E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (album) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (album) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is an audiobook and soundtrack album for the 1982 blockbuster film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg. Narrated by American recording artist Michael Jackson and featuring music composed by John Williams, the album was produced by composer Quincy Jones and distributed by MCA Records. The production of the audiobook brought Jackson together with several former collaborators, such as Rod Temperton, Freddy DeMann, and Bruce Swedien. The "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" audiobook was released by MCA on November 7, 1982—the same month as Jackson's acclaimed sixth studio album "Thriller" despite conditions given by
Thriller (Michael Jackson album) 200 Albums of All Time". In a contemporaneous review for "Rolling Stone", Christopher Connelly called "Thriller" "a zesty LP" with a "harrowing, dark message". He compared the songs on the album with the life challenges that the 24-year-old Jackson had faced since "Off the Wall", while observing that he "dropped the boyish falsetto" and was facing his "challenges head-on" with "a feisty determination" and "a full, adult voice". John Rockwell wrote in "The New York Times" that perhaps Jackson was a "sometimes too practiced ... performer", that at times Quincy Jones may "depersonalize his individuality" with his "slightly anonymous production",