Vangelis: Blade Runner (soundtrack) [WARNER]

Why you'll love it

Vangelis' Blade Runner score is one of the most influential pieces of electronic music ever made, nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Its smoky saxophone "Love Theme" and glowing synth washes defined what the future sounds like.

This edition

• Single LP, 12 tracks
• Warner pressing of the 1994 soundtrack album
• Includes "Main Titles", "Love Theme" and "Blade Runner Blues"

About the album

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner gave the world a rain-soaked, neon-lit vision of Los Angeles in 2019, and Vangelis gave it a sound. The Greek composer, fresh off his Oscar for Chariots of Fire, built the score live on his Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer, blending film-noir jazz, Middle Eastern textures and huge, melancholy washes of electronic sound into something that still feels like the future decades later.

Amazingly, the official soundtrack didn't arrive until 1994, twelve years after the film, after years of bootlegs and fan petitions. It was worth the wait: "Main Titles" swells like a sunrise over a dystopia, Dick Morrissey's sax makes the "Love Theme" one of the sexiest pieces of film music ever, and "Blade Runner Blues" and "Memories of Green" drift like smoke. Essential listening for synth fans and film nerds alike.

Also at Kops: more Vangelis on vinyl · browse Soundtracks

Tracklist

Listen

On Warner, a reissue of the 1994 soundtrack album.