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Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds

Hybrid SACD

Julie Covington Jeff Wayne Richard Burton Format: Audio CD

4.8 688 ratings

$77.24

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War Of The Worlds

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Track Listings

Disc: 1

1	The Eve of the War - Richard Burton
2	Horsell Common and the Heat Ray - Richard Burton
3	The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine - Jeff Wayne
4	Forever Autumn - Jeff Wayne
5	Thunder Child - Richard Burton

Disc: 2

1	The Eve Of The War - Richard Burton
2	Horsell Common And The Heat Ray - Richard Burton
3	The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine - Richard Burton
4	Forever Autumn - Richard Burton
5	Thunder Child - Richard Burton

Disc: 3

1	The Eve Of The War - Richard Burton
2	Horsell Common and the Heat Ray - Jeff Wayne
3	The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine - Jeff Wayne
4	Forever Autumn - Jeff Wayne
5	Thunder Child - Jeff Wayne

Disc: 4

1	The Red Weed (Part 1) - Richard Burton
2	The Spirit of Man - Richard Burton
3	The Red Weed (Part 2) - Richard Burton
4	The Artilleryman Returns - Jeff Wayne
5	Brave New World - Richard Burton
6	Dead London - Richard Burton
7	Epilogue (Part 1) - Richard Burton
8	Epilogue (Part 2) (NASA) - Jeff Wayne

Disc: 5

1	The Red Weed (Part 1) - Richard Burton
2	The Spirit Of Man - Richard Burton
3	The Red Weed (Part 2) - Richard Burton
4	The Artilleryman Returns - Jeff Wayne
5	Brave New World - Richard Burton
6	Dead London - Richard Burton
7	Epilogue (Part 1) - Richard Burton
8	Epilogue (Part 2) (NASA) - Jeff Wayne

Disc: 6

1	The Red Weed (Part 1) - Jeff Wayne
2	The Spirit of Man - Richard Burton
3	The Red Weed (Part 2) - Jeff Wayne
4	The Artilleryman Returns - Richard Burton
5	Brave New World - Jeff Wayne
6	Dead London - Jeff Wayne
7	Epilogue (Part 1) - Jeff Wayne
8	Epilogue (Part 2) (NASA) - Jeff Wayne

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Original double album re-packaged into deluxe 6 panel digi-pak. Includes:
* 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.
* Expanded 48 page full color booklet with new artwork, sleeve notes and content

Amazon.com

In 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.

Amazingly, 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.

The 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

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches; 5.6 Ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Legacy
Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2005
Run time ‏ : ‎ 4 hours and 34 minutes
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ January 29, 2007
Label ‏ : ‎ Legacy
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0009MAPUO
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2

Best Sellers Rank: #47,544 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #296 in Disco (CDs & Vinyl)
- #418 in Electronica (CDs & Vinyl)
- #489 in Musical Soundtracks & Scores

Customer Reviews:
4.8 688 ratings

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4.8 out of 5

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Worth the extra money for the collector's edition

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2005

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I hesitated before spending over a hundred bucks on the collector's edition of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. There's a two-disc version of the CD that's a whole lot less; surely I could put the "collectors" money into something else?

But as they say, you never regret your luxuries.

I should state up front that this music has special meaning for me. In 1979, when I met my husband, he had a tape of this album in the car -- back in the days when we all took the time to tape our vinyl albums! -- so I strongly associate it with our first days together, driving around Clearwater Florida and getting to know one another. I think I'd love the album anyway, as I'm a sucker for melodic versions of spoken-word stories, such as Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Center of the Earth.

If you're new to the music, and are trying to get a sense of its value from Amazon's little 30-second previews, I'll simply summarize by saying that the album is very true to the original novel. One friend of mine disliked the WotW movies (all of them) because he feels the story needs to be told in Victorian England; if you feel as he does, you'll be well pleased by this version.

But you'd get that with the $20 version, which Amazon also sells. Is it worth it for the extra stuff?

Yes and No. The Yes-reasons strongly over-power the Noes, so I'm still quite happy I sprung for the expensive version.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. I've no real interest in the "club mix" CD (in fact I haven't even listened to it yet); to me, this album is about melodies and story-telling, not dancing. The two CDs of out-takes and variations (such as some of the narration from a German version) are interesting, but they're inherently "listen once" items. There's nothing wrong with these, but nothing compelling either.

On the other hand... I really enjoyed the Making-Of DVD. It could have been a sappy, self-congratulatory indulgence on the part of Jeff Wayne, but the video escapes that trap. He (and others) explain how the album came about; the business and people negotiations; and particularly the artistic and creative efforts. I'm not a musician, but I really enjoyed Jeff Wayne's demonstrations of constructing the musical themes for the heat ray and so on.

Plus, the printed material is simply beautiful. Some of it was in the original vinyl album (I still do own it!), but the photos, script, and other stuff is really enjoyable. I haven't had the chance to read it all the way through, but I'm trying to spread out the pleasure.

If you're unsure which version to get... go ahead and get this one. I don't think you'll regret it.

58 people found this helpful

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J. Hagerty

A Double Time Capsule

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2004

Verified Purchase

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 give you a reference, I'm the same age as the movie).
I 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!).
My 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.
The 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.
The 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).
I may have found it late, but its become one of my favorite period pieces.

4 people found this helpful

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earlb

Awesome remastering

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2011

Verified Purchase

I had loaned out my old first CD release copy of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds and lost track of who had borrowed it and it never came home. Years passed and a friend mentioned coming across the tracks on a music service. It rekindled my desire to hear it again. Went to my CD shelf and *sigh* not to be found.

Amazon to the rescue! For less than the price to download the whole album, Amazon had this collector's edition SACD available from one of their sellers for a remarkable price. I have an SACD compatible player so the warnings about incompatibility with regular CD players didn't phase me.

