Midnight Express Soundtrack Review

  Today I thought I would review one of my absolute favorite Academy Award winning score soundtracks, Midnight Express. The movie adaptation of Billy Hayes book, Midnight Express was scored by Giorgio Moroder, who is a synthesizer pioneer who helped power the disco era and the Hi-Enrg era of music. He scored Midnight Express and won an Oscar for it, which he deserved it.
   Now onto the soundtrack review. The score tracks that appear on this soundtrack are out of chronological order, meaning that they don't go from scene to scene as most score soundtracks usually do. The first track on the CD is Chase. Now Chase is probably the track that stands out the most and is the one that most people are familiar with. Chase is the song that plays in the film when Billy Hayes is trying to outrun the Turkish authorities in Istanbul. Now Chase goes on for 8:29. It is the longest song on the soundtrack. In addition, this version is rearranged so the version in the movie sounds a lot different and is way darker. While I'm on the subject here, the whole soundtrack is rearranged versions of the

score used in the movie. While it's not a bad thing, it sure does make the score a lot less depressing and twisted.
  The second track, Love's Theme is from the scene where there is prison sex. I don't need to go any further with that. Love's Theme is the second longest piece of score on the CD running at 5:38. The next track is my second favorite track, Theme From Midnight Express Instrumental. This track plays throughout the film in scenes such as the one where Billy Hayes is being taken to be interrogated after he was caught at the airport smuggling Hashish. The instrumental version runs at 4:43. Now there is an alternate version of this track with vocals from Chris Bennett which is the last track on the soundtrack and runs a few seconds longer than the instrumental. The Version with Chris Bennett was not featured in the film at all.
  Next up is Istanbul Blues. This song was not composed or written by Giorgio Moroder, but by David Castle and Oliver Stone. This track is played during a montage in the film. It's a cool track that fits the movie.  The following track is The Wheel which is played in the mental ward scene when the prisoners are all walking around in what is called the Wheel of Istanbul. 
  The sixth track is Istanbul Opening which is the opening score track in the film which was much darker and tense than the rearranged version of the soundtrack CD. Not much explanation is needed here. Track seven is Cacophoney which I believe is played during the scene where the Warden tries to rape Billy Hays and in the mental ward. It's a very confusing track but it's good. It paved the way for techno musicians.
  Finally there is the Vocal version of the the third track which I stated above. Overall I love this soundtrack. It's one of those that is an essential to an Academy Award winning soundtrack collection and it is one of those that is different from the rest. That is why I believe it won the Oscar for best score in 1978.