Jeff Wayne: The War of the Worlds CD 1 CD Track Listing

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Jeff Wayne The War of the Worlds CD 1 (2005)
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds (Hybrid SACD) - Disc 1 of 2\n2005 Columbia/Legacy\n\nOriginally Released 1978\nCD Edition Released July 1986\nRemastered + Expanded Hybrid SACD Edition Released July 5, 2005\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Released 40 years after Orson Welles' infamous radio version of the H.G. Wells tale, Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds straddles old-style radio drama and contemporary orchestrated narratives by Rick Wakeman and David Bedford. And while it lacks the sophisticated arrangements of, say, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, it does boast an impressively odd cast -- this may be the only time that a member of Thin Lizzy worked with Richard Burton. Indeed, it's Burton's sonorous tones that sustain this work; his frequent solo narrations are eminently listenable, whereas sections featuring dialogue with other characters often come off as a bit stilted. The music is competent studio rock, and "Horsell Common and the Heat Ray" does strike just the right balance between Burton's narration and an accompaniment built around a buzzsaw guitar riff. Overall, it's pleasant as a period piece, and still a fine way to introduce younger listeners to Wells' classic tale. (And if you can find it in a vinyl, it comes with a nicely produced narrative booklet with gloriously lurid illustrations by Geoff Taylor.) [War of the Worlds is also available in a release with added bonus tracks.] -- Paul Collins\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: (7-disc Special Edition) The special edition of Jeff Wayne's oversized 1978 rock opera adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds makes a mockery of all other expanded special edition reissues. The Who's Who's Next and the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo spread out over two discs? That's nothing. Jeff Buckley's Grace filled out to a three-disc set, including a DVD? Doesn't compare to this. The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds chronicled as a four-disc box set, complete with instrumental backing tracks and excerpts from the sessions, or even Rhino Handmade's inexplicably lavish complete sessions treatment of the Stooges' Fun House pale next to Sony/Columbia's 2005 deluxe collector's edition of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds. This contains no less than seven discs: two hybrid SACDs capturing the original album (including new 5.1 Surround mixes -- and if there ever was an album meant to be heard in surround sound, it's this; in fact, it's a wonder that quadraphonic sound wasn't revived in 1978 for the original vinyl release); one CD of remixes, mixed sometime between 1979 and 2005; two CDs of rarities, outtakes, and demos; one DVD, containing a 92-minute documentary of the making of The War of the Worlds. All of this is packaged in an LP-sized hardcover book-styled box, which includes an 80-page book that has not only all the original artwork from the album, but a bunch of new essays, photo and art galleries, and detailed track notes. Not only is it hard to imagine a grander, more exhaustive, or more loving reissue of this album, it's hard to imagine any album being given such an extravagant treatment. Which of course begs the question: is Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds really worth it? Yes, it was a big international hit, spending a jaw-dropping 235 weeks on the U.K. charts, selling 13 million copies -- and all of this success came with the album barely denting American charts. This kind of success guarantees that there are some devoted fans of the double album out there, but by all measures it's a dated artifact: a synth-driven disco-fied prog rock monstrosity that could only have been released, or made any sense, in 1978. Having the great actor Richard Burton narrate the proceedings doesn't add gravity to this supremely silly indulgence, since his grave, somber intonations are swallowed by the pulsating disco beats, washes of analog synths, and melodic themes that endlessly circle for upward of 11 minutes per track. Burton does reveal that the rest of the cast here consists of decidedly low-wattage stars: beloved Irish rocker Phil Lynott and Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward may be here, but they're not exactly on Burton's level, yet they're positively superstars compared to David Essex, Jo Partridge, and Chris Thompson. Not quite a star-studded affair, but it didn't need to be, since the whole album is fueled by its concept, which is surely why millions flocked to it upon its release, and perhaps might still have some fondness for it. To fresh ears, though, this sounds like an unholy fusion of Mannheim Steamroller and Pink Floyd, toiling away to create a soundtrack for Dr. Who -- or perhaps a Eurovision tournament entry, whichever came first. Of course, anybody hearing The War of the Worlds for the first time will most certainly not plunk down upward of 130 dollars for a deluxe collector's edition, no matter how exquisite the packaging is. This is for the people who already love the album, either