JEFF WAYNE / WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005 REMIX)

 

 

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It was 1978 when I first listened to Jeff Wayne's concept album `The War of the Worlds', I thought it was great, and I had to get a copy-well on tape anyway, it was so different than anything I've ever heard of on radio before, and also I was into science fiction (I still am) which helped me appreciate the music; it was the best thing I ever owned, and later on in life I got the 2 record set-I think I still got it somewhere-I think? Well, I better check my small record collection just to be sure.

Now of course, years later, I purchased the `The War of the Worlds' "Limited Millennium Edition" on CD in 1999, I don't know how different it is to other CD versions, but this copy is like a miniature version of the vinyl record. But for now let's read on...

When it comes to classic science fiction there is one story (arguably) that comes to mind, which is a cut above the rest; no other story has come close to achieving success in its field than `The War of the Worlds' by H. G. Wells. (There is of course, `Journey to the Centre of the Earth' and `20.000 Leagues under the Sea' by Jules Verne which also comes to mind, but perhaps not as successful) H. G. Wells creation of Martians invading the earth has crossed all genres, (almost) firstly as a novel, then as the infamous radio play by Orson Welles in 1938, next, by the 1952 film (so superior than the Steven Spielberg remake-what a dud), and in 1978 Jeff Wayne himself committed the story in his own musical version to vinyl, followed by his musical stage version in 2006. `The War of the Worlds' was even done as a Video and Computer game and as far as I know an animated version is on the cards. The only form left of course would be to make `The War of the Worlds' into an Opera. (Now that would be interesting-I can just see Katherine Jenkins singing as Beth)

So the question remains why has `The War of the Worlds' been so popular? Why has it had success after success, in various forms of media? I can't really answer this accept that possibly it is because of man's fascination with space, intelligent life other than our own, or perhaps with planet Mars itself. Maybe that's it, we are a curious species, and our imaginations tend to (especially in the 19th century) go wild, even today the planet Mars still holds its secrets, and we are still searching for any form of life that existed there-no matter how small-we are obsessed. Life on other planets is a curious thing, are we alone or not?

To this end H.G. Wells created a myth-a legend-a holy grail for future scientists and astronauts to follow-to go to Mars to seek the answer. Little did he know what he let out of the Pandora's Box in the search for his own imagination to bring his ideas to light. `The War of the Worlds' has made its mark on the human psyche, it is embedded-we cannot escape the impression within our soul, we are forever caught in its mythical grasp.

And that grasp took a hold once again, and the recipient was none other than Jeff Wayne himself, and Jeff himself said in interviews, "it was the first story I read that excited me as a musician". So with that in mind Jeff decided to get the ball rolling as it were to develop `The War of the Worlds' in his own making that suited his talents as a composer. With financial backing from CBS, Jeff decided to get various artists to do the artwork for `The War of the Worlds' to bring his creation to life on a visual level, like Mike Trim who did the front cover of the album and Geoff Taylor and Peter Goodfellow who were responsible for the booklet illustrations.

As for the script, Jeff turned to Doreen, his father's second wife, an established writer in her own right; and with her, Jeff and his father began to develop ideas and areas that would ultimately become part of the album. As for the role of the narrator/Journalist of `The War of the Worlds', fate stepped in, upon receiving the script and cover letter from Jeff Wayne while in New York doing a play, Richard Burton read the script for `The War of the Worlds' and contacted Jeff Wayne two days later and signed on to do the part. Burton told Wayne "it was meant to be". Richard Burton was of course a natural, his resonate, sophisticated, deep educated voice, lent depth and power to the Journalist role, when you hear `The War of the Worlds' you really felt you were there with Richard in his journey within the story; all was set and after various engagements later, Richard Burton was free to record his part which took only one day to do, and as the actor was a perfectionist, poured his heart and soul as it were into the work, to ensure it was a first rate recording.

