Customer Reviews
From book to concept album, from audio to visual, this IS War Of The Worlds - By: P. Smith, 18 Aug 2008 
I first heard the original album (the double LP version) many years ago & I was hooked. At about that time the, then then fledgling, Doctor Who Weekly started to run a comic strip version and, of course, I had to get the original novel (with the Jeff Wayne style artwork cover, of course). Over the years I listened to that LP more than any other I have ever owned. I bought the "Highlights" version on LP too! Like many other reviewers I moved up to the CD version once I owned a CD player & have even bought two more CD versions (each reportedly enhanced over their predecessors). When the 6CD & 1DVD Collector's Edition came out with the stunning book (very similar to the original LP version) I added that to my already big collection of Jeff Wayne versions. I am also proud to own the two UlladubUlla remix albums as well (part from one appears on the DVD as a new Prologue).
When I heard there was to be a stage version I was wary as I was aware that both the early film & the Tom Cruise vehicle didn't stay so true to the book as Jeff Wayne's Musical Version. As I write this I am listening to & watching the stage version in Cinema Surround Sound & it is awesome!! The sound is so true to the original concept & the CGI & action sequences as the orchestra plays around them are neatly worked into the drama of the music.
The head of Richard Burton is a neat twist & works well. The "real" Fighting Machine looks impressive as it stands high above the whole event. So many of the original cast are no longer with us & yet those who took their places did an excellent job. For me Tara Blaise was fantastic & gave her part real pathos. Justin Hayward & Chris Thompson were so good live & it was a real pleasure that so many of the surviving participants in the original album were still able to appear.
Jeff Wayne, himself, is obviously in his element as he conducts & his smile couldn't be broader throughout. Special mention to the girl playing the harp & the lass at the percussion desk, they were so in the music too!! The orchestra as a whole were faultless, I have to wonder how many of them were even born when the original album was released, or how many of them have owned the work in one format or another & were, therefore, delighted to be a part of yet another historic landmark in the life of THE most successful concept album EVER!
The Black Smoke Band too give the production their alll & gave the alien-ness of the Martians such an amazing quality when coupled with the CGI effects.
All in alll it IS another huge step forward for this late 70's idea. If memory serves me the original LP was the longest chart running album ever alongside Meatloaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" & I only hope that this format version of Jeff Wayne's work only serves to bring a new generation or more into the fold of fans of this masterpiece. Visuallly stunning, aurallly perfect & a worthy purchase . BUY IT.
Footnote: A shame his other concept album (Spartacus) never reallly caught on.
SYMPHONIC ROCK/SCI FI EXTRAVAGANZA! - By: Adam Jackson, 27 May 2008 An absolute essential if you appreciated the stunning 1978 album!
My earliest meeting with Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds was as a 10 year old lad in it's original year of release - & 30 years later, I'm still in love with one of the greatest alien invasion stories ever written (Also very fond of the 1953 film, but a little bit dissapointed by 2005's Spielberg epic - great FX though!)
What reallly makes Jeff Wayne's concept perhaps the best adaptation is that it's 100% faithful to the early 20th Century England setting. The juxtaposition of Martian technology & pre-World War One weaponry being a fascinating element.
This 2006 show is reallly spectacular! The entire album played LIVE at London's Wembley Arena from start to finish! And an enormous audience under an absoluteley dazzling light show!
What you have is a combination of the cream of rock musicians & a full orchestral section alll under the supreme guidance of Jeff Wayne who is clearly having the time of his life conducting - What a smile!
Added to this are a fine ensemble of stage performers such as Russell Watson & Justin Hayward to bring the characters & story to life on stage. Every performance is exemplary & faithful to both H.G.Wells's novel AND the original studio album.
Richard Burton 'returns' here in the form of a CGI face, lip-synched to his incredible & unaltered narration. His passing in 1984, still mourned today. The face is projected onto a gigantic screen that is erected behind the performers, which also serves up a feast of CGI Martians, Fighting Machines & Martian Warfare! Now the CG animation is certainly not at the level of the FX in the Tom Cruise movie by any means but it's very effective especiallly in the opening prologue which shows us
the Martian world & the Alien menace plotting to destroy Mankind. I understand a CGI full length feature film is in progress & I am keenly awaiting this - hopefully it will come out this year!
There's even a FULL SCALE Martian Tripod that appears on stage - It doesn't actuallly do a lot but it looks great & serves as a physical link between the animated backdrop & the on stage action.
The musicianship of course is exemplary; one standout performer is four string maestro Herbie Flowers, returning from the 1978 album - Just listen to that bass guitar on "Horsell Common & the Heat Ray"! One of the best & most mind-invasive bass lines I've ever heard!
This is just big, epic music - progressive, symphonic rock with both theatrical & feature film elements.
The opening piece "The Eve Of The War" is just massive with its HUGE strings & futuristic synths & rock guitars!
You might well like this if you are into The Trans-Siberian Orchestra or the admittedly much heavier, S&M album by Metalllica.
Any lover of the 1898 novel, science fiction, the original album, progressive/symphonic rock & indeed classical reallly needs to invest in this - along with the studio CD if not yet acquired...
There IS life on Mars - By: mlhifi, 10 Feb 2008 I was always a fan of the original LP (a 12" plastic disc that some of you may remember), but this DVD takes us to a whole new level. The sound & picture are first class, the performance of the musicians are second to none & the production is astonishing. I just wish I had been present at this recording. If this ever goes on tour again, I will be first in line for a ticket.
outstanding! - By: JJ, 16 Jan 2008 I stumbled across this on satellite TV and, having owned the album for 30 years, thought it was at least worth a look, thinking that it would be an unmitigated disaster - how could they bring such an album to life?!
Two hours later, I was stunned!! - Captivating, exciting, scary, funny even. The band & orchestra played it straight with a note for note rendition of the album which somehow, with the benefit of visuals, was like hearing it for the first time.
A worthy mention must go to David Malllet, whose direction was masterful.
Fantastic - By: Caroline, 13 Jan 2008 I first listened to the double album when I was a young child. The album belonged to my Dad & I had often just sat pouring over the imagery of the paintings. When my Dad finallly let me listen to the album I was hooked, it was truly fantasticallly beautiful as well as frightening. I loved it!
When I was older & had I left home, I went & bought the CD. I was not disappointed, but I did miss looking at the full size paintings of the album.
I knew there had been productions of War of the Worlds in theatre & film, & of course the original material. I had watched the films & though obviously they had to be adapted but they were okay, ( except for the latest film which was extremely badly hammed ) but I had never been able to go & see it in the theatres.
So of course when I heard about the new one, again I couldn't get to see it. Oh how I wish I could of.
I have just watched on TV the Live performance & I feel sooo envious of those who went to see it. It is just as I would have imagined it to be, it was perfect. The CGI, the new footage, the original paintings, the perfectly timed live performances, being able to see the orchestra & the musicians, & of course the music. The extended bits blended smoothly with the original pieces, & of course the extended prologue was brilliantly conceived & executed. The prologue added that little something extra to give the Martians, more, of a logical reason behind their attack; & it certainly added to their already cold intellectual menace. The epilogue was in the original album, but by using imagery from the NASA Mars Missions it certainly added that extra twist of irony & certainly gave it more relevance for today's audience.
I am definitly going to buy this one, for me & my Dad.
