Vangelis - Blade Runner

Due to legal footling, we had to wait for 12 years after the film for the original soundtrack for "Blade Runner" to be released. It was worth the wait, as Vangelis's music was an indispensable part of this movie, accompanying the rain-soaked metallic cityscapes with style. Vangelis's pulsating synth throbs and broad orchestral textures give just the right sense of space. The soundtrack album consists of atmospheric soundtrack instrumentals and the occasional voiceover from the movie, interspersed with the more well-known set pieces.

Out of these set-pieces, the "Love Theme" has just the right combination of eroticism and urban sleaziness. (In the middle section an electric piano plays a tune which is remarkably similar to the original theme from the Aussie soap "Neighbours" - so I find it hard to disassociate the words "everybody needs good neighbours" from this!) "Memories of Green" is a particularly haunting tune, with ultra-delicate fragments of piano emerging from a hazy ambient swirl. Demis Roussos adds some other-worldly vocal gymnastics to "Tales of the Future", while the toe-curlingly cheesy crooner "One More Kiss, Dear" sits curiously among these futuristic synth soundscapes. With a huge tune painted over a restless metallic sequence, the "End Titles" are a powerful conclusion.

May 2, 2004

8 out of 10

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