Blade Runner Original Soundtrack

BSX Records presents BLADE RUNNER: MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE SCORE, a re-release of our new recording of the classic score composed by Vangelis (CHARIOTS OF FIRE, THE BOUNTY, 1492, ALEXANDER), produced and performed by composer Edgar Rothermich. Previously released on Buysoundtrax.com as a 30th anniversary commemorative, our newest incarnation has been further re-mastered with new cover art.Released in 1982, the dystopian BLADE RUNNER was directed by Ridley Scott (THE DUELLISTS, ALIEN) and featured Harrison Ford in his second starring role after RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Celebrating its 30th Anniversary in 2012,BLADE RUNNER has become a cult film favorite the world over. Loosely based on a 1968 Philip K. Dick novel, Ford starred as Rick Deckard, a former police officer reluctantly assigned to terminate four replicants who have come to Earth to find their maker. The cast also included Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Daryll Hannah, Brion James, Joanna Cassidy, James Hong, William Sanderson, Joe Turkel and M. Emmett Walsh.Over the years, multiple edits of the film have been created for the home video,DVD and Blu-Ray markets. Similarly Vangelis’ score has been released in several different incarnations, but none of them are accurate representations of what was heard in the original 1982 film. “Largely because of a dispute between Vangelis and Scott over the director’s use of his music in the film, a proper soundtrack of the music as it is heard in the film has never been commercially issued (despite the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records given in the film's end titles),” described Randall D. Larson in the liner notes of the new recording.BSX Records seeks to correct this oversight, with a new recording faithfully recreating the original music from the film, which proved to be a difficult task. Vangelis’ score was composed entirely by performing on keyboards and recording it directly, so no written transcriptions exist. Composer Edgar Rothermich was charged with reverse engineering the score – listening to the original music and a 1982 album mock-up and transcribing it by ear. He also had to recreate the sound of 1982 synthesizers and decipher if noise heard was due to recording on tape or stylistic choices by the composer.“BLADE RUNNER is the most difficult kind of score to deconstruct,” said BSX producer Ford A. Thaxton. “Symphonic music can usually be determined because the instrumental palette is known. But the 1970s-era electronic technology and the improvisational style in which Vangelis created the score made it especially difficult. But we feel Edgar’s made a very close replication of what the score sounded like in the film. He’s true to the sound the original but he’s brought it into today’s world.”“The objective from the very beginning was to be as close as possible to the original score as heard in the film,” Rothermich said. “It was never a case of my interpreting the soundtrack. It was essentially a re-recording of the soundtrack music.”

If your a fan of film scores then you've probably run into a version or two of this soundtrack. I have the Warner Brothers release on CD that has 8 tracks and some movie dialogue. It was performed by The New American Orchestra and I was always disappointed that it wasn't really an original soundtrack. I was so excited to see this particular version, produced and performed by Edgar Rothermich, was being released. Wow...what a painstaking process this guy must of went through to recreate this score! The 12 page CD insert gives all the details and history of this amazing score and it's eventual rebirth in the hands of Rothermich. It's an incredible journey and I found it pretty fascinating to read.I can remember watching this movie for the first time as a teenager and being totally turned off by the Vangelis score and found it to be too distracting while watching the movie. I think it was because it was so different and I was just so use to a John Williams style score for science fiction movies. This was around the time that I was just getting into film scores and I didn't come to appreciate the Vangelis score until much later. I watched Blade Runner again (years later) and the soundtrack really stuck with me. I finally began to understand what the fuss was all about. It's a score that becomes so much a part of the movie that it just wouldn't be the same without it. Vangelis's unique and distinctive sound paints the picture of a future world that is both beautiful and sad. Dreamy yet dark. It's a score that is easily recognized and timeless.There have been many interpretations of this soundtrack but this by far has to be the most carefully recreated. Rothermich released a 30th anniversary edition of this CD a few years ago and this particular version has been re-mastered and packaged for all of us who missed the first version. The fifteen tracks contained on the disc run for a total of 71:13 and they are fantastic. Each one is placed and crafted with precision in an effort to finally give fans the Blade Runner soundtrack that they've been waiting years for. The CD sounds great and it contains a great historical insert and pictures of the artist involved and concept art from the film. This particular edition is limited so I'd pick it up before they disappear again. I recommend!

This collection is not perfect - but it is the closest thing to the original there is. I can tell where there are differences with the motion picture but I've just seen this movie too many times not to notice - even a single note can stand out. The song "one more kiss" is especially "bad" but I overlook it for the rest. Continue to hope for a general release of the ORIGINAL elements on Blu Ray Audio some day - ya right! Ha!

Good remake of original Vangelis compositions.Where the album falters is on cuts number 8 and 9 where the vocals are an important part of the piece.Clearly the voices of the singers are not the original recordings and it becomes painfully obvious. But don't judge this album too harshly.The instrumental parts are top notch.

This is a 'conceptual' album created by a musician of how he thinks Vangelis would have made a soundtrack for the movie had he done so. Tries to be close to the movie, playing music both recognizable for other releases (including Vangelis') as well as music for scenes from the movie. Claims to improve based on technology not available when Vangelis scored the film. You be the judge, but it does not sound just like the movie, it sounds like someone else TRYING to sound like the film. Most people would bypass purchasing this cd. PLEASE NOTE: This cd is nearly IDENTICAL to Blade Runner: A 30th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION -.. by same artist.

Amazing soundtrack, love it. I had always been quite taken with the music to this film and now I own it I am happier than ever. Beautifully put together and re-mastered.

