Why Blade Runner (1994) is an album and NOT a soundtrack
Notice anything?
Take the likes of Antarctica (1983), 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) and Alexander (2004).
All of them have the legend 'Original Motion Picture Soundtrack' on the front cover, spine and disc.
But not Blade Runner (1994).
Perhaps, then, one of the reasons that this release did not officially see the light of day until 1994 was because, back in 1982 during the hectic post-production, Vangelis did not have the luxury of time to 'tinker' with the music and the producers wanted to rush out a simple soundtrack.
Vangelis refused.
Instead we got Musak for androids in the shape of the New American Orchestra release.
The movie was a commercial flop and, it would appear as a result of this, Vangelis saw no incentive to revisit the music (there are literally dozens of motion picture scores which Vangelis has never officially released, so for him then Blade Runner would have been no big deal: just another in a long line of unreleased soundtracks).
Vangelis has stated that he has no interest in simply 'packaging up' his entire motion picture scores directly from the movie and onto vinyl LP or CD. He strongly feels that a great deal of music used in movies (including his own) does not stand up on its own; that they are, in other words, simply musical 'cues' lasting only a minute or two which, whilst serving their purpose admirably within the context of the images up on a screen, do not hold up on their own. There is also the question of repetition, as major themes in a movie are reprised again and again.
Therefore, it has always been Vangelis's desire to only release the major themes of his picture scores, or at least those which he feels stand up on their own (his fans, of course, will argue this point, feeling as we do that all of it stands on its own!) But even here Vangelis will not simply lift a theme directly from a movie.
Music has to be edited to fit a scene. Sometimes it is cut short, sometimes it is stretched out, especially during closing credits (thus the reason the Blade Runner End Titles on the official '94 release is only 4:40 minutes long, as opposed to 7:14 on the various unofficial releases. If you listen to the longer version - and you don't even have to listen hard - you will notice that the final 3 minutes are just a simple reprise, rehashed over and over again as Vangelis fills in the time until the credits finish.)
Instead, Vangelis prefers to revisit and re-edit the music as he feels would be more fitting for an album.
This is an important distinction. Vangelis has recorded dozens of studio albums, not just soundtracks. It is clear then (especially is you compare the '92 official release of '1492' with the unofficial 2 disc 'Complete Score' released ten years later) that Vangelis likes his soundtrack releases to stand on their own as albums, and not simply as a package containing every single musical cue and original edit length as they appear in the movie.
It was this opportunity to re-edit and 're-imagine' the score of Blade Runner which was denied Vangelis back in 1982 due to time constrains during post-production, and the reason for his refusal to rush out a 'soundtrack' as opposed to an album (Vangelis would rather not release his music at all than release a 'sloppy' edition of it).
But the fact that it was released 12 years later is a testament to the movie and the music's durability.
For, consider, there are no other 'old' Vangelis soundtracks which have later been released, at least not officially.
Even then, though, Vangelis still seems to have felt that some of his themes for the movie were not strong enough to stand on their own. At least, this is the only reason I can think why he would include dialogue on some of the tracks, much to the annoyance of purists. Or perhaps the inclusion of dialogue was simply something he wanted to 'try out' as he'd never done it before with any of his other official soundtrack releases.
Blade Runner (1994) is just under 1 hour long because it is an album and not a soundtrack - a point Vangelis seemed determined to make clear by not including the legend 'Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'.