as nostalgia, as a grandiose piece of electronic prog rock pomp with few equals, or as one of the few rock albums made for sci-fi fans who hate rock, even in its artiest incarnations. They love the album so much, they won't settle for the simultaneously released double-disc hybrid SACD reissue, because they want to spend some time leisurely gazing at the artwork in this hardcover book, or to hear an early 1972 incarnation of "Forever Autumn," or perhaps the Lego TV commercial from 1969 that inspired the composition of that tune. For that fan -- the fan who does not mind spending over 100 dollars for these privileges -- this is surely worth the expense, since this could not be packaged better, nor could this explain the origin, recording, release, and phenomenon of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds any better, or in any greater detail. Yet those very fans should ask themselves if they really need to hear the album dissected in such great detail, since the discs of rarities, while having the occasional "unused song" like "Parson Nathaniel," are mostly comprised of spoken count-ins to bars of music, excerpts from Spanish and German recordings of the narration, and a series of outtakes of screams (or, in the best of both worlds, things like "Original Spanish Parson Scream Out-Takes"). Even the biggest fans might find slogging through these discs somewhat of a chore, but at least the book provides plenty of reading material to keep them busy as they listen to hours of rarities like these. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAMAZON.COM Editorial Review\nIn hindsight, it seems almost incredible: 27 years ago, a young musician named Jeff Wayne (who at the time primarily wrote music for commercials) fell in love with H.G. Wells' much-loved book The War of the Worlds, and decided to make a musical version of it. Star Wars had just put people's minds into outer space, musical theatre was hugely successful, and long, anthemic orchestral prog-rock was all the rage. Wayne was inspired by all these elements and decided to gather together his peers and make a musical-mixed-with-spoken-word album, with the script taken directly from the famous book. This was by no means a soundtrack to a movie; in fact, all of the visuals were to come straight from the listener's minds (hard to imagine in today's video-oriented world.) The two-LP set featured Sir Richard Burton as frontman, along with some of the leaders of the progressive rock world who joined in on the fun. Moody Blues' Justin Hayward, "Rock On" vocalist David Essex and Thin Lizzy lead Philip Lynott each did more than sing on the record, they took a part in the musical play, performing key roles alongside the aforementioned dramatist Burton. \nAmazingly, the eccentric project was a massive success, selling over 13 million copies and staying on the U.K. charts for over 260 weeks straight. DJs and bands--including the Orbital and Todd Terry--still use WOTW samples to inspire their own works. Unquestionably, the genesis of electronica can (in part) be mapped back to the War of the Worlds' use of sound experimentation and synthesized grooves. \n\nThe re-released double CD got a revamping both on an auditory and visual front: on the sonic side, the collection is now a remastered disc, mixed both in stereo and 5.1 surround sound. On the cosmetic side, the collection is now a six-panel digipack, with 48 pages of lyrics, biographies, and a handful of paintings from the original artwork. The music comes as a pair of Super Audio CDs (SACDs), a technology that will play both in standard and SACD players, the latter receiving up to four more times the sonic information for superior sound quality. --Denise Sheppard \n\nProduct Description\nOriginal double album re-packaged into deluxe 6 panel digi-pak. Includes: \n* 2 Hybrid SACDs - The original double album remixed in stereo and multi-channel 5.1 surround sound from the original 48 track master tapes by Jeff Wayne. \n* Expanded 48 page full color booklet with new artwork, sleeve notes and content \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWayne's "World", September 7, 2005\nReviewer: Mr. R. W. Walton (Dorchester, UK)\nFirst I'd start off by stating that I'd actually give it 4.75/5 stars, only because it seems that some of the sounds in the 5.1 mix have been cleaned up and changed slightly from the original vinyl and have come out sounding "too clean" or slightly different. \n\nHowever, overall the presentation of the package is superb with a justified return to the 12" album cover and art. The booklet inside in well presented and informative regarding everything from Jeff's War of the Worlds biography to information about HG Wells and poster and book art for the hundereds of variants that have been published since the begining of the original HG Wells story. \n\nThe actual package comes on 6 CDs and 1 DVD. The first two CDs are the Hybrid SACD, so if you don't have an SACD player, don't fret, it will still work on your CD/DVD player but you'll only get the original mix analogue tracks. If you do have a SACD player, then the CD is a real treat on SACD stereo, but particularly on 5.1 where you really feel you are in the albumn with the voices becoming especially alive and spacious. \n\nHowever, as