Review: 'E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial' 40th Anniversary Soundtrack

His scores for Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark may have yielded more instantly recognizable themes, but John Williams composed some of his loveliest melodies and most varied arrangements when scoring E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The stirring theme used to euphoric effect when Elliott and his alien companion take flight on a bike, is the most famous and Williamsy number, but the eerie, unresolved main theme, the sparse harp arpeggios that color Elliott's budding friendship with E.T., and the rippling piano piece that introduces the closing credits may be the composer's most enchantingly pretty and atypically reserved music. Despite its reputation for being saccharine, E.T. is actually fairly dark and surprisingly poetic, and Williams reflects those tones with the foreboding piece that accompanies the extraterrestrials' late-night botany hunt in the woods, the eerie drones heard inside their spacecraft, and an ominous theme that shudders as a team of mysterious scientists invade Elliott's home.

Not all of the film's magical music was included on the original soundtrack MCA released in 1982, but a more complete soundtrack album came out for the film's 35th Anniversary. Mondo Records had planned a colored vinyl reissue with all new artwork for the film's fortieth, but "quality control issues" were responsible for a pretty long delay. 

So now, some nine months beyond the original release date, the vinyl is finally being shipped. Overall, the vinyl is actually pretty nice: perfectly flat with a well-centered spindle hole and no unpleasant distortions. The mastering is fine without overbearing highs or lows. There's no crackle whatsoever, though there are persistent clicks on Side A, so I guess Mondo didn't get those quality control issues ironed out completely. The clicking is less persistent on Side C, and I noticed none on Sides B and D. 

The vinyl, a sort of glowing white and blue burst as depicted on Mondo's website, is more textured, reminiscent of the moon's cratered surface, in reality. I actually think the final product has more personality than the vinyl pictured on the label's site, though I can understand a customer getting irked when they see they didn't exactly get what they thought they'd paid for.

Dan McCarthy's new cover and gatefold artwork are striking and Mike Duquette's liner notes are very well-written, but the best part of this reissue is that it affords the chance to hear twice as much music as was included on the original release.