRunnerSACDFrontDiscography

CD

LP

  • 1994 EastWest 4509-96574-1 Brazil
  • 2013 Audio Fidelity AFZLP 154 US (Red vinyl remastered re-release of the 1994 album)
  • 2015 EastWest 0825646122110 (Black vinyl re-release of the 1994 album), released worldwide.
  • 2015 EastWest 0825646122110 (Red vinyl re-release of the 1994 album), UK & Europe. 
  • 2017 EastWest 0190295870935 (Record Store Day picture disc, re-release of the 1994 album), released worldwide.

 

BladeRunnerLPRSDFrontRecording studio

The music of Blade Runner was recorded at Nemo Studios in London by engineer Raine Shine. Official soundtracks mastered at “44.1” in Paris by Frederick Rousseau and Mireille Landmann. Assistent sound engineer: Vangelis Saitis.

 

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