Blade Runner soundtrack

I've got the official release (reinterpretation by the new century orchestra) on vinyl, which I assume came out at the same time as the original film. It's a bit rubbish to be honest. It owes it's existence to the fact that vangelis wouldnt allow a release of the actual score in 1982, why I dont know.

The actual vangelis score was widely bootlegged during the 80s, and officially released on CD in 1993 or 1994 to coincide with the release of the directors cut. Dont know why he changed his mind, maybe because the original score had been bootlegged to hell anyway or maybe he just needed the cash.

I think simply vinyl or someone like that might have done an official vinyl release of the whole score since then, and I've also got a feeling that the closing theme got a 12" release in the 90s - there were copies floating around amoung the techno DJs i knew back then, though they may have been bootlegs.

Cant help on the japanese version I'm afraid - sounds like a bootleg but japan has wierd licensing laws that allow 'altered' releases like this to appear officially, so I dont know

I got a bootleg on vinyl a couple of years ago, as far as i can tell it is quite simply the music as it occurs in the film with a little bit of dialogue, the scene when he's zooming in on the photo. It isn't a great pressing but it is awesome music, one of my favourite scores, can't think why Vangelis didn't want it realised or did someone just answer that question upthread ?

Gabba Flamenco Crossover said:

I've also got a feeling that the closing theme got a 12" release in the 90s - there were copies floating around amoung the techno DJs i knew back then, though they may have been bootlegs.

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The End Title theme, as well as a few other tracks from the soundtrack, was available on vinyl on the Themes-compilation, that might be where they got it from. For some reason, Memories of Green was also included on the album See You Later, one of his strangest records.

Very interesting that it's possble to get the entire soundtrack on vinyl. Any ideas where to obtain it?

Jim Daze said:

can't think why Vangelis didn't want it realised or did someone just answer that question upthread ?

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In the beginning, Ridley Scott temporarily tracked the film with music from Alien and Planet of the Apes. The studio had contracted Vangelis to do the score, but Scott was doubtful of Vangelis' abilities. So dubious, in fact, that he contacted other composers, including Jerry Goldsmith who ultimately conducted the 1982 official soundtrack release, about alternate scores. When Vangelis delivered the score, Scott editted sections and supplemented it with other sources. This lead to a contractual dispute between the composer and the director made all the worse by Vangelis's discovery of the arranged stand-ins. In the end, Vangelis refused to release the score for the soundtrack, opting instead to release the music in dribs and drabs on his own records over the next decade.

The "official" release that came out in 1993 is not even the original soundtrack , but the original compositions re-recorded on modern equipment. This was done to limit any royalties due to Scott with the release of the original recording; the final fuck you from an angry artist.

hamarplazt said:

Memories of Green was also included on the album See You Later, one of his strangest records

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what about the rest of vangelis' back catalogue? is it all up the same standard as the blade runner score? and who did the vocals on that weird operatic number ("waiting for nexus" i think its called)?

Chef Napalm said:

Scott was doubtful of Vangelis' abilities.

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... Vangelis is not always synonymous of quality, but just in that case delivered one of the most memorable soundtracks ever!!
So the 1993 CD is a re-recording....

..by the way, as much as i love Alien and Blade Runner, Ridley Scott is a disgrace to cinema, should have been forced to made only commercials. Even his brother is a better director!

bassnation said:

what about the rest of vangelis' back catalogue? is it all up the same standard as the blade runner score? and who did the vocals on that weird operatic number ("waiting for nexus" i think its called)?

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The soundtrack to 'The Bounty' is another masterpiece. Ominous dark alectronica with the odd sea-shanty thrown in... probably a goer for the Hauntology thread actually.

bassnation said:

what about the rest of vangelis' back catalogue? is it all up the same standard as the blade runner score?

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Er...no. Unfortunatly a lot of it is europop shite. As with Georgio Moroder it pays to tread carefully.

My housemate has a prog rock record he did with demis roussos that he (housemate) affects to like, but I think it's rubbish.

bassnation said:

what about the rest of vangelis' back catalogue? is it all up the same standard as the blade runner score?

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Nah, he's quite uneven, though much better than he's usually given credit for. He came up in a kraut thread a long time ago, and back then I wrote:

Yeah sure, we all know and hate Chariots of Fire, and he have made some other crap in the same vein, but he have actually made huge amounts of very different music. There's some weird early jazz stuff (The Dragon and Hypothesis), there's some of the greatest and most freaked out instrumental prog records (Heaven and Hell and Albedo 0.39), and not least theres a lot of strange ambient records, from pseudo orchestral (Mask and Soil Festivities, the latter eventually being on my all time album top ten, such strange dreamlike rain music) to bizarre avant-electro (Beaubourg (all bleeps and blurps and metallic clangs, yet still soothing. Stockhausen in the womb) and Invisible Connections (released by Deutsche Grammofon no less)).

There was a site that had all the bootleg ones that are in the movie but not on the soundtrack. The one where he's scanning the photo is in there and the strip club music. I can't remember the URL and I didn't make a link but I know they had Lucifer Rising up there as well if that helps the search.

My girlfriend's former roommate paid an obscene amount of money for a copy (or bootleg) of the Blade Runner soundtrack several years ago. I remember being quite bewildered by this expenditure until I got the full story...then I kind of started to want a copy myself. I'm not sure which one he has. I think it might be the 'Off World Edition'.

Detailed info on all the soundtrack versions here: http://www.bladezone.com/contents/film/production/soundtrack/i_dreamt_music/i_dreamt_music.php

hamarplazt said:

there's some of the greatest and most freaked out instrumental prog records (Heaven and Hell and Albedo 0.39), [...]to bizarre avant-electro (Beaubourg (all bleeps and blurps and metallic clangs, yet still soothing. Stockhausen in the womb)

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Agree with "Heaven and Hell" and "Beabourg", and will add my favorite Vangelis solo album "Apocalypse des animal" (1973) which sounds proto-idyllitronica (first side) and proto distopian ambient (second side) to me, with a bit of melancholic melodies, a Vangelis imprint that is a disgrace in his more famous music, but work very well on this one.

"666" by Aphrodites Child is the greatest and silliest prog rock album ever.

The good thing is that you can find quite easily those records or cds for very little in used records bin, so if the price is right it's worth to try.

Agree with Francesco on Beabourg and also L' Apocalypse Des Animaux, it's a great soundtrack and it only cost me £3 (as did the vinyl bootleg of the official 1994 Bladerunner soundtrack which they were selling for £14.99 in HMV )

notoriousJ.I.M said:

L' Apocalypse Des Animaux, it's a great soundtrack and it only cost me £3

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That was re-issued on vinyl about 4 years back...

Why not just listen to the DVD?

Or rip it and do your own mix of it?

droid said:

That was re-issued on vinyl about 4 years back...

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I think it's the original, I found it in a 2nd hand store but probably explains why it was cheap.