VANGELIS – BLADE
RUNNER (EAST WEST)
For many years this
soundtrack was unavailable. There was a
version sat in racks but it was a cheap knock off, a chancer reinterpreting the
realms of Vangelis. Then finally after a
dispute lasting several years Vangelis relented and in 1994 the correct version
of the record came out. Mum bought me
this CD for Christmas that year. I’m not
convinced that she realised the consequence of the work and to be honest I
don’t know why I even requested it. Most
likely I was going through my latest Blade Runner appreciation period enjoying
the frosty demeanour of Harrison Ford which I probably still had not yet
realised came from being a replicant. Until this point the soundtrack had been an
orchestral adaptation performed by Jack Elliott
and the New American Orchestra back in 1982 at the time of the film’s release
but now we had the goods.
Blade Runner is a
graceful movie. Even now it looks
current, modern and conceivable. The
grime makes it genuine, the urban decay is tangible. It was the first cyberpunk movie and easily
the best science fiction to realistically represent life in the future as being
grubby and exhausting. The tone is
future noir so with it needed to be the appropriate degree of sophistication
and intrigue, something subtle to stop the heart. Enter Vangelis from Greece
Vangelis is a world
famous composer. He has always been
known for his use of synthesizer and manipulating ambient structures into
emotive ones often using a subtle build of bombast. Coming into this project was off the back of
winning an Oscar for his work on the Chariots Of Fire score and working closing
with director Ridley Scott the requirement/intention here was to capture the
isolation and melancholy of the main character Deckard.
Not all of the score
has aged/worn as well as the film. It
remains an often claustrophobic and amazingly ambient work but the occasional
bum note and testing tangent is experienced and evident. The overwrought eights saxophone blasts,
especially on tracks such as “Love Theme”, hurt the work and its
intention. The composition and key play
at times now sound retro but there is no questioning the atmospherics that
retain the feel of something royally modern.
It renewed execution
this soundtrack features a number of scene samples with add a new texture and
tone to tracks. From the off this is
evident as during the “Main Titles” Ford/Deckard deals seriously with
technology in forceful fashion and deep noir style before the expansive sounds
of Vangelis’ synthesizers drop in and carry the work away, whisking things with
wonder. This is the sound of the inner
workings of intelligence.
The general tone of
the orchestrations is of a dry ambience that comes in waves. Often twinkles cascade into driven
electronics as sparks of external gestures glisten, sparks such as Rachel’s
queries during “Wait For Me” and the ethereal female vocals coupled with the
drip piano of “Rachel’s Song” constructing very modern blues. The latter method is again used very
effectively in “Memories Of Green” as an almost jazz score stirs a shared
sensation.
At times I am reminded
of Angelo Badalamenti as a seemingly stationary vibe and smart drone subtly
churns into proceedings holding menace and often a sense of surprise.
Light relief arrives
in “One More Kiss, Dear” and a crackly track sung by Don Percival being run
through a gramophone. In a most digital
world, it takes something analogue to conflict emotions. Vocals are later used again as Demis Roussos appears on the track “Tales
Of The Future” which disorientates in a manner that reminds me of Nusrat Ali
Khan efforts on the Natural
Born Killers soundtrack. Unfortunately
it sticks around too long to maintain credibility.
Ultimately this is a
resoundingly downbeat score but then what else would you expect from noir? When the “End Titles” drop the stark exit is
almost industrial in orchestration as a sense of going on the run is
captured. Then in contrast “Tears In
Rain” concludes the album with delicates drops accompanying the Roy Batty/Rutger Hauer shutdown/expiration speech,
recollections so vivid and fascinating there can be no doubting the humanity of
these machines. It happens to us all. Outside it just started to rain.
This was
groundbreaking music, a score which much like the movie it came from felt cold,
mercenary and mechanical. Time to
retire, there is no afterlife.
Thesaurus moment:
inclemency.
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