Vangelis - Blade Runner Trilogy, 25th Anniversary (320Kbps MP3)

Title: Vangelis - Blade Runner Trilogy, 25th Anniversary





The classic soundtrack gets filled out and polished up with extras on the side!





Twenty-five years ago, a film called Blade Runner was released in cinemas across the globe. While it wasnt a huge success at first, it turned into what the film industry now terms a -sleeper- hit, gradually building acclaim and cult status as the years passed.



Blade Runner was the movie that coined the marketing term -Directors Cut-, as well, and has been through five different iterations if you include the -Final- cut that has just been released for the twenty-fifth anniversary. A dark ambiguous tale of a near-future cyber-dystopia, based on a novel penned by one of the most influential science fiction writers of all time, Philip K. Dick, its a movie that has obviously retained a power to speak to audiences in a way that few films can lay claim to so long after their original creation.



The soundtrack is integral to the impact of any movie, and Blade Runner was no exception. Ridley Scott called in the services of Greek synthesiser supremo Vangelis, who created a dark and evocative audio backdrop that matched the cyberpunk-noir of the visuals perfectly, working in close collaboration with Scott and allegedly obsessing over minute detail.



That soundtrack never saw official commercial release until the first Director's Cut in 1994 Γ?? but there were numerous bootleg releases both before and after. The Blade Runner Trilogy release collects all the disparate parts that never made it onto official product before (despite being in the movie itself), along with a few off-cut extras, and a whole disc of new material composed by Vangelis in homage to the film.



The first disc Γ?? the original soundtrack release from 1994, polished up and digitally remastered Γ?? contains no surprises for those familiar with the film. What is surprising, however, is how well it has aged. Certainly, the palette of sounds Vangelis paints with is a trifle dated, but in its execution rather than its style. The shape and tone of the synthetic instruments is similar to the noises used today, and it's only the lack of detail and sonic thickness Γ?? the limitation of digital synths of the period Γ?? that betrays the era.



That said, the composition is very much of the age, and it shows through in the more dominant pieces Γ?? the -Love Theme- still reeks of old-school saxophone schmaltz, for example. While probably meant as a homage to the noir movies that inspired Blade Runner, a younger listener will probably not click to the reference, hearing instead a very unfashionable ham-up.



However, -Tales Of The Future- in keeping with its name, still sounds quite contemporary, a blending of electronica and ethnic prayer-call that is strangely relevant to our culturally mixed-up moment, a muezzin howl in a digital global village.



But with much of the soundtrack, you can easily forget youre listening to it at all unless you make a point of paying attention. Which is arguably part of the point of a good soundtrack - it shouldnt intrude, but embellish and bolster the atmosphere. Even divorced from its visual counterpart, theres something deeply alien and futuristic about it, even as it retains a very human and melodic core, perfectly mirroring the Blade Runner themes of humanities separation from itself (and from certainty) by the relentless march of technological progress.



The second disc adds to the collection the parts which werent released the first time, and arguably contains the more interesting material for students of modern musical history Γ?? more abstract and ambient, the influence of these sounds and themes on modern producers can be discerned lurking at the back of the soundscape, biding their time before emerging into the muddy fields and frigid warehouses of the nineties chill-out scene.



The third disc contains Vangelis new material, and this is the disc that will probably be of little interest to anyone but Vangelis fans and obsessive completist collectors. It is here we can see Vangelis as a man still at the cutting edge of his field Γ?? hes still a great composer and a consummate musician, but has moved on stylistically.



This may be purposeful on his part Γ?? it is a collection of pieces to celebrate the movies anniversary in 2007 after all. Plus it also includes voice-over parts from (among others) Ridley Scott himself, and the infamous director Roman Polanski.



This is a beautifully packaged collection piece, and it's good to have the entire soundtrack publicly available for the first time. This will make the science fiction movie geek in your life a very happy person indeed.



By: Paul Raven







Track Listing:



The 1994 Soundtrack Album (Digitally Remastered)



01. Main Titles

02. Blush Response

03. Wait For Me

04. Rachels Song

05. Love Theme

06. One More Kiss, Dear

07. Blade Runner Blues

08. Memories Of Green

09. Tales Of The Future

10. Damask Rose

11. Blade Runner (End Titles)

12. Tears In Rain



Previously Unreleased and Bonus Tracks



13. Longing

14. Unveiled Twinkling Space

15. Dr. Tyrells Owl

16. At Mr. Chews

17. Leos Room

18. ONE ALONE (Bonus Track)

19. Deckard And Roy's Duel

20. Dr. Tyrells Death

21. DESOLATION PATH (Bonus Track)

22. Empty Streets

23. Mechanical Dolls

24. Fading Away



Blade Runner 25: New music inspired by Blade Runner



25. Launch Approval - Scott Bolton, Bryce Bolton

26. Up And Running - Sir Ridley Scott

27. Mail From India - C. Lambrakis

28. BR Downtown - Oliver Stone, Akiko Ebi, Cherry Vanilla

29. Dimitris Bar - Akiko Ebi, Oliver Stone, Dimitris Tsakas

30. Sweet Solitude - Dimitris Tsakas

31. No Expectation Boulevard - Rutger Hauer, Wes Studi, Bhaskar Balakrishnan

32. Vadavarot - Irina Valentinova, Florencia Suayan Tacod

33. Perfume Exotico - Edward James Olmos

34. Spotkanie Z Matka - Roman Polanski

35. Piano In An Empty Room

36. Keep Asking - Bryce Bolton





I think 36 x 320Kbps MP3s is easier for the non-tekkies to download and enjoy straight away without having to decode .ape image files then rip to MP3 maybe just to add to the iPod collection anyway.



I have included the 3 CD Boxset artwork but if you are adding the mp3s to iTunes they should all be tagged correctly and have the album art embedded.



Comments appreciated.



Kind regards,



adw_uk



05.01.08