With Richard Burton on board Jeff Wayne hired the rest of his team to collaborate and help him complete the `The War of the Worlds' as the project progressed and chose:

Julie Covington (Beth, Parson Nathaniel's wife)
David Essex: (The Artilleryman)
Justin Hayward (vocals-singing the thoughts of the Journalist in "Forever Autumn")
Philip Lynott (Parson Nathaniel)
Gary Osborne (Lyricist and backing vocals)
Jo Partridge (The Hest Ray)
Chris Thompson (vocals-the voice of humanity in "Thunder Child")
Paul Vigrass (singer/songwriter and backing vocals)
Jerry Wayne (spoken words in "Epilogue, Part 2")

Finally the album was completed and launched in July 1978; it was a great success staying in the charts for 290 weeks in the United Kingdom Album Charts and selling well over 13 million copies, `The War of the Worlds' also was a top 10 hit in 22 countries and reached number 1 in 11 countries internationally (including Australia); the album included 2 worldwide hits singles, "The Eve of War" and "Forever Autumn", which was a top 5 in the UK, both sung by Justin Hayward from the Moody Blues (one of my favourite bands). `The War of the Worlds' also won 2 Ivor Novello Awards including "The Best Recording in Science Fiction and Fantasy'.

The double album of `The War of the Worlds' in the beginning was hard to describe, even the media at that time didn't know how to classify it, as the media liked to put all records into some form of classification to help them decide what genre it should be under and to help them understand the work (how immature). Jeff Wayne while researching `The War of the Worlds' dissected as it were the best bits from the H. G. Wells novel to bring the Martian invasion to life. My personal feeling is that perhaps Jeff could even now extend `The War of the Worlds' as a trilogy. But at the time even a double album was ambitious and expensive considering the final cost was around £240.000. As stated above the musicians who contributed to the album were first rate, all of them are legends in the music industry, Justin Hayward from the Moody Blues, David Essex and the late Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy just to rename three.

The best way I feel to get the full impact of `The War of the Worlds' is to listen to the recording at night when you have an evening free, and make sure there is a full moon in the sky in which you can sit back and view it through a large window or if you prefer go outside to experience the full pleasure of what you are about to perceive in atmospheric sound and effects that will transport you back to the 19th century, as your mind conjures up images and imagination of an alien invasion and how mere earthlings handle something that is beyond their primitive minds to understand.

Jeff Wayne's adaptation of the novel is a triumph, and the musical version of `The War of the Worlds' has become a classic that even today can not be surpassed-it is timeless and quite unique as a concept album. (It is the 2001: A Space Odyssey of the music world-an interesting comparison)

`The War of the Worlds' is a must to have in your collection, and read the novel as well, perhaps do that first to get you in the frame of mind so you can understand H.G. Wells better and his vision of the Martian invasion that has yet to come.

Special thanks to Wikipedia for additional information for compiling this review.

Until next time-Ulla.

Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds is one of those albums whose legend far surpasses it's content. This album is well known and well recieved within prog rock circles, but not well known outside of them. I remember being very taken by it upon first listen as a young man (the artwork accompanying the album is priceless). It was quite the novelty hearing a rock opera with Sir Richard Burton narrating. But beyond the novelty, there isn't much substance.

In 1978 this album had what seemed to be a stellar cast. But in hind-sight, most of these performers had passed through the apex of their popularity and rellevance. Most all the muscial performers had spoken dialog as well as singing parts, except Heyward, who does most of the vocals. And of course there is Richard Burton, whose classically trained, stacatto voice is perfect for this style of recording. His performance carries the show, which doesn't say much for a rock album. Most of the dialog using Lynott, Essex and Covington ranges from banal to over-rought (Lynott's 'parson' is played way over the top and is somewhat embarrising given how big a Thin Lizzy fan I am).

That is not to say that there isn't some fine moments here and there. Heyward's Forever Autumn and Thunder Child are the only two songs that really stand out musically speaking. Forever Autumn is a wistful lament expressing seperation and loss, and while not directly related to the story, it does serve the plot well. Thunder Child is a minor masterpiece, melding story line lyrics and Burton's impecible narration with pop/rock hooks. If most of the album resembled this work, it might actually be the classic everyone thinks it is. But the people behind the console have to take a hit here as well. A superb, etherial instrumental like The Red Weed is marred by narration instead of being a stand alone song, save for the lead-in by Burton. The mixing job as a whole is somewhat clumsy. The goofy dialog (along with the disco trappings) should have been scrapped and more attention paid to the quality of the music.