I said at the begining, one or two of the guitar effects seems to have been cleaned up too much, especially noticable in the epilogue. Still, when you hear the opening and Richard Burton's powerful voice in 96kHz 24-bit clarity it is sonic heaven!! \n\nThe DVD is also a rare treat, with Jeff talking about his life, and how he came to produce War of the Worlds and also how he got together with the artists that are on the album. You also get sneaky snippets of the CGI version of War of the Worlds that Jeff Wayne is supposed to be producing for 2007. It was intriguing to see how the album was produced, but does give some of the secrets away that you have to wipe out of your mind when listening to the album again (i.e. remember the scary moment when the lid is unscrewing - excellent sound, but must forget that it is a saucepan!!) \n\nDisc No. 3 is a collection of Remixes from 1979 to 2005 that have been made by Jeff or part of his merry men. I have to say that there are some dissapointing mixes, several which are very Euro-Techno style, but there are some jems in there none the less, just don't expect miracles. \n\nDisc No. 4 Provides out-takes, some of which are funny, but also the original versions of Forever Autumn and some unused version of songs, or early versions, which are interesting to hear the development and the changes that went into making the final edit of the War of the Worlds albumn. \n\nDisc No. 5 has again more out-takes and interesting alternatives mainly covering "The Spirit of Man". \n\nFinally we have Disc No. 6 which has, again, some alternative versions and out-takes, but the excellent, unabridged story narrated by Richard Burton, quite a bit of which doesn't get into the final albumn but is none the less excellent to listen to. \n\nOverall an excellent package, and one of the best collectors items that I shall treasure having grown up with this albumn as a kid. \n\nWell done Jeff Wayne, highly recommended, especially if you are a fan of the original 12" albumn.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nNeeded some work, July 12, 2004\nReviewer: todd "3-LOCKBOX" (WA USA)\nJeff 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. \nIn 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). \n\nThat 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. \n\nJeff 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.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Double Time Capsule, June 18, 2004\nReviewer: J. Hagerty "Spaceship Historian" (Livermore, CA USA)\nI'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 give you a reference, I'm the same age as the movie).\nI came across references to this composition when researching a book I'm writing, which has a major chapter on "War of the Worlds." I couldn't believe that it was still available! When I discovered that it had Richard Burton as the narrator, I immediately ordered it as "research materials" (I could listen to him read the phone book and enjoy it!).\n\nMy first pass through the piece was a little cringing. The style is certianly dated today, and, as other reviewers here have pointed out, it does reflect the disco era of its origins. However, Wayne is an amazing tune-smith and I've found the entire piece completely infectious, I've now played it to the point of distraction to my family, and will probably continue to do so (my 11 year old daughter loves it!). It really is a great time capsule of the period with the classic Moog whistles and chirps as background effects in addition to the early synth music that you just can't get out of a digital keyboard. I was reminded of Dick Hyman's early Moog albums. While not particularly a rock fan (I enjoy all well crafted music) I can appreciate the gutiar work and the seamless integration of the orchestral passages. \n\nThe only reason I knocked a star off the rating is the "Spirit of Man" sequence. The first problem is that they gave the parson a name (he's just "the cleric" in the book), and second, they gave him a wife, just for the purposes of the song. I agree with some of the other reviewers that it goes on too long and is too over-the-top.\n\nThe other time capsule is the Wells story. I was impressed how much of it they managed to get into this abbreviated format. And for those reviewers who found the "Ulla!" cries of the Martians to be silly, well, sorry, that's straight from the book; although it's only their distress cry at the very end (they communicate by other musical tonalities at other times, shades of CE3K).\n\nI may have found it late, but its become one of my favorite period pieces.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWhat was the point of this project???, November 27, 2003\nReviewer: A music fan\nI recieved this album as a gift at Christmas in 1980. I was a fan of UK progressive rock and the person who bestowed this gift upon me thought that this would be right up my alley. Don't get me wrong, some of the music is good, but that disco beat HAS TO GO!!!!. The unfortunate thing about the album is that despite some decent music, the whole concept is utterly stupid!!! HG Wells "War of the Worlds" as a rock opera concept album??? I think that calls for a: what the hell were you thinking Jeff Wayne??? When critics look back on the UK prog scene of the 70's and mock it as self indulgent egotistical nonsense, this is the kind of album they are referring to. This is an interesting album to own, and definitley an enigmatic piece of progressive rock history, but the disco beat and the "ooooo laaaas" just make me laugh when I hear it now. If Joey Ramone was a spy, and he was captured by the KGB, this is the album they would use to get him to talk.