Close Encounters of the Third Kind (The Collector's Edition Soundtrack)

John Williams' score for Steven Spielberg's 1977 fx-pioneering meditation on extraterrestrial visitation too often gets musically lumped in with the composer's blockbuster scores that historically bookend it, Star Wars and Superman. In fact, Williams' inventive, impressionistic work here is among the most unique and emotionally challenging of his long and storied career. Williams stirs together a symphonic melange that draws on such disparate 20th century influences as Debussy, Schoenberg and even Disney's Pinocchio, segueing from quasi-serialism to stately romanticism with remarkable grace. Williams' turns the film's payoff musical gambit — a five-note motif the aliens use to communicate — into a playful, experimental musical romp that recalls the loopier moments of Brian Wilson's original Smile sessions.