Vangelis Blade Runner - Trilogy

Vangelis | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: February 26, 2008
• Release Date: February 26, 2008
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Polydor
• Copyright: (C) 2007 Universal Music TV, a division of Universal Music Operations Ltd.
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file metadata contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 2:29:50
• Genres:
  • Soundtracks
• ASIN: B001NTFQRY
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (180 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,092 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

436 of 448 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I Dreamt Music... December 18, 2007

By Dave Cordes

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

When it was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2007 that a new "extended" 3-disc soundtrack of Vangelis' Blade Runner score would be released by the end of the year to coincide with the release of Ridley Scott's "Final Cut" Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition), fans rejoiced with the assumption that the complete film score was finally getting an "official" release after numerous releases and bootlegs of varying lengths and sub-standard quality. Unfortunately if you are looking for the complete film score, this is not the CD you're looking for.

Disc 1 is a re-mastering of the 1994 Vangelis album (although it sounds identical to my original CD) which featured music from the film edited together with numerous dialog samples from the film as well as newly composed music by Vangelis that did not appear anywhere in the film. As an album, it was interesting thematically in its own right with some beautifully composed themes like "Rachel's Song" and "Damask Rose" but it was still not the original film soundtrack and was considered to be a disappointment.

Disc 2 features officially unreleased cues, some of which are not even heard anywhere in the film. Some are outtakes from the workprint but most of the memorable cues from the film are completely omitted such as the opening "Prologue" with the somber haunting Asian motif that establishes the dark tone and atmosphere of the film as well as the Egyptian Taffey Lewis club ambiance and the cues from when Deckard enters the Bradbury are not included.

Disc 3 is a collection of letters and "spoken word" commentaries from various authors, actors and film makers who share their memories and experiences of the celebrated cult classic along with newly composed music by Vangelis, again "inspired by" the film but not the original, unabridged movie soundtrack.

What SHOULD have been a 3-disc officially released motion picture soundtrack that would have nullified the numerous bootlegs that have proliferated the market is not to be had. Let's examine the different versions available and what's missing from this release:

1982 New American Orchestra Blade Runner: Orchestral Adaptation Of Music Composed For The Motion Picture By Vangelis - an orchestral arrangement and jazz rendition of Vangelis' electronic compositions from the film. Generally regarded as an inferior album and not the original motion picture soundtrack containing barely over a half an hour of material with a scant running time of 33:16 containing the following tracks:

1. Love Theme (4:12)
2. Main Title (5:01)
3. One More Kiss, Dear (4:00)
4. Memories Of Green (4:50)
5. End Title (4:17)
6. Blade Runner Blues (4:38)
7. Farewell (3:10)
8. End Title Reprise (3:08)

1994 Atlantic Vangelis Blade Runner - the first "official" Vangelis release containing nearly an hour of music with a running time of 57:53, most of which contained newly composed themes and dialog samples from the film mixed into selections of the film's soundtrack cues comprised of the following 12 tracks:

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)

The 1993 Off-World Edition bootleg featuring nearly all of the film's original soundtrack including the John William's composed Ladd Company logo from the film and source music for the "Bicycle Riders"(aka "Harps of the Ancient Temples") by Gail Laughton and "If I didn't Care" by Jack Lawrence, but with less than acceptable CD quality sound but features over 72:42 worth of original un-edited music from the film:

1. Ladd Company Logo (0:24) John Williams
2. Main Titles and Prologue (4:03)
3. Los Angeles, November 2019 (1:46)
4. Deckard Meets Rachel (1:29)
5. Bicycle Riders (2:05) Gail Laughton
6. Memories of Green (5:39)
7. Blade Runner Blues (10:19)
8. Deckard's Dream (1:12)
9. On the Trail of Nexus 6 (5:30)
10. If I Didn't Care (3:03) Jack Lawrence
11. Love Theme (4:57)
12. The Prodigal Son Brings Death (3:35)
13. Dangerous Days (1:02)
14. Wounded Animals (10:58)
15. Tears in Rain (2:41)
16. End Titles (7:24)
17. One More Kiss Dear (4:00) Skellern & Vangelis
18. Trailer and Alternate Main Titles (1:39) Robert Randles

The 1995 Gongo Edition - an import distributed in Romania was a slightly better quality version of the Off-World edition without the trailer music. This release omits the 1939 recording of "If I Didn't Care" which originally appeared in an early workprint of Blade Runner, but was replaced by the Don Percival song "One More Kiss, Dear" in the final version. Also includes "Blimpverts" the Japanese female blimp vocals.

The 2003 2-Disc Esper Edition - features ambient film soundtrack including music and effects engineered from the ambient Dolby surround sound channels with occasional rear-channel effects mixed in but retains all of the previously unreleased and unavailable score for almost the full 2 running hours of the film.

Esper Edition Disc-1
1. Prologue And Main Titles (3:54)
2. Leon's Voight Kampff Test (1:09)
3. Sushi Bar - Damask Rose (2:46)
4. Spinner Ascent (1:21)
5. Blush Response (5:43)
6. Wait For Me (5:12)
7. Deckard Meets Rachel (1:36)
8. Rachael's Song (4:20)
9. Tales Of The Future (4:53)
10. Bicycle Riders (2:10)
11. Chew's Eye Lab (1:15)
12. Memories Of Green (5:35)
13. Blade Runner Blues (10:01)
14. Pris Meets J.F. Sebastian (1:47)
15. One More Kiss, Dear (4:04)

Esper Edition Disc-2
1. Deckard's Dream (1:10)
2. Thinking Of Rachel (1:18)
3. Esper Analysis (2:34)
4. Animoid Row (2:34)
5. Taffey Lewis Night Club (2:02)
6. Salome's Dance (1:23)
7. Zhora's Retirement (1:42)
8. I Am The Business (2:29)
9. Love Theme (4:58)
10. I Dreamt Music (4:32)
11. Morning At The Bradbury (3:46)
12. The Prodigal Son Brings Death (4:07)
13. Deckard Enters The Bradbury (3:37)
14. Dangerous Days (:57)
15. Wounded Animals (10:53)
16. Tears In Rain (2:51)
17. Rachel Sleeps (2:08)
18. End Titles (4:06)

Los Angeles, November 2019 Edition - also released in 2003 was mostly ambient sound and atmosphere again extrapolated from the Dolby rear-channel mix and padded with additional music taken from the Westwood Blade Runner (PC) videogame.

In conclusion, what could have been the "definitive" official soundtrack is sadly not to be. The complete original soundtrack has become almost as legendary and elusive amongst fans as the various versions and cuts of the film itself. Perhaps for the 30th, 40th or even 50th anniversary release might be the soundtrack's "Final Cut" but this 3-disc release is anything but.

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Devastatingly Beautiful January 20, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

There has been a lot written regarding this soundtrack. We still wonder why on earth it took Vangelis twelve years to finally release this treasure. There is still much speculation as to the reason why this happened, but in any case, after being forced to listen to grim renditions of the soundtrack and bad-sounding bootlegs, Vangelis' "Blade Runner" is well worth the wait. Many have attacked this work for having certain exerpts of dialog from the film on some of the tracks. I, however, find that this inclusion makes the tracks more interesting. Deckard's exchange with Rachael and Tyrell is a great introduction to "Blush Response" with the eerie music in the background. "Wait For Me," apparently inspired by the film and written in 1994 when the disc was released, is a hypnotic and seductive track with select,very well-chosen lines from Rachael.

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.

113 of 130 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Suffering from the usual syndrome... December 18, 2007

By Zaroff

Format:Audio CD

...of Vangelis NOT releasing more often than not what is actually the soundtrack of the movie it's supposed to be.
Let's see here: we find, on CD 1, the exact same record we had in 1994 - but that was expected and announced, so why not. On CD 2, labelled "unreleased and bonus material from BR", there is, actually, very little music heard in the film itself, except from two cues that are well-know, namely "D & R duel", and "Tyrell's Death". That ends here. "Tyrell's Owl", for instance, is anything but the actual music as heard in the film at that moment. As for CD 3, it's nothing more than a hackneyed collection of muzak, with fashionable world music overtones and indistinct speech put in the mix, and absolutely doesn't justify the purchase of the set alone. I doubt I'll listen to it twice.

All in all, I'm super tired of Vangelis NOT releasing, and never will now as it appears, the TRUE, ORIGINAL motion picture soundtrack of Blade Runner. Whatever artistic endeavour there was behind this project, it still is NOT, far from it, the ultimate ressource for BR music, I'm sorry to say. It's different music for the most part, perhaps to some pleasant or good music, but not the BR soundtrack by a long margin.

One word of advice: Keep your Deck Arts bootlegs preciously... They are the most comprehensive collection of BR music that were ever made.

This record set isn't.