Various bootleg recordings containing more comprehensive versions of the score, as well as superior sound quality to the original 1994 release, have widely circulated.

He crafted the score on an ad-hoc basis by viewing videotapes of scenes from the film in the studio, and then improvising pieces in synchronisation with the images on the screen.

Other synthesisers employed by Vangelis included four Roland instruments: the ProMars, the Jupiter-4, the CR-5000 drum machine, and the VP-330 Vocoder Plus; a Sequential Circuits Prophet-10;[9] a Yamaha GS1 FM synthesizer; and an E-mu Emulator sampler.

He also utilised a variety of traditional instruments, including, gamelan, glockenspiel, gong, snare drum, timpani and tubular bells.

[23] AllMusic labeled the score as "bleak and electronically chilling as the film itself" and praised Vangelis for creating "haunting soundscapes with whispered subtexts and sweeping revelations".

[3] The accompanying booklet featured this explanation by Vangelis:[24] Most of the music contained in this album originates from recordings I made in London in 1982, whilst working on the score for the film Blade Runner.

Looking back at Ridley Scott's powerful and evocative pictures left me as stimulated as before, and made the recompiling of this music, today, an enjoyable experience.

Four of the tracks ("Main Titles", "Blush Response", "Wait For Me", "Tears in Rain") feature samples of dialogue from the film.

A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular, given the delay of an official release of the original recordings.

The first release of the Blade Runner score in any form was a tape suspected of coming from a sound engineer during the film's mixing.

This release includes the 1939 recording "If I Didn't Care" by R&B group The Ink Spots that originally appeared in the workprint of Blade Runner, but was replaced by the Don Percival cut "One More Kiss, Dear" in the final version.

No tracklist was provided, but the disc contained material found on earlier bootlegs, as well as music that had not appeared on any previous releases.

Other authors and iTunes, state the Gail Laughton piece is called "Pompeii 76 A.D." from his album Harps Of The Ancient Temples.

[4][35][36] In 2019, Pitchfork rated it as the best film score of all time out of 50, stating "it's shocking to consider that Blade Runner did not get nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, or any other major Oscars.

Equally bewildering is the fact that Vangelis won Best Original Score for 1981's conventionally pretty Chariots of Fire, but wasn't even honorably mentioned for his far richer contributions to Blade Runner".

The composers included a Yamaha CS-80 analog synthesizer among the instruments in an effort to maintain stylistic continuity with Vangelis's original 1982 film score.