People who write these sort of blogs wonder about the movie Legend (1985) and why there exists two soundtracks, one by Tangerine Dream and one by Jerry Goldsmith. Curiosity has gotten the best of me and I've uncovered the truth with the help of Wikipedia. Turns out, on the release of the film there were two versions of the film: The first was a 94 minute version (cut down from close to two hours) with the Goldsmith soundtrack that was released in Europe that originally had an alternative ending.
In the US, we got the Tangerine Dream soundtrack in an 89 minute version (guess American attention span was about five minutes shorter in the '80s). Apparently "test audiences complained about Jerry Goldsmith's score and of how teenage audiences might accept the film." I'd have to admit that teenage me would have definitely preferred the Tangerine Dream because of its lush layers of romantic synths and epic scope. This soundtrack really came to reflect the fantasy genre, whereas Goldsmith really shines at jarring, rhythmic sci-fi and drama as in Planet of the Apes, The Omen, and Alien. Legend needed very strong soaring and dreamlike sequences that Tangerine Dream delivered in such pieces as "Unicorn Theme" and the music to Jon Anderson's vocal turn "Loved By the Sun."
The Goldsmith score was eventually used in the DVD release of Ridley Scott's director's cut (he really loves him some director's cuts, doesn't he?), so the original US soundtrack is harder to find. It's worth searching out for though, especially with a pretty good Bryan Ferry number "Is Your Love Strong Enough" featuring Pink Floyd's David Gimour on guitar.
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