Jeff Wayne - Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978)

Steve:

I'm not sure how or why this interesting double album ended up in our house when I was a child, but it made a big impression on me. I believe Dan may have borrowed it from a friend or colleague and made a tape of it. I was not previously familiar with the H.G. Wells' novel on which it was based, but the sci-fi trope of Martians invading Earth was a well-worn premise, so it was not hard to get into or understand.  

My initial draw to the album was the singing of Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, my favorite band at the time. Hayward appears both on the album's single "Forever Autumn" and as the singing voice of Oglivie the scientist in the album's overture, "The Eve of the War". War of the Worlds also features other celebrity voices, none of whom I knew at the time but who are familiar now: actor Richard Burton as the narrator journalist; David Essex of "Rock On" fame, as the artilleryman; Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy as Parson Nathaniel; and Chris Thompson of Manfred Mann's Earth Band as the voice of humanity.  

Jeff Wayne, the producer and composer of this project, was a behind-the-scenes figure in British music, known mainly for composing for TV shows, commercial jingles, and producing albums by artists such as David Essex. The War of the Worlds was the first album expressly put out under his own name, and it was only a modest hit in the US (hitting #94) but a massive hit in the UK (hitting #4) and nearly inciting Martianmania in Australia where it hit #1 and went 10x platinum.

Although the album is largely driven by Burton's narrative and mood-setting instrumentals, Wayne employs several memorable motifs that recur throughout the album in a variety of contexts, giving the whole project a sense of unity. The vocal cameos by the celebrity singers are used for songs played in an energetic synth-rock/disco mode that sounds dated at times, but they have more than enough heart to compensate. Phil Lynott in particular nearly goes bananas in "The Spirit of Man" as the insane Parson Nathaniel, a fiery preacher who is convinced that God has abandoned humanity and sent the Martians to punish humans for their sinful ways. I only wish Thin Lizzy had released a song with this intensity (Lynott usually plays it cool as a low-key badass on Thin Lizzy albums).  

My dominant memory of this album, and one that haunts me to this day, comes from the penultimate track, "Dead London". At this time in the story, the Martians have turned Earth into a desolate wasteland. As our narrator walks through the empty streets of London, he realizes that the Martians are dying, having succumbed to the bacteria in the Earth's atmosphere to which humans have long been immune. In between the creepy narration and creepier horror-film-worthy music, the Martians let out sickly, electronically modified screams of ULLAAAAAAAA. This "Martian Voice" had occurred periodically throughout the album, sounding triumphant and even comical previously, but in this suspenseful context of anguish and pain, the voice is absolutely terrifying. I recall being so scared by this part of the album that I had trouble sleeping at night. It still makes my skin crawl thinking about it, and I rarely if ever listen to that track anymore. So beware, kids!

As a more lighthearted postscript, it was interesting to discover that a friend I had met online about 15 years ago is the cousin of one of the songwriters of "Forever Autumn", a top 5 single in the UK (sans narration), which was actually a cover of a previously released single by Vigrass & Osborne from 1972. According to Wikipedia, the song's melody was originally written by Jeff Wayne, Paul Vigrass (the cousin of my friend) and Gary Osborne in 1969 for a Lego commercial. The single was a top-20 hit in Japan. I am not making this up. Justin Hayward's version on War of the Worlds has since been included in Moody Blues anthologies and even performed live on stage by that group.

A remake of Wayne's opus was released in 2012 as Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of War of the Worlds - The New Generation, with Liam Neeson playing the part of the narrator journalist. I have not heard it yet, but perhaps I will boldly go there someday in the future.  

Dan: 

Steve and I had a lot of fun listening to this album and still joke about it today. It's fascinating to read his impressions that were stamped into him as a boy. For the "record," I borrowed the album from my university's library. As far back as the early 1960s, it was common in my experience to borrow vinyl records from libraries. I might have been the only one to check out Jeff Wayne's album because I remember few signs of wear on the vinyl surface. I probably made the tape before I returned the album to the library. Now Steve and I each have a digital version. There are times when I long for the original LP if only for the extensive illustrations and accompanying libretto. The illustration above is one of 12 included with the gatefold LP.

As a child myself, I saw the technicolor motion picture titled War of the Worlds (the 1953 version with Gene Barry, not Steven Spielberg's remake in 2005 with Tom Cruise). Wells' book was published in 1898 (all they had were books and theater in those days). The movie was indeed scary to a young boy like me, so in that respect Steve and I had similar pre-adolescent experiences. 

As for the music, I can barely listen to it without snickering. The songs lean towards corny, but there are wonderful sonic effects. If the dying Martians still scare Steve, the music on "The Red Weed" can give me chills (as long as I have not snickered too much). It's a bit of a journey to listen to all four sides in one sitting, but I have always admired the effort and skill involved in producing this novel piece of late 1970s pop art. Thanks to Steve for researching the facts surrounding the album.