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWorth checking out if you're a prog-rock or Moody Blues fan, September 29, 2003\nReviewer: woburnmusicfan (Woburn, MA United States)\nJeff Wayne's 1978 musical version of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" isn't a classic, but it contains some really good music and should appeal to fans of progressive rock and the Moody Blues. The songs and instrumentals are interwoven with a narration by Richard Burton, and the singers include the Moodies' Justin Hayward (his two songs charted as singles in the U.K., with "Forever Autumn" hitting #5), Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott, and David Essex. There's good guitar work in the instrumentals "Horsell Common and the Heat Ray" and "The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine", and "Artilleryman" includes an insanely catchy synthesizer theme. Wayne throws in the character of the narrator's fiancee for no reason whatsoever -- except that he had co-written a fantastic lost-love song called "Forever Autumn" and it was so good that he needed to find a way to work it into the album. The song here has Burton's narration in the middle of it; if you're looking for the original single mix, you'll need to go to a Moody Blues greatest hits album to find it. The album's biggest downside is that its second half is much weaker than the first; the songs aren't as good, are too long, and have hammy vocal performances. Much of the album sounds dated today, especially the disco beats on "The Eve of the War" and "Artilleryman". Depicting the Martian fighting machines by having someone sing "Ooooo-laaaa" was intended to sound eerie, but comes off as sort of goofy. This is a 3-1/2 star album: good enough that I can get songs from it stuck in my head for days, but at the same time I sometimes go years without having the urge to listen to it.\n(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGratuitous, overdone, self-indulgent masterpiece, December 11, 2002\nReviewer: 3rdeadly3rd (Brisbane, Queensland Australia)\nJeff Wayne's "original cast recording" of an adaptation of HG Wells' "War of the Worlds" is often described as the last hurrah of prog rock - a lurching, campy version of the story featuring far too much keyboard playing. What this description omits is that it is precisely this fact that makes "War of the Worlds" such a masterpiece.\nFrom the opening moments, as the great Richard Burton (the Journalist) intones "no one would have believed, in the last years of the 19th Century, that human affairs were being watched...", the album has the listener hooked. Even as early as the end of this opening of Burton's, Jeff Wayne's inspired musicianship can be seen. The main musical theme of the piece is introduced following Burton's immortal "slowly, but surely, they drew their plans against us". During the instrumental that follows, the listener can practically feel the flash of the heat ray and the sheer terror of Earth's population as the Martians attack - and this is just the equivalent of the overture!\n\nBy far the outstanding performance is Burton's journalist. His calm unflappability, even when relating his realisation that his girlfriend was at risk from the Martians, is both incongruous in the extreme and marvellous under the circumstances. While the singers, including many of the notables of the period, seem to be competing to outdo each other in the vocal pyrotechnics stakes, Burton continues to move the narrative forward and anchor the events to Wells' plot.\nDavid Essex as the Artilleryman is also very strong. His early mix of nervousness and "just following orders" mentality is communicated very effectively, and his reappearance to build a "brave new world" ("and you know where? Underground!") is portrayed with just the merest hint of a man going insane. His singing of "Brave New World", while competent, is only going to be appreciated by the prog fans of the world - and indeed, the same can be said for the other vocal performances. Of course, Essex's desire for "a handful of men" can be taken in whatever manner one wishes.\n\nMany of the songs are very well written and serve as succinct pop statements, even without the context of the storyline. My favourites include the lines of Ogilvy the astronomer "The chances of anything coming from Mars", a brief song delivered in both a reassuring and a disturbing manner without any changes to lyrics and also the People's Chorus as the boats depart to escape the Martians. The clever insertion of keyboard effects just before the mention of Thunderchild in each verse serve to build the tension, and also to communicate the shock as she sinks.\n\nOf course, no review of "War of the Worlds" would be complete without mention of "Forever Autumn". This song, recorded by David Essex to some measure of success, was not designed with "War" in mind and yet still fits quite well into the story. As a song, it is easily the equal of any work of pop from a comparable period and is well worth hearing.