This album made a big impression on me when I first heard it in 1978. Of course, I had read Wells' novel several times and had seen George Pal's movie version on televisison. I had even read the script for Orson Welles' radio play and produced my own version of it with my friends playing the various parts. So it could be said with some accuracy that I was a student and fan of the story. And, as a child of the '60s, rock music was my music. Wayne's interpretation of The War of the Worlds combined those two elements brilliantly and the effect made an indelible impression on me. Richard Burton's rich narritive voice convinces the listener immediately that the story is real and the music creates an atmosphere of tension, excitement and alieness that is palpable. Some critics contend that this is the best rock opera ever produced, an opinion with which I agree. If you enjoy The War of the Worlds and have not listened to this version, I highly recommend it. The CD sounds much better than my old vinyl LP, but the packaging suffers for being reduced so drastically in size. One of the things that made the album special was the great artwork on the cover and in the accompanying booklet. You get it all with the CD, but the small size doesn't present the paintings adequately. The ideal solution is to have the CD for the sound and the album for the art.
Disc1
01. The Eve Of The War02. Horsell Common And The Heat Ray
03. The Artilleryman And The Fighting Machine
04. Forever Autumn
05. Thunder Child
Disc2
01. The Red Weed (Part 1)02. The Spirit Of Man
03. The Red Weed (Part 2)
04. Brave New World
05. Dead London
06. Epilogue (Part 1)
07. Epilogue (Part 2)
NOTES
Date: 1978
Length: 94:54 minutes
Genre: ROCK
Category: Cast Recordings
CREDITS
Performers
Richard Burton : Vocals
Ray Cooper : Percussion
Julie Covington : Vocals
Barry Da Souza : Percussion
David Essex : Vocals
George Fenton : Santur, Taragat, Zither
Herbie Flowers : Guitar (Bass)
Ken Freeman : Keyboards, Synthesizer
Justin Hayward : Vocals
Roy Jones : Percussion
Billy Lawrie : Vocals (Background)
Phil Lynott : Vocals
Barry Morgan : Drums
Gary Osborne : Vocals (Background)
Jo Partridge : Guitar, Vocals
PeSt : Sound Effects
Chris Spedding : Guitar
Chris Thompson : Vocals
Paul Vigrass : Vocals (Background)
Jeff Wayne : Keyboards, Synthesizer
Jerry Wayne : Voices
Production Credits
Richard Burton : Performer
Julie Covington : Performer
Laurence Diana : Assistant, Assistant Engineer, Cut, Cutting Engineer
David Essex : Performer
Bill Foster : Mastering
Peter Goodfellow : Artwork
Justin Hayward : Performer
Phil Lynott : Performer
Jo Partridge : Performer
John Pasche : Art Direction, Design
Chris Thompson : Performer
Jeff Wayne : Conductor, Main Performer, Orchestration, Performer, Producer
Jerry Wayne : Director, Executive Producer
Geoff Young : Engineer
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is available on CD from Amazon.com
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