The Music of Bladerunner

In my last post I discussed the visual history of Blade Runner I thought I would follow up with an exploration of one of the most loved film soundtracks.

The film had a checked history and the sound track was not spared controversy either. Delays in bringing out an official soundtrack brought on a spate of bootleg versions. Naturally having such a tech based fan base the bootlegs and variations continued after the official soundtrack release. Which was deemed to be unsatisfactory by many.

1982 - The first official release was a reinterpretation by the New American Orchestra. 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.

1989 - The Vangelis "Themes" Collection LP was released. This compilation featured compositions from a variety of Vangelis film scores, including three tracks from Blade Runner.

1994 - Vangelis released the Official Blade Runner Soundtrack for the first time. Vangelis' notes accompanying the album say:

"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 Athens, April 19941982 - Bootleg studio tape
1993 - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Blade Runner (Off World Music)
1994 - Gongo Records Bootleg (The Gongo release is considered the best presentation of the music)
2003 - Esper Edition double disc
2003 - Los Angeles - November 2019