\n\nThe one criticism of this treatment of "War of the Worlds" which could be levelled is that, after the opening disc has created so much tension so well - culminating as it does with Burton's "the earth belonged to the Martians", the second disc seems almost an afterthought. The eventual defeat of the Martians just seems to happen, rather than be built up to. Then again, considering the way that it happens, this defeat would be rather unexpected.\n\nIt can also be said that the epilogue is a bit overdone. While it is a clever idea to create room for a sequel, or just to remind the world to "look to the skies", the way in which it is done is a bit cheap. Nevertheless, it will suit some listeners.\n\nOverall, this CD serves as a reminder of what was bad about prog - certainly it does that. What it also does is to allow the prog fans of the world, and there are some, to glory in the excesses of the style. The keyboard workouts also serve as a reasonable test of the range of a new stereo.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOne song out of five. We're batting 1.000 with this one., November 16, 2002\nReviewer: "keefycub" (Yonkers, NY United States)\nI've listened to this album many times, and remember it quite well, but like some albums, it doesn't seem to always register as a favorite.\nThe first side of the original vinyl had 1.5 songs for about 26 minutes. Justin Hayward sings about 8 lines, and an extremely repetitive disco-ish number frames it, over which Richard Burton tells the story occasionally.\n\nThe second side had 2.5 songs for another 26 or 27 minutes, one good enough to be a monster hit on the radio, "Forever Autumn", filled out by more of Richard Burton occasionally telling the story. I remember the song being great because it was the very last time I remember hearing something on commercial top-40 radio and thinking, "god what was that? That was weird." And being attracted to it because of it's sheer strangeness. So I bought the single. What was the b-side? The .5 song that fills up most of Side 1 and Side 2, but a lot better cut down to a few minutes. I also remember it being very strange on the album that we went such a long time before we actually got verses and choruses. I still adore the song, but I do wish it was more of a song and that the album track didn't have Richard Burton on it. It kinda destroys the daydream potential of the song.\n\nSide 3 had Phil Lynott screaming the phlegm out of his throat, and Julie Covington sings a very repetitious bit that for some reason seems to consist of just the words "No, Nathaniel, No," and occasionally, Richard Burton continued the story. And it just goes *on* and *on* and *on*, assaulting you, and never quitting. And I remember some of the dialogue being embarrassing even when I was 15 years old and reasonably into this album. And I can't even begin to describe how dumb and dated the martian's single word language ("Ulla!") sounds today, run through a talkbox (think Peter Frampton or Joe Walsh) and a lot of dated flanging. Guaranteed to make you laugh rather than to frighten you.\n\nThe 4th side didn't have Phil Lynott screaming the phlegm out of his throat anymore (he got killed off on the third side). Instead David Essex screamed the phlegm out of his throat, and occasionally Richard Burton told the story. And when the martians die at the end from bacteria eating them alive, well, they just sound like they ran out of cocaine that day. Total number of songs on this disc? 2.5. That Red Weed cheated us out of a whole song.\n\nOf course, the "Prophecy"-like ending makes me the most embarrassed when I hear this album nowadays, even though there's no occasional Richard Burton. And to cut the album at just at about 100 minutes with tape slice at the end? Limberger!!\n\n"Forever Autumn" is the *only* reason to have this album. The rest of it now is fairly excruciating, and I'm quite glad that my ears have stretched a bit and found that there's a lot more to music than a 100 minute album that has 5 songs and 2 half-songs on it, plus a lot of incidental filler, and Richard Burton occasionally tells the story. Good thing Jeff Wayne's sequel, "Spartacus", sank without trace, and I might be one of the only unfortunate members of the public to actually have heard that one, because it was more of the same.\n\n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nPerformers include: Richard Burton, Justin Hayward, Julie Covington.\nThis is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.\nVarious Artists: Chris Thompson, David Essex, Gary Osborne, Julie Covington, Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott, Richard Burton, Billy Lawrie, Jo Partridge, Paul Vigrass (vocals); Chris Spedding (guitar); George Fenton (autoharp, santur, tar); Jeff Wayne (piano, harpsichord); Paul Hart (piano); Herbie Flowers (bass guitar); Barry Morgan (drums); Roy Jones, Ray Cooper (percussion).\nRecording information: Advision Studios, London, England (1976 - 1977). YEAR: 2005
This rock cd contains 5 tracks and runs 45min 10sec.
Freedb: 3e0a9405
Buy: from Amazon.com

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