John Williams, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Joseph Mascolo, Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox Paxton, Ann Dusenberry, Mark Gruner, Barry Coe, Susan French - Jaws 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Band: John Williams, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Joseph Mascolo, Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox Paxton, Ann Dusenberry, Mark Gruner, Barry Coe, Susan French Title: Jaws 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Rating: Release Date: 08 October, 1991 Media: Audio CD
Tracks: 1: Finding the "Orca" (Main Title) 2: Menu 3: Ballet for Divers 4: Water Kite Sequence 5: Brody Misunderstood 6: Catamaran Race 7: Toward Cable Junction 8: Attack on the Helicopter 9: Open Sea 10: Fire Aboard and Eddie's Death 11: Sean's Rescue 12: Attack on the Water Skier 13: Big Jolt! 14: End Title, End Cast
Customer Reviews JUST ONE OF JOHN WILLIAMS'S BEST IVE ONLY JUST MANAGED TO PICK UP AN ORIGINAL COPY ON EBAY AND IT WAS IN MINT CONDITION. JAWS 2 SOUNDTRACK IS SUCH A REMAKABLE SCORE THE MUSIC ON THIS SOUNDTRACK IS FAR MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST. IVE BEEN SERCHING MONTHS AND MONTHS FOR THIS CD AND NOW I HAVE IT. FOR THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THIS CD YOU WILL KNOW HOW GOOD IT IS SUCH AS TRACKS LIKE FINDING THE ORCA,THE OPEN SEA AND NOT TO MENTION FIRE ABOARD AND EDDIES DEATH. LONG LONG OUT OF PRINT AND ONLY RELESAED FOR A LIMITED TIME THIS SOUNDTRACK IS A MUST FOR ANY JAWS FANS OUT THERE. SO IF UR LOOKIN KEEP TRYING ONE WILL POP UP SOONER OR LATER BUT PLEASE BE PREPAIRED TO PAY A LOT OF MONEY FOT IT A SITS VERY RARE AND COLLECTABLE.
Superior to 'Jaws' Whereas the first film's score was somewhat limited & moody, this one involves more action music, not unlike 'Superman' (released the same year) and 'Star Wars' (the year before). This very hard-to-find soundtrack is a gem! Far superior to the original 'Jaws' soundtrack in almost every way, it builds on the original 2-tone theme that signalled trouble - the arrival of the shark. Williams seems to have a formula he followed closely for the film scores he wrote between '77 and '89, and this one was no exception. Even as a predominantly action score, he manages to weave creepy, suspenseful elements into it in tracks such as 'Attack on the Water Skier', 'Fire Aboard & Eddie's Death', and 'Finding the Orca', which hinted a little at Quint's theme from the first one. I was lucky enough to find this CD about 5 years ago, and for the sake of movie score lovers, I hope Varese Sarabande will re-release it!.
Jaws has a Close Encounter with Superman and Indiana Jones... From Jaws to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, you ABSOLUTELY could not find a film composer with a greater talent for motifs than good ol' Johnny Williams. I have always felt that the great John Williams was on a roll from 1975 through 1984. Jaws 2's soundtrack is right smack in the middle of this awesome run of heavily-thematic scores, and is a fine example of Williams' talent.
What is most interesting to me regarding "Jaws 2" is that the score, unlike the film, surpasses the original score, much like "The Empire Strikes Back" surpassed "Star Wars. " When listening, you get the feeling that he was genuinely enjoying himself. Once that surprise settles in, you'll begin to catch tidbits of phrases that had just appeared in Close Encounters, and the brassy bits hint at what is to come with the Indiana Jones scores. It's all here; a sort of cross-section of Williams' prime era canon. The "Menu" theme occasionally sounds like Lex Luthor's Theme from the then-upcoming Superman film, and, strangest of all, for all of you diehard Williams fans (and I am one),the Main Theme from Jaws 2 sounds VERY much like Christian Bale's character's theme from "Empire of the Sun," which was released in 1987! Take a moment, think about it, it will click!
The one tragic thing about this score is that, for most fans, it is unaccessible. Having a limited release, if you weren't among the few who knew of its existence, then you were stuck in that unfortunate boat, the same one in which many listeners who search for Williams' "Dracula" score find themselves in: you're just floating out there, with a bunch of greedy, slimy collector scum who picked all of the copies up and are now charging RIDICULOUS prices for the cd. They circle the boat, with their little dorsal fins out, waiting for you to bite the bullet and give in to their outrageous demands. To illustrate this, I actually had to pick up an old LP version on Ebay in order to finally hear this nice score. I only spent three bucks.
What would be excellent is if a two-disc set could be released, disc one being Jaws, and disc two being Jaws 2. Unfortunately, since this film didn't have Spielberg's name plastered on it, it's always been the red-headed stepchild, and the soundtrack has been cajoled along with it. The score does not deserve to be forgotten; I tell you, Williams is in his prime here, on this soundtrack.
Good luck to all of you out there, in finding a copy for a decent price. I got lucky, with a bit of a compromise. But at least I got to enjoy the great music.
John Williams, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Joseph Mascolo, Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox Paxton, Ann Dusenberry, Mark Gruner, Barry Coe, Susan French menu:
