About

The soundtrack to Blade Runner remains a singular achievement; a soundtrack that invoked the past and the future, that remained suspended like Shrodinger’s cat in a state of unresolved being, that plays ancestor to an impressive clutch of modern musical forms while simultaneously sounding like a product of the modern age, or the first fruit of music yet to come. Vangelis’ soundtrack for Blade Runner remains one of the relatively few soundtracks to establish an enduring reputation as fine music in its own right.

Vangelis, by mid-1981 when he was first invited to view a rough cut of footage from Blade Runner, was at the peak of his fame as a solo artist, following a half-decade long run of successful albums. On 29th March 1982, a month prior to submitting his compositions for Blade Runner, he would crown his career as a creator of movie soundtracks (which began as far back as 1963) by winning an Oscar for his work on Chariots Of Fire. His work on Blade Runner took place in the midst of a truly auspicious moment for the Greek composer, and he fully lived up to the expectations placed upon him. Vangelis didn’t want to release a record robotically, logging the sonic aspects of someone else’s film. Instead, he conceived of the soundtrack as a full Vangelis album, a coherent suite. This is a major factor in the soundtrack’s favour: it works as a standalone release and not just as an accompaniment to visuals.

Vangelis’ personal development is visible in the soundtrack’s extensive deployment of percussion instruments. In the film a gentle shiver of bells or of a wind-up toy’s chimes tends to signify the unseen presence of the replicants, but he still created some truly majestic synthesiser fanfares, each deployed at very specific points. — (via Vinyl Factory)



↓
Label: Warner Music Group / EastWest
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Gatefold, 180 Gram
Country: Worldwide
Reissued: 2015 / Original Release: 1994
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient, Soundtrack, Score

File under: Soundtrack & Synthesizer
⦿