Jeff Wayne may have had the vision and the ambition, but lacked the chops and flair of a Rick Wakeman, nor did he have the composition skills of an Alan Parsons. And I'm afraid that time hasn't been kind to this release. Instead of being a period as it was intended to, it's sound is inexorably linked to the year in which it was recorded. Maybe an updated version of this story is in order-((hello Rick Wakeman...)) It was a good idea that never was realized to it's best potential.

I was introduced to, "War of the Worlds," in 1978, by my older brother who had been introduced to it through his 8th grade math teacher. This album is one i still play quite often. My kids have grown up with this musical and know every line and all the changes in the music, and i plan on sharing this album with my grandkids. Yes, to me, its a classic. What can i say, Richard Burton, if i had the awful chance of not being familar with this ablum, and i was told Richard Burton was the narrator, i would flip! Richard Burton has a way pulling our mind strings, alerting to us that every word he will say is one to cling onto. The music: I have always been a huge disco fan. The guitar wah wah sounds OUTSTANDING!!! The crys (leads) of the guitar in the background of the second song, "Horsell Common and The Heat Ray", creap me out and prepare the listener for the evil that is coming upon the earth. The chills i get with the quiet solemn sadness of, "The Red Weed", pt1 and 2., and "Dead London", how tired and fightened the journalist was and the music protrayed the uncontrolling desire for death. I feel Jeff Wayne was ahead of his time with his ideas, yet still stayed within his own era, where he can be appreciated within his own gerneration and many to come. I loved everything that was done in this album. So, for me this album has been one i grew up with and am very parcial too, but in a small part in the back of mind i dream of a modern version of this classic, but i worry of how it may come out. I would hope nothing would change at all, and the feel of the orginal would come through.

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5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC
I am still only 15, but I heard this when I was nine, and thought it was the best thing since chocolate. It introduced me to many, many other albums and bands. Read more

Published on July 6 2004 by Oymaprat

4.0 out of 5 stars A Double Time Capsule
I'm not sure how I missed this album originally. As a life-long SF fan (both print and visual arts), I count both the Wells book and the Pal movie among my all-time favorites (to... Read more

Published on Jun 19 2004 by J. Hagerty

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it then and it's OK now...
Ok, I admit, I had the album and I thought it was great, and when I saw the CDs I order them right away.

And it's still great. Read more

Published on Jun 18 2004 by C. Butler

5.0 out of 5 stars WOTW
I am 15 and was introduced to WOTW a year ago by my best mates mum. It only needs one word to describe it. Amazing.

Published on Jun 3 2004 by Alex

4.0 out of 5 stars Rock Version of Classic Story
I was really glad to see this released,is outstanding! The whole first half is great, especially "Forever Autmn" (which was a hit for Justin Hayward), "Eve of... Read more

Published on Jun 1 2004 by L. Lawhead

3.0 out of 5 stars A Million to One
For a double disc set lasting 2 hours it's a shame that there's only 2 good tracks between them. 'The Eve of the War' (and it's remix) is the track that everybody knows and loves... Read more

Published on May 1 2004 by Inspector Gadget

5.0 out of 5 stars glad to find it
had the original vinyl recording, and i am glad to see this is out. until i heard it at my daughters play, i have forgotten how much i missed the amazing orchestration. Read more

Published on April 28 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a kind!
Jeff Wayne's "The War of the Worlds" is truly a unique undertaking (a two-hour rock album based on an H.G. Wells novel? who would think of such a thing? Read more

Published on Feb 23 2004 by Steve

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius !
This musical interpretation of War of the Worlds is a work of genius. Burton's narration is compelling and the music is sublime. Beware ! Read more

Published on Feb 22 2004 by Douglas Baum

5.0 out of 5 stars A very entertaining piece.
I'm nothing of a music aficionado as most of the other reviewers are here, but I am a fan of science fiction and I happened to hear this set while attneding a convention. Read more

Published on Jan 22 2004 by Robert H. Westerman

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