Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of The Worlds

Since its original release in June of 1978, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds has grown to become a classic, winning a new generation of devoted followers while still providing inspiration for faithful listeners from the past decades. Inspired by the HG Wells novel, the album features a compelling blend of progressive rock, classical, and literary influences, coupled with narration from Richard Burton and outstanding performances by some of the biggest artists of the 70s, including David Essex, Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) and Julie Covington.

The album has enjoyed huge success and critical acclaim across the globe with over 12.5 million records sold. The War Of The Worlds initially spent over 260 consecutive weeks in the UK albums charts alone and has reappeared consistently through the years.

AVAILABLE IN TWO FORMATS:

· A digipak edition 2-disc hybrid SACD featuring 5.1 Surround Sound and stereo mixes plus expanded packaging

· The definitive 6-CD + 1-DVD collector’s edition featuring the two discs in the digipak edition as well as four additional discs of remixes and rarities; additionally, the collector’s edition will feature a “Making Of” documentary DVD with Jeff Wayne housed in a 76-page 12x12 hardback book.

Official Website - http://www.thewaroftheworlds.com

Download Trailers:
Media Player: http://legacyrecordings.com/waroftheworlds

For the first time, die-hard fans will be able to get their hands on the comprehensive collector’s package – a 7-disc definitive version of The War Of The Worlds.

The first two discs are hybