Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978 Rock Opera LP)

A Martian machine from the New Generation tour.

 

Following Orson Welles’ October 1938 Mercury Theater on the Air broadcast, aside from the proliferating entertainments of print and film, H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds would not again engage the attention of much of the world in an utterly fresh manner until 1978—and this time it would be via music, an opera, indeed a rock opera—and it was created in the hot new medium of the day, a concept album.

Concept albums had been around for at least a decade, but they really hit their stride with The Who’s Tommy (1969) and the following year with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar and later with their Evita, among others. Younger people today who are familiar with the musical-play and film versions of these high-concept presentations frequently aren’t even aware that they began as phonograph records and that anything else was later derived from the records.

The 1978 2-disc LP rock-opera album Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds became immensely popular in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, but to this day has never caught on in the U.S. It’s narrated by Welsh actor Richard Burton in a deep sepulchral voice accompanied by an array of electronic instruments and a string orchestra.

Though I cannot speak for the rest of the world, I can describe my personal experiences. When the album was first released, I read a review by science fiction writer David Gerrold (and Star Trek contributor) in his then-regular column for Galileo magazine. Gerrold praised the album to the skies, and I was intrigued.  In fact, here is the very article:

 

Once I bought the album and listened to it, my life literally changed. Of course I’d listened to Tommy and Jesus Christ Superstar, and they were well done professional recordings that were not only thought-provoking but great entertainment, as well ... but Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds transcended any of that; the album truly transported me.

In 2005, a 7-disc Collector’s Edition boxed set was released with two hybrid multi-channel SACD (Super Audio CD) discs, one extra-feature DVD, and 4 CDs of remixes. The 5.1 SACD mix is astonishing; five channels of precisely located sound plus one low-frequency channel put the listener in the middle of the Martian war. Personally I prefer to amp things up a bit by adding three speakers and three subwoofers, all in a 10 by 10 room, making my system effectively 8.4 rather than 5.1. The packaging is also wonderful, filled with detailed carefully rendered and printed paintings of the war machines and a comprehensive booklet. I bought two such sets.  Sadly, the Sony-and-Phillips-Electronics-backed SACD audio format did not become popular as had been hoped and is used today mostly by the high-end audiophile community. While a 5.1 channel two-disc SACD of Jeff Wayne’s rock opera is still available through specialty outlets, the 7-disc Collector’s Edition is no longer in print.

The April 25, 2006, performance was videotaped at the Wembley Arena in London, England, and released on a Region 2 DVD. Luckily, the entire performance is on YouTube. It’s narrated by Welsh actor Richard Burton in a deep sepulchral voice accompanied by an array of electronic instruments and a string orchestra.

In 2006, the concept album made the transition to live stage in an elaborate production that included a 10-piece rock band, a 48-piece string orchestra, a full-size 35- foot-tall Martian war machine that spit red laser beams in every direction, and a ten- foot tall hologram-like virtual face of the late Richard Burton. It premiered on April 13, 2006, at the Bournmouth International Centre in Dorset, UK, which was the first show of a tour that sold out a dozen engagements throughout April in the UK, Ireland, and Wales. The April 25, 2006, performance was videotaped at the Wembley Arena in London, England, and released on a Region 2 DVD. I needed to buy a region-free DVD player to watch it, but it was well worth the extra effort and expenditure.

The 1978 2-disc LP rock-opera 16-page album liner notes.

In 2007, the tour included European venues and traveled down to Australia and New Zealand. There was even greater acclaim for the 2008 tour—and yet, except for some enthusiasts, few in the United States, had ever heard of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds—in any medium. Certainly it would never tour the U.S.

So, in February 2009, I made up my mind that if the tour was not going to come to me, then I would go to the tour. In fact, my wife and I flew to Europe and attended a performance of the 30th Anniversary Tour in Ireland at the Dublin O2 on June 7, 2009— one of the greatest highlights of my life. There on stage was the ten-piece Black Smoke Band, the 48-piece ULLAdubULLA String Orchestra, Jeff Wayne himself, and the huge laser blasting three-story-tall Martian war machine ... very exciting.

The 2013 tour dropped Richard Burton and added Liam Neeson, and a new album and video were recorded. This updated and recast version was called Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: The New Generation. Concurrent with the new album's release, a New Generation tour graced Europe and the UK.  This live version was digitally recorded at London’s O2 Arena in 2013 and released on a Region 2 DVD and also on Blu-Ray. This was followed a year later by a second New Generation arena tour.  Finally, what was thought to be its final presentation, a stage show adaptation, ran at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End from February to April 2016. But, no!   In 2018 — 2021-2022 — 2025, there were three more tours. The latest tour, called The Spirit of Man, garnered huge praise and a wonderful turnout from March to April 2025. Youtube has many memorable representative samples of these shows.

ORIGINAL 1978 ALBUM CREDITS: Record Label CBS. Executive Producer Jeff Wayne. Music Composed, Orchestrated, Conducted, and Produced by Jeff Wayne. Script Doreen Wayne. Adapted from the H.G. Wells Classic The War of the Worlds. Dramatic and Narrative Section Directors Charles Dubin, Jeff Wayne. Lyrics Gary Osborne, Paul Vigrass, Jeff Wayne. Engineer Geoff Young. Singers Justin Hayward, Chris Thompson, Phil Lynott, Julie Covington, David Essex.

 

2006 VIDEO: UK. Universal Pictures, Double Jab Productions, Ollie Record Productions. C. 1.78:1. 1hr50m.

CREW: Director David Mallet. Script Jeff Wayne, Doreen Wayne. Adapted from the Novel by H.G. Wells. Producers Jeff Wayne, Damian Collier, Dave Crowe, Stuart Watts. Executive Producer Ray Jones. Music Composed, Arranged, Produced, and Conducted by Jeff Wayne. Lyrics Gary Osborne, Paul Vigrass, Jeff Wayne. Editors David Mallet, Nick Morris, Juliet Santini. Art Directors Lynn Debidineuse, Jonathan Park, John Pasche. Costume Designer Rachel Walsh. Special Effects Paul James. Special Visual Effects Craig Crane, Doug Fidler. Visual Effects Supervisor Paul James.

CAST: The Journalist Richard Burton. The Sung Thoughts of The Journalist Justin Hayward. The Artilleryman Alexis James. Parson Nathaniel Russell Watson. Beth, the Parson’s Wife Tara Blaise. String Orchestra ULLAdubULLA Strings. Band Black Smoke Band.

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: The New Generation.

2013 VIDEO: UK. Universal Pictures. C. 1.78:1. 1hr58m.

CREW: Director Nick Morris. Script Jeff Wayne, Doreen Wayne. Adapted from the Novel by H.G. Wells. Producer Dione Orrom. Executive Producers Helen Parker, Damian Collier, Jeff Wayne. Music Composed, Arranged, Produced, and Conducted by Jeff Wayne. Lyrics Gary Osborne, Paul Vigrass, Jeff Wayne.

CAST: The Journalist Liam Neeson. String Orchestra ULLAdubULLA Strings. Band Black Smoke Band. Marti Pellow, Ricky Wilson, Will Stapleton, Kerry Ellis.

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AfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanKurdishKyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu

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