Jaws: 50th Anniversary Special Edition (3CD) (John Williams)

Intrada announces the 50th-anniversary edition of one of the most iconic scores in film music history: John Williams' Jaws. Released in cooperation with Universal Studios and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), this release of the music for Steven Spielberg's blockbuster classic features restorations of both the film score and original album recording, each re-done from the ground up. While it might seem that such a famous score "needs no introduction," it actually does. The world in general could identify the shark theme from just two notes, largely unaware of the seafaring, adventurous and swashbuckling music Williams composed that goes well beyond the stalking, menacing music that portends the shark's presence. The score has its scary moments, but its thrilling, mysterious and sometimes even playful aspects also often come to the fore.

Back in 2015 when Intrada first released the complete score, Universal made a fresh transfer of the three-track masters at a standard resolution of 44k/24-bit. For this release, Universal created a new high-resolution transfer at 192k/24-bit that provided levels of detail previously unheard. The most striking improvement, however, comes from the MCA album program. Back in 2015 no one could locate the elements for the original soundtrack recording beyond the CD digital master made in 1992. In the intervening years, UMe located the 2-inch, 16-track multichannel master tapes for the album recording. They transferred these in high-resolution as well and they proved to be in excellent condition. GRAMMY-nominated soundtrack producer Mike Matessino cleaned up and fully remixed these transfers, allowing this classic recording to sound more alive than it ever has before—and that's not hyperbole. Even more remarkable was the discovery of never-before-heard material on master tapes that hadn't been played for half a century.

This new three-CD set, assembled in consultation with the composer and director, includes new masters from the high-resolution transfers and new multi-track sources, with the film score on CD 1, the MCA album program on CD 2, and all the exclusive anniversary extras on the third CD. Look out in particular for the revelatory new track "Theme From Jaws (Variation)" and a never-before-heard section in "Main Title and Beach Attacks."

In an extensive essay titled "The Jaws Music Log," presented in a 40-page booklet with special cover art designed by Stéphane Coëdel, Matessino provides the definitive historical account of the creation of this legendary film score masterpiece. A second booklet in the package offers track lists and credits.


- Intrada