It was evident from when I first opened the shipping box this was a really nice release. A thirty-some-odd page full color booklet in a trifold package, very well designed. The work that went into remastering the audio, not only the 2-track stereo but in the 5-track surround, is evident. The listening experience was far beyond any of my numerous previous listenings over the years. It was like I was there in the studio. The hiss that was there on the original CD release from the master tapes was gone and the dynamic range phenomenally increased.

By the way, every SACD I have ever purchased has always had a second layer (standard 2 channel CD track) playable on any CD player. This was no exception. I listened to it on my car stereo and the CD tracks are nearly as impressive as the surround tracks. Even if you don't have an SACD player, I would highly recommend you still consider this release anyway. For the quality of sound not to mention the really cool booklet and case. You won't be disappointed.

You can probably infer from this that I'm a very happy buyer in getting this release. If not, well yes I am. Very happy indeed.

7 people found this helpful

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Jeff Waynes War of the world

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2023

Verified Purchase

enjoyed the story, excellent narration by Richard Burton and the music was something else, even after all these years i still enjoy listening to this cd.

Cliente Amazon

estado semi bueno

Reviewed in Spain on March 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

El envio ha funcionado en el tiempo acordado,lo que pasa es que el disco esta incompleto,le falta el libreto con las ilustraciones,precio caro si no esta completo,se tendria que poner en el anuncio que esta incompleto ya que por este precio se puede encontrar totamente completo y en mejores condiciones.

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Nameless1138

Concept très original

Reviewed in France on June 19, 2010

Verified Purchase

Une voix, grave, se fait entendre. Elle nous parle de possible vie extraterrestre, elle nous dit qu'à ce jour (la fin du XIXe siècle), peu d'êtres humains ont sérieusement considéré la possibilité de la vie sur une autre planète, et encore moins, le fait que ces éventuelles formes de vie puissent s'intéresser à nous, au point de nous rendre visite. Et pourtant, la voix ne s'en tient pas là. Elle nous annonce que depuis des centaines, peut-être des milliers d'années, des êtres d'ailleurs observent envieusement notre planète, et que, depuis tout ce temps, ils préparent consciencieusement leur plan contre nous. Un orchestre à cordes entre alors, dramatique, fracassant, ne laissant de place à aucun espoir. La machine se met ensuite en marche : batterie, basse, guitares, synthétiseurs vintage et orchestre, et à partir de là plus rien ne peut l'arrêter : D'étranges cylindres métalliques s'écrasent sur Terre, formant de gros cratères d'où sortiront bientôt de dangereuses machines, capable de raser une ville en quelques secondes...
Tout y est ! Des tripodes et de leurs cris de guerre aussi étranges qu'effrayants, aux hommes perdus, errant, au bord de la folie. Cette aeuvre, totalement inclassable, est due au compositeur Jeff Wayne, connu jusqu'alors pour ses jingles radio, essentiellement en Angleterre. En 1978, il sort sa version musicale du célèbre roman de H. G. wells, « La Guerre des Mondes ». S'étalant sur un double-album, cet ovni est un mélange de livre audio (narration et dialogues), de musique instrumentale (essentiellement dans la veine Rock Progressif), et de chansons, qui ponctuent certaines scènes, rapprochant le tout de la comédie musicale. Sans franchement rentrer complètement dans l'un de ces genres, l'aeuvre les combine habilement. Pendant une heure et demie, on est aussi captivé par les musiques que par l'histoire. L'album est très bien mené, du début à la fin, et nous plonge vraiment dans cette ambience apocalyptique, cette impression de fuite désespérée, vers nulle part. Une vraie réussite !
Un avertissement cependant : si vous ne comprenez pas l'Anglais, vous risquez de trouver le tout un peu long et répétitif. Ne croyez pas pouvoir écouter cet album en travaillant ou en faisant quoi que ce soit d'autre, c'est impossible ! S'ils vous manque des éléments de l'aeuvre, vous risquez de ne pas l'apprécier. Je peux en revanche vous conseiller l'album « Highlights From The War Of The Worlds », un CD simple, ne reprenant que les chansons, et les musiques les plus marquantes de l'album original.

2 people found this helpful

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Mr. G. P. Schofield

WOW huge boxset-quick review

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2005

Verified Purchase

It goes without saying you won't be buying this unless you are a big fan of the musical version of WOW.
If you are then this plush, wonderfully produced CD collection is for you.
There are 7 cds, that consist of the original album re mastered, all the out takes, richard burton reading the abridged version of the book ( around 45 mins long) and lots of track remixes. That alone is truly the definitive WOW collection.
But then you have the amazing LP sized case, beautiful art work on two thick cardboard covers.
Then finally you have the sleeve notes...I say notes, there is so much stuff in here thats it more like a small magazine, photos of the recording sessions, all the renditions of the WOW book covers, newspaper clippings, various photos of the Album as its been released over the years, and lots of notes.
Frankly this whole package is gorgeous, even if it is outrageously expensive ( I only paid £54.00 for mine and I thought that was steep), but its going for a lot more in the shops !
WOW in more ways than one...if you like the Jeff Wayne version, you'll love this.....but really, one for the true fans only.

28 people found this helpful

Stonebeard

What a great album!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

Well, what can one say? It's 'Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds'.. It's brilliant. When I first heard it I was already a fan of HG Wells' wonderful novel and I thought that a musical version sounded like an awful idea. But it was 1978 and I was twelve years old, so what did I know? I only had to listen to it once and I was hooked. I've loved it ever since.

If you already know the album, then I must be 'preaching to the choir'. If you haven't heard it yet give it a go. IMHO this is better than the later, remastered version.

4 people found this helpful

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