Love the music form this movie. it was time for a new CD ...A+ Fast Shipping

Brand new and arrived early

Given the infamously disappointing so-called 'Original Soundtracks' for Blade Runner, which have contained very little of the music from the actual film, it was only a matter of time before someone had a go at recreating the music from the iconic sci-fi masterpiece. Certainly no mean feat.Enter Edgar Rothermich and the enterprising BSX Records to attempt to set the record straight. And all credit to them: they have made a valiant effort at recreating Vangelis' 1982 masterpiece. Not always successful at replicating the exact sounds featured in the original score the whole thing is close enough to at least be an enjoyable listening experience for fans of Blade Runner's music. Way more successful than the New American Orchestra's version from 1982, or indeed, and somewhat surprisingly, Vangelis' own soundtrack releases from 1994 and 2007 respectively (though neither of those albums deserves much in the way of respect given they feature little of the music from the film) Rothermich's new recording represents the best version of the Blade Runner score yet released.While this is by no means the complete score from Blade Runner this recording still features more of the film's music than any previous 'official' release. It even includes a faithful cover version of the much sought after "Main Titles/Prologue" - a track entirely missing from any of the previously released versions of the score (aside from the bootlegs).Well done Mr. Rothermich. "You've done a man's job, sir."A worthy Replicant indeed.Highly recommended.

Being a big fan of this soundtrack and knowing the history of it (i.e. Vangelis isn't going to release a definitive version anytime soon) Idecided I would give this a try - I originally bought the 30th Anniversary release (this is a re-issue of that). This version is basicallyan attempt to deconstruct and replicate (hehe) the Vangelis score as close as possible, by a chap called Edgar Rothermich, using littlemore than his ear, having no access to any musical notes of Vangelis's (of which there was scant few anyway as Vangelis usually composeddirectly into his instruments apparently). The quality of the recording in terms of instrumentation was never going to be an issue,considering it was done today with modern techniques, it was always going to be how it held up to the recording of the original, andgenerally, I'd have to say very well - there were times when I was listening to parts of it and I thought it sounded like a crystal clearversion of the original; the main titles would be a good example of this. But there are some points to make. Firstly, the two tracks with"vocals" - "Tales of the Future" and "One More Kiss Dear" have been sung by new vocalists - in the case of Demis Roussos (TOTF), he hasbeen replaced by a female vocalist called Fella Dudane, whilst Don Percival (OMKD) by Tom Schmid. "Tales Of The Future" doesn't come out toobad in my opinion, but I was never a huge fan of that track anyway, and trying to follow in the steps of someone like Roussos was no easytask. My interest however was much more for "One More Kiss Dear" - I'm a big fan of this track (even though some say it should never have beenon the soundtrack in the first place), and hearing it sung by Schmid, I was taken aback by the power of the vocal - his voice is differentto Percival, and the whole song is for me charged in a way the original wasn't - and I actually found myself warming to it a great deal, andI really like the performance.There are areas where the soundtrack doesn't quite make it for me compared to the original, still, I was going to give this 4 stars, but I'mgoing to knock off a star for what happens in "Tears In Rain" - one of the most beautiful pieces on the original score accompanying Battyas he finally shuts down. This version starts ok, but at 0:33-0:37 (and you'll have to forgive my musical terminology here as I'm not amusician), as the piano/keyboard goes up notes, the background synthesiser seems to go wrong and jump to the next level; the originalblends seamlessly from one moment to the next. It was enough for me as I was listening to it to stop what I was doing and go "WTF?". Sothat bit disappointed me no end, don't know why its like that; maybe its like that on the unreleased 1982 soundtrack mock-up that Rothermich had access to when doing this project, but I was well used to the version on the other soundtracks, and to me it sounds weird. Other people may not beso critical, but I say each to his own!. Still, I am glad I bought it for the bits that are good, and for the Schmid vocals on OMKD. Comeswith a nice little booklet about the recording too. :)

Well i'm sort of in the middle. I agree with all the other reviews, good and bad. BSX records have released a new version of The Thing actually by Alan Howarth and it is OUTSTANDING and i would say better than the original release so i thought this would be up to the same standard. Sometimes it is (almost better) and sometimes it not. The thing that bugs me that no one has mentioned is that the whole thing is too fast. It's like he had to get home early. Why is Main Titles, Love Theme and Tears in Rain at a high tempo. It ruins them to a point especially Tears in Rain. Someone mentioned the synths are all wrong but i can't say i really noticed, i was to busy being annoyed at how fast it was being played. Vocal tracks - i actually think Tales of the Future is fantastic but One More Kiss is awful. Never liked it in the middle of the soundtrack. I have deleted it from my mp3. PUT IT ON THE END!! Also End Titles suddenly decides to not have any beats a third of the way through and doesn't even come close to Vangelis. All in all i would give it a listen if you like the soundtrack anyway. Good to hear how well some of it sounds spot on. Nowhere to the standard of The Thing release but pretty good if you skip OMKD. Don't know how Vangelis was ok wuth all this (money i would imagine) but of he just released EVERYTHING he had it would sell millions. Puzzlement on both sides.....

I have watched and listened to Blade Runner countless times since 1982 and, like most fans, have always longed for an official soundtrack release that includes all the cues in the movie. IMO this is a great satisfying version...if you know the music it must have been really difficult to match Vangelis' haunting music but this does a sterling job.

This is the 4th version of this soundtrack I've bought now. All excellent in their own way. If you're a fan, you know what to do