JOHN WILLIAMS - Jaws: Original Motion Picture Score LP

Label: Mondo

Two notes. That's all it took to scare millions of people out of the water, and out of their skins. There is no question that Williams' insidious theme is the most indispensable element of "Jaws," and it's telling that even amongst its trio of sequels—1978's "Jaws 2," 1983's "Jaws 3-D," and 1987's "Jaws: The Revenge"—the theme remains front and centre despite all of the mechanical sharks functioning better than they ever did for Spielberg.

But what seems to garner little attention is the score as a whole, particularly the way it builds around the shark theme, allowing it to remain the focus while supporting the film in emotional and visceral senses.

While not as laser-focused on leitmotif as his "Star Wars" score would be two years later, Williams nevertheless included several other themes to supplement the main theme and convey a sense of adventure for when Brody (Roy Scheider), Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and Quint (Robert Shaw) set out to hunt the beast in the fishing boat Orca.