Blade Runner (soundtracks)
Encyclopedia
The Blade Runner soundtrack
was composed by Vangelis
for Ridley Scott
's 1982 film Blade Runner
. It is mostly a dark, melodic combination of classical composition and synthesizer
s which mirrors the futuristic film noir
envisioned by Scott. Several different albums have been made, some including tracks omitted from the final cut, or new tracks in the same style. An orchestral rendition of part of the soundtrack was released in 1982 by the New American Orchestra. However, the original soundtrack album (1994) features vocal contributions from Demis Roussos
and the sax solo by Dick Morrissey
on "Love Theme". The track "Memories of Green" from Vangelis' 1980 album See You Later
was also included. A new release made in 2007 includes a disc of new music inspired by the film.
The film also features "Ogi No Mato" ("The Folding Fan as a Target" on Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music from Nonesuch Records
) by the Japanese group Ensemble Nipponia, and harpist Gail Laughton's "Pompeii 76 A.D." (from Harps of the Ancient Temples).
The original soundtrack release was delayed for over a decade, until 1994, despite the music being well-received by fans and critically acclaimed—nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best original score. Also, there was the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the film's end titles. The 1989 compilation Themes included some tracks from the film, but it was not until two years after the 1992 Director's Cut of the film that the score saw an official release.
In 1989, Vangelis released Themes, a compilation album featuring unreleased music from several of his film scores, as well as material from non-film-related albums. The album includes the "End Titles","Memories of Green" and "Love Theme" from Blade Runner, as the first appearance of the original versions of those tracks.
in the US. The album reached the top 20 in the UK album charts.
This release contained a twelve-page booklet consisting mainly of stills from the film. On page 3 there is a list of credits and the following by Vangelis:
While most of the tracks on the album are from the film, a number were composed by Vangelis but were ultimately not used in the film itself. Other compositions that appear in the film were not included on this release.
A 3-CD set was released in 2007 to coincide with the 5-DVD release to mark the 25th anniversary of the film. It includes the 1994 official CD along with two bonus CDs, both compiled from original material by Vangelis
. The second disc includes some previously officially unreleased material, but is still not complete, omitting the Main Title track, for example. The third disc contains new material inspired by Blade Runner.
Although this release claims to be the "complete" score, there is still some music heard in the film that is missing (in sequential order):
The second disc, of previously unreleased music, contains additional music not present in the film, including two bonus tracks, one of which, "Desolation Path", is a slightly different version of "Alternate Love Theme/I Dreamt Music". This track was originally used in the workprint version of the film, during the Deckard/Rachel love scene.
s over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, and in 1993 "Off World Music, Ltd." created a bootleg CD
that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis' official CD in 1994. A disc from "Gongo Records" features most of the same material, but more of it. The Deck Definitive Edition came about in 2001, with 27 tracks. In 2003, two other bootlegs surfaced, the "Esper Edition," closely preceded by "Los Angeles - November 2019." The double disc "Esper Edition" combined tracks from the official release, the Gongo boot and the film itself. Finally "2019" provided a single disc compilation almost wholly consisting of ambient sound from the film, padded out with some sounds from the Westwood game "Blade Runner."
during the film's mixing. It was popular, despite subpar audio quality, given there were no plans to release a Vangelis score.
group The Ink Spots
. "If I Didn't Care" which originally appeared in an early workprint of Blade Runner, but was replaced by the Don Percival cut "One More Kiss, Dear" in the final version.
Esper Edition Notes:
The Esper bootleg edition has since been updated in 2007 to be called the 'Retirement' Edition consisting of 6 discs (5 CD-DA + 1 DVD-Rom) it has incorporated the missing tracks from the trilogy release.
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
was composed by Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
for Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's 1982 film Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
. It is mostly a dark, melodic combination of classical composition and synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s which mirrors the futuristic film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
envisioned by Scott. Several different albums have been made, some including tracks omitted from the final cut, or new tracks in the same style. An orchestral rendition of part of the soundtrack was released in 1982 by the New American Orchestra. However, the original soundtrack album (1994) features vocal contributions from Demis Roussos
Demis Roussos
Artemios Ventouris Roussos is a Greek singer and performer, best known for being the main musical partner of movie soundtrack composer Vangelis and a string of international hit records as a solo performer in the 1960s and 1970s...
and the sax solo by Dick Morrissey
Dick Morrissey
Richard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
on "Love Theme". The track "Memories of Green" from Vangelis' 1980 album See You Later
See You Later
See You Later is a 1980 album by the Greek artist Vangelis. It breaks quite violently with the style he had employed in the late 1970s, relying much more on vocals and being more experimental and returning to his early 1970s work....
was also included. A new release made in 2007 includes a disc of new music inspired by the film.
The film also features "Ogi No Mato" ("The Folding Fan as a Target" on Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music from Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
) by the Japanese group Ensemble Nipponia, and harpist Gail Laughton's "Pompeii 76 A.D." (from Harps of the Ancient Temples).
The original soundtrack release was delayed for over a decade, until 1994, despite the music being well-received by fans and critically acclaimed—nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best original score. Also, there was the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the film's end titles. The 1989 compilation Themes included some tracks from the film, but it was not until two years after the 1992 Director's Cut of the film that the score saw an official release.
Initial Releases
The first official release (on LP, tape and CD) was a reinterpretation by the New American Orchestra in 1982. Billed as an "orchestral adaptation of music composed for the motion picture by Vangelis", this release consisted of jazz-inspired, orchestrated renditions of the major tracks from the film, but not the original score tracks.In 1989, Vangelis released Themes, a compilation album featuring unreleased music from several of his film scores, as well as material from non-film-related albums. The album includes the "End Titles","Memories of Green" and "Love Theme" from Blade Runner, as the first appearance of the original versions of those tracks.
1994 release
In 1994, an official recording of Vangelis' score was released by East West (Warner Music) in the UK and by Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in the US. The album reached the top 20 in the UK album charts.
This release contained a twelve-page booklet consisting mainly of stills from the film. On page 3 there is a list of credits and the following by Vangelis:
- Most of the music contained in this album originates from recordings I made in London in 1982, whilst working on the score for the film BLADE RUNNER. Finding myself unable to release these recordings at the time; it is with great pleasure that I am able to do so now. Some of the pieces contained will be known to you from the Original Soundtrack of the film, whilst others are appearing here for the first time. Looking back at RIDLEY SCOTT's powerful and evocative pictures left me as stimulated as before, and made the recompiling of this music, today, an enjoyable experience. (VANGELIS AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, April 1994)
While most of the tracks on the album are from the film, a number were composed by Vangelis but were ultimately not used in the film itself. Other compositions that appear in the film were not included on this release.
2007 release
Blade Runner Trilogy, 25th AnniversaryA 3-CD set was released in 2007 to coincide with the 5-DVD release to mark the 25th anniversary of the film. It includes the 1994 official CD along with two bonus CDs, both compiled from original material by Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
. The second disc includes some previously officially unreleased material, but is still not complete, omitting the Main Title track, for example. The third disc contains new material inspired by Blade Runner.
Although this release claims to be the "complete" score, there is still some music heard in the film that is missing (in sequential order):
- Longer-length track: "Main Titles", with prologue
- Heard in scene: Leon's Voight-Kampff test
- Heard in scene: Deckard meets Rachael for the first time (starting with the owl)
- Longer-length track: "Blade Runner Blues"
- Heard in scene: Deckard's dream, before, during and after the unicorn appears (1992 and 2007 film releases)
- Heard in scene: Deckard's dream (1984 US film release), actually an alternate recording of "Love Theme"
- Heard in scene: Deckard meets the snake guy, at the Snakepit/Taffey Lewis club
- Full track: before the "Love Theme" (called "I Am the Business" on the Esper Edition)
- Full track: when Batty walks around JF Sebastian's apartment (called "Morning at the Bradbury" on the Esper Edition)
- Missing prelude: "The Prodigal Son Brings Death"
- Heard in scene: Deckard enters the Bradbury and walks up the stairs
- Longer-length track: "Deckard and Roy's Duel" (which is an abbreviated version of "Dangerous Days" plus "Wounded Animals")
- Longer-length track: "End Titles"
The second disc, of previously unreleased music, contains additional music not present in the film, including two bonus tracks, one of which, "Desolation Path", is a slightly different version of "Alternate Love Theme/I Dreamt Music". This track was originally used in the workprint version of the film, during the Deckard/Rachel love scene.
Bootlegs
The delays and poor reproductions of the Blade Runner score led to the production of many bootleg recordingBootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
s over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, and in 1993 "Off World Music, Ltd." created a bootleg CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis' official CD in 1994. A disc from "Gongo Records" features most of the same material, but more of it. The Deck Definitive Edition came about in 2001, with 27 tracks. In 2003, two other bootlegs surfaced, the "Esper Edition," closely preceded by "Los Angeles - November 2019." The double disc "Esper Edition" combined tracks from the official release, the Gongo boot and the film itself. Finally "2019" provided a single disc compilation almost wholly consisting of ambient sound from the film, padded out with some sounds from the Westwood game "Blade Runner."
Studio Tape
The first release of the Blade Runner score in any form was a tape suspected of coming from a sound engineerAudio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
during the film's mixing. It was popular, despite subpar audio quality, given there were no plans to release a Vangelis score.
Off World Music
A second bootleg Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Blade Runner appeared in 1993 by "Off World Music, Ltd." on CD, which was of high quality and actually more comprehensive than the official release by Vangelis in 1994. This release includes a 1939 recording by R&BRhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
group The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots were a popular vocal group in the 1930s and 1940s that helped define the musical genre that led to rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and the subgenre doo-wop...
. "If I Didn't Care" which originally appeared in an early workprint of Blade Runner, but was replaced by the Don Percival cut "One More Kiss, Dear" in the final version.
Esper Edition
In 2002 a bootleg – Blade Runner: Esper Edition by "Esper Productions" – was created, providing a comprehensive Blade Runner soundtrack. It contains some background music that has never been released.Esper Edition Notes:
- Original Music Composed and Performed by Vangelis
- "Harps Of The Ancient Temples" written and performed by Gail Laughton
- Performed on tracks 3, 9 (disc I) and track 5 (disc II) by Demis Roussos
- Performed on "Rachael's Song" by Mary HopkinMary HopkinMary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....
- Saxophone on tracks 2 and 9 (disc II) by Dick MorrisseyDick MorrisseyRichard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
- Lyrics and vocals on "One More Kiss‚ Dear" by Don Percival (Note: the official 1994 release credits the vocals to Don Percival but the lyrics to English singer/composer Peter SkellernPeter SkellernPeter Skellern is an English singer-songwriter and pianist.-Career:Skellern attended Derby Grammar School and studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He later joined pop groups called 'Harlem' and 'March Hare'...
)
The Esper bootleg edition has since been updated in 2007 to be called the 'Retirement' Edition consisting of 6 discs (5 CD-DA + 1 DVD-Rom) it has incorporated the missing tracks from the trilogy release.
External links
- Vangelis' Blade Runner film score at NemoStudios.co.uk – synthesizer set-up, recording music, and studio's photographs.
- Bladezone.com – Visions In Sound by Bentley Ousley
- Blade Runner (Bootleg Editions) – Antas' Vangelis rarities website
- The Esper Interview