Blade Runner

Vangelis couched his electrosymphonic score in percussive rhythms and shadowed timbres. Effectively interpolating dialogue from the film, the CD moves from the threatening tension of "Blush Response" to the ethereal wordless vocal of Mary Hopkin over a water-drop synthesizer sequence on "Rachel's Song." A few tracks, notably "Love Theme" with Dick Morrisey's smarmy saxophone solo, drip with Hollywood sentimentality, but Vangelis quickly wipes that away with the hyperdrive of "Blade Runner (End Titles)." --John Diliberto

Unlike the bootleg, Vangelis makes each track flow into one another. He does so with such fluidity and grace that one has to marvel at the production. Additionally, many have attacked this disc because Vangleis decided to leave out some crucial themes from the film, such as the "Main Titles and Prolouge" (which is included on the bootleg). I agree that the disc could have been more encompassing of all the music from the movie, but if you notice on the disc itself, it does not say "music from the official motion picture soundtrack" anywhere-it's essentially a Vangelis album with Blade Runner as its theme.

Another attractive aspect of the disc is, while there are some themes missing from the film, it does include four unreleased tracks not included in the film or the bootleg. These are: "Blush Response,""Wait For Me," the spine-tingling "Rachael's Song" and the somber and enigmatic "Damask Rose." Most of the other tracks are familiar, such as the heavily atmospheric "Blade Runner Blues" and the emotional and melancholy "Memories of Green." In any case, it is worth noting that this disc makes up tremedously for anything it may lack.

Lastly, in my opinion the most memorable track on the disk is the devastatingly beautiful, "Love Theme," one of the most passionate, mesmerizing and haunting themes ever done by Vangelis-or anyone.


Blade Runner (1994) - This IS the Real Thing   June 1, 2000
27 out of 28 found this review helpful

For years I would walk into music retailers hoping to come across this album. It was one of my holy grails. Now it is one of my favourites (definitely a favourite "thinking" CD). Some might question the inclusion of a few tracks on this CD, that on one level seem to stand out abruptly from the others. However I believe that this officially released soundtrack is like the movie in that it captures the images of a world influenced by a variety of cultures and ages. The soundtrack takes you back there, back to Los Angeles in 2019. From the soaring and dark landscape ("Main titles"), the amalgamation of so many cultures ("Tales of the Future" & "Damask Rose"), the influences from simpler (and cleaner) ages long ago ("One More Kiss Dear"), to the final moving words of Roy that make us question what it means to be human ("Tears in Rain"). This is in my top 3 Soundtrack albums. A wonderful piece of work. Don't be put off by the synthesized version released a few years earlier to stave off the hunger of fans. This recording has depth and passion. This has a richness that resonates throughout your body and mind. More importantly this is the real deal. I highly recommend it. The only question now is - will Vangelis bring himself to re-release the earlier 'limited edition private release' that posseses such gems as the "The Prodigal Son Brings Death", so lacking from this official release? Please sir, I want some more? A double CD would do nicely *nudge-nudge, wink-wink*


Add my high regards to the bunch   February 9, 2000
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

I add my comments to help overwhelm anyone who's unsure whether to buy this soundtrack. It's very beautiful and haunting. It will linger in your head long after it's stopped playing. I'm thrilled Vangelis included pieces that weren't used in the film. "Wait For Me" and "Rachel's Song" make me feel as though I'm watching the film for the first time, despite having seen it dozens of times. And it was brilliant for Vangelis to blend each song into the next to create a seamless whole.

However, I also feel I don't need the dialogue from the film. And I thought the booklet had too many wasted pages with stills from the film. I can get all that from my DVD or my copy of the book about the making of Blade Runner.

Aside from those two minor carps, this is a must-have for any fan of the film, as well as for any music lover with a taste for a haunting, beautiful, and unusual soundtrack. They sure don't make them like this anymore.


One of my favorite and most played CDs, but a few problems...   July 31, 2006
GreenMan (Grand Ledge, MI)
12 out of 15 found this review helpful

First of all, let me say how pleased I was when this CD was finally released. "Blade Runner" is by far my all time favorite movie, one that I have repeatedly watched and studied, and part of this is due to the mesmerizing music of Vangelis. How many movies can you think of where the music is so strongly associated with and integral to the film that, without it, the film's overall appeal would have been significantly reduced? Vangelis' music for "Blade Runner" fits this description.

So why have I only given this CD 4 stars? First of all because, instead of including as much his music from the film as possible, Vangelis chose to incorporate other pieces of music that he was composing at the time. While these pieces are good ("Blush Response," "Wait for Me," and Rachel's Song"), I would have strongly preferred other pieces taken directly from the film to them.

Furthermore, I would have much more preferred additional Vangelis music in favor of "One More Kiss, Dear." While this is an interesting song in the context of the movie, and would have been welcome on a 2-disc "complete" version of the soundtrack, given the space available on only a single CD, other Vangelis music from the film would have been much more welcome.

Finally, I was a bit frustrated that less than a year prior to the release of the "Blade Runner" CD, Vangelis released "Themes" which included three songs from Blade Runner (the "Love Theme," the "End Titles" and "Memories of Green"). The "Themes" CD even had a sticker on the front proudly notifying me of this fact. Of couse, not realizing that, in only a few months, the Blade Runner CD would be available (which would also include these same three tracks), I quickly snatched up the disc, thinking that this may be the only opportunity I'll ever get to have some of the BR soundtrack.

As a result of the above, by purchasing the "Blade Runner" CD, of the 12 tracks on the disc, I was only purchasing a mere five new Vangelis songs taken from the film. I will say, however, that for me these five songs are so good (especially the "Main Titles," "Blade Runner Blues" and "Tears in Rain") they were more than worth the price of an entire CD.

The final grumble is that I would have preferred that the sound bites from the film were not layered over some of the tracks, especially "Tears in Rain." In my opinion, the purpose of a soundtrack is to get the music isolated from the rest of the film. If I want to hear the dialogue, I'll pop in the DVD and watch it. The dialogue ends up being like those annoying radio DJ's who talk over the beginning of songs and ruin them.

OK, enough of the "cons" because, all in all, this is a superb CD and one that I can't recommend highly enough. It's one of my most listened to discs and will continue to be so for many years to come. I feel it is the pinnacle of Vangelis' work and I sincerely wish Vangelis would release a "volume 2" of Blade Runner music or make available on i-Tunes (or some other on-line music service) additional tracks of this excellent score.



Best sound-track ever (admit it)   March 6, 2006
Matthew J.P. (Somewhere, OR. U.S.A.)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I am nowhere near worthy enough to write a review for Vangelis' masterpiece, but I will do my best to write a comprehensible review for this album.

Let's start with the minor quibbles about the album. The most common complaint you've probably heard about this splendid soundtrack is the inclusion of voice excerpts from the film in some of the tracks. Despite what you may have heard, the SoundBits from the film actually add a fair amount to the album (particularly "Blush Response," "Wait For Me," and "Tears In Rain,"). The only track where the voices seem to be out of place is on "Main Titles" where you hear Deckard (Harrison Ford's character) speaking about the exact amount of zooming he wants a machine to perform (it's cool in the film but weird on the album, especially to Blade-Runner-virgins who haven't seen the film, although I doubt anyone who buys and listens to the soundtrack hasn't seen the movie a million times like I have).

The only other minor annoyance on the album is the entirely out-of-place track "One More Kiss, Dear". It isn't electronic or ambient-sounding music like the rest of the album. It's some sort of bizarre, pre-doo-wop song that was played in the movie briefly, and I'm 99% sure that Vangelis didn't compose it. Even more unfortunate than having it on the album is the fact that it's stuck right smack-dab in the middle of the entire album (for some, it may ruin the entire experience). Whoever decided to do that should be ashamed of themselves. However, it is just one track, and anyone who isn't paralyzed can simply press a button to skip over it.

Petty bickering aside, there are many more things to love about the album then to hate. For starters, it is revolutionary. No film soundtrack sounded that distant yet so near, and Vangelis improves upon the original film score by including many pieces he originally withheld from the theatrical-version of the movie and the largely-improved Director's Cut. The best of these is definitely "Blush Response" (possibly the best song on the album besides the legendary and often copied/ remixed "Blade Runner End Titles").

Anyone who listens to this album will agree that it has some sort of eerie while fascinating sound to it, and words are vastly unable and incompetent at describing it. Words like "haunting" and "lingering" are often thrown around quite casually when it comes to discussing this album, but I think " an overall impending sense of tragic doom and artificial beauty" describes it much better. Also, anybody who simply dismisses this album as good "background music" is mistaken. The album is great to listen to anytime anywhere.

I have a funny feeling that anyone who has read this far into my review probably already owns the album, but if you don't, you should purchase it immediately (it's pretty cheap here at amazon.com, too). I rate it 5 stars, although it is not for everyone.