Citizen Kane my ass! Blade Runner is the best movie ever produced in the history of the medium! It renewed film noir and science fiction and stands as an unsurpassed landmark in both genres. And its influence stretches beyond film to other visual arts, design, advertising and literature: the Cyberpunk movement was SF's reaction to the unprecedented mix of high tech and low life, the twin reality of the gleaming Tyrell Corporation towers and crumbling Los Angeles ghettos. And although it didn't stick very close to Philip K. Dick's original story, its version of the future shared the writer's pessimism: No leisurely living thanks to the machines, at least not for everyone: While the rich enjoy the fruits of android slave labor, the bulk of humanity scrapes a living under the domination of huge corporations and police oppression. Murderous as these replicas are, you can't help but sympathize with them in their quest for...meaning? freedom? revenge? I suppose it's different things for each one. The film's music was no less revolutionary in its mix of jazz noir, electronic and symphonic music. Composer Vangelis Papathanasiou (known outside his native Greece just by his first name) was a veteran of the Greek pop scene, starting with his invention of the popular Yanka dance craze in the early 60's. He shot to international fame after his collaboration with Demis Roussos in the prog-pop Aphrodite's Child and had since become a pioneer of proto-electronic music. His music for the film "Chariots Of Fire" had already won him an Oscar and he deserved another one for "Blade Runner", but fell victim to the Academy's contempt for Science Fiction. Sounds improbable that an iconic film like Blade Runner would go on to win 0 (zero) Academy Awards, but there you have it. Despite the obvious appeal of the film's music, there was no official soundtrack release until 1994 - which is how this album comes to the picture. Entitled "Blade Runner - Orchestral Adaptation Of Music Composed For The Motion Picture Soundtrack", it's a recreation of some of Vangelis' original music from the film. For many years it served as O.S.T. for us fans and I must admit that, although I clearly heard that it wasn't exactly the same to the film, I hadn't realized it was a completely different recording until very recently (that is, until I pulled it out for a review). Which doesn't render it useless at all. It still displays that revolutionary mix of jazz and electronic music and it still conjures up scenes from the movie - which is a secondary but important function of film soundtracks. The opening "Love Theme" is an orchestral piece with late-night sax, romantic but thankfully not as corny as would be expected by its title. "Main Title" is another mellow tune featuring an orchestra, synthesizers and subtle acoustic elements like small bells. The next song entitled "One More Kiss, Dear" is the album's only vocal track and sounds like a 30's jazz tune, only it's not an original one. It was composed by Vangelis for the film but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference just by listening to it. "Memories Of Green" is an older Vangelis piece included in his "See You Later" album, a delicate piano tune with an orchestral backdrop. "End Title" and "End Title (Reprise)" are big electronic synthesizer music. Pretty much of their time, yet classic all the same. "Blade Runner Blues" is a melancholic jazz piece with a lonely sax playing over atmospheric synths and "Farewell" is another mellow orchestral/electronic mix, with a slightly oriental flavor. It may not be the best track in the album, but it always moves me because in the film it accompanies android Roy Batty's unforgettable farewell speech: "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die"
***** for Memories Of Green, End Title
**** for Love Theme, Main Title, One More Kiss Dear, Blade Runner Blues, End Title (Reprise)
*** for Farewell
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