How else could we preface this? Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, John Williams' acclaimed score to Steven Spielberg's JAWS is being reissued for its 50th anniversary.

And this time, the bites are big. Williams' longtime archivist Mike Matessino has remixed the original film score for a new release now available digitally through Universal Pictures' Back Lot Music and on a new 180-gram, 45 RPM 2LP vinyl pressing from Mondo (available on marbled red and blue "blood and water" vinyl). These original tracks heard in the film remained unreleased until the early 2000s, but have never been heard with such clarity and precision. Mondo's luxe package, featuring new notes by Matessino, will be housed in a pop up "shark fin" jacket, housed in an O-card slipcase with a gold metallic 50th anniversary band and changeable inner sleeves, all designed by art director Alan Hynes.

But that's not all: UMe will reissue the Grammy-winning original soundtrack album, arranged, conducted and recorded by Williams between the original sessions and the film's groundbreaking 1975 release. First up is a new color pressing of the LP, now available on "blood in the water" blue/red splatter vinyl. On October 17, a "shark-infested" water-filled vinyl pressing will be released, featuring a new mix of the LP by Matessino. (A previous limited and numbered pressing earlier this summer sold out, leading to copies now available without the numbered packaging.) Both pressings will replicate the original LP packaging.

Finally, Intrada has a new 3CD set that features both the score and soundtrack in its most glorious presentation. (The label issued a previous mix of the score by Matessino in 2015.) These are the only places to hear on compact disc the new mix of the score, done from high-resolution 24-bit/192 kHz transfers of the original three-track stereo scoring masters, along with the album newly sourced for the first time from the recently-located original 2", 16-track masters. These new transfers revealed stunning unreleased takes from both recording sessions, including a unique arrangement of the film's iconic theme. Matessino explains it all in a 40-page booklet of liner notes with a specially-designed cover by Stéphane Coëdel; a second booklet offers the full credits of both sessions.

"What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine...an eating machine." That line of dialogue could just as easily describe Spielberg's film as its fearsome leviathan. Peter Benchley's novel about a great white shark wreaking havoc on a beach town was a massive bestseller in 1974, and Spielberg - only the director of one major theatrical film, that year's The Sugarland Express, and a host of TV work for Universal - was tapped to realize the cinematic version. JAWS was plagued by a mythic, cursed location shoot on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts - one that saw its animatronic shark frequently malfunction and both budgets and production schedules balloon to three times the expected amount. But Spielberg's brilliant camerawork, dazzling Oscar-winning editing by Verna Fields, and committed performances by leads Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss made JAWS more than a great film but a pop masterpiece like no other - one that audiences flocked to during the summer season, then not known for mass-appeal crowd pleasers. A new era of high-concept motion pictures was born with JAWS, the first film to gross more than $100 million - and Spielberg would only become more immortalized as a master filmmaker as time went on.

And he'd be the first to tell you that the work of John Williams - a favorite of the director's and a fast friend since working on Sugarland - played a major part of the film's success. The driving, Herrmann-esque shark theme, recognizable by its ostinato that primarily spanned two low notes on strings, took home one of the picture's three Academy Awards - and positive reactions by preview audiences, combined with a desire by Williams to further flesh out some of the themes for potential concert audiences, facilitated the recording of a separate soundtrack album whose lead cut became an unlikely Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Matessino's deft mixing and mastering ensures that both recordings will be heard with total fidelity, with additional audio treasures that even devoted fans who've owned a copy or two will want to check out.

With a whole full-court 50th anniversary campaign for JAWS ongoing - from a new National Geographic documentary to a 4K re-release on disc and a theatrical re-release this weekend - now is the perfect time to dive into this classic film score.

Order links to all titles are available below. Further info on all releases can be found at JAWS50music.com.

JAWS (Original Motion Picture Score - 50th Anniversary Edition) (Mondo, 2025)

Red/Blue vinyl: Mondo
Black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

LP 1

Side A

1. JAWS - Main Title
2. The First Victim
3. Remains on the Beach
4. The Empty Raft
5. The Pier Incident
6. Father and Son
7. The Alimentary Canal
8. Ben Gardner's Boat

Side B

1. Tourist Montage
2. Into the Estuary
3. Heading Out to Sea
4. Tug on the Line
5. Man Against Beast

LP 2

Side C

1. Quint's Tale
2. Brody Panics
3. Barrel Off Starboard
4. Great Chase
5. Shark Tows Orca
6. Three Barrels Under
7. From Bad to Worse

Side D

1. Quint Thinks It Over
2. Work Montage (The Shark Cage Fugue)
3. The Shark Approaches
4. The Shark Hits the Cage
5. Quint Meets His End
6. Blown to Bits
7. JAWS - End Title

JAWS (Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (originally released as MCA Records 2087, 1975 - reissued Geffen/UMe, 2025)

"Blood in the Water" blue/red splatter (1975 mix): uDiscover Music / The Sound of Vinyl
"Shark Infested" water-filled LP (2025 mix): uDiscover Music / The Sound of Vinyl

Side A

1. Main Title (Theme from JAWS)
2. Chrissie's Death
3. Promenade (Tourists on the Menu)
4. Out to Sea
5. The Indianapolis Story
6. Sea Attack Number One
7. One Barrel Chase

Side B

1. Preparing the Cage
2. Night Search
3. Underwater Siege
4. Hand to Hand Combat
5. End Title (Theme from JAWS)​

JAWS (Music from the Motion Picture - 50th Anniversary Special Edition) (Intrada INT 7186 , 2025)

CD 1: Remastered original motion picture score (same track list as Mondo LP above)

CD 2: Remixed original motion picture soundtrack (same track list as Geffen/UMe LP above)

CD 3: 50th anniversary extras (* previously unreleased)

1. Main Title and The Beach Attacks (Album Recording) *
2. Theme from JAWS (Variation - Album Recording) *
3. Chrissie's Death (Alternate - Album Recording) *
4. The Underwater Siege (Extended Version - Album Recording) *
5. Hand to Hand Combat (Extended Version - Album Recording) *
6. Original Rag
7. Winter Stories Waltz
8. Thousand and One Nights Waltz
9. In the Good Old Summer Time
10. JAWS - Main Title (Alternate)
11. The Typewriter
12. The Pier Incident (Alternate) *
13. Father and Son (Alternate) *
14. Into the Estuary (Alternate) *
15. Man Against Beast (Alternate)
16. Brody Panics (Alternate) *
17. Barrel Off Starboard (Alternate) *
18. Great Chase (Alternate)
19. Shark Tows Orca (Alternate)
20. Three Barrels Under (Alternate) *
21. The Shark Approaches (Alternate)
22. The Shark Hits the Cage (Alternate) *
23. Quint Meets His End (Alternate)
24. Wild Shark Theme

Portions of Disc 1 released as Decca 289 467 045-2, 2000
Disc 1 (with some altered track titles) and Disc 3, Tracks 6-11, 18-19 and 23-24 released on Intrada INT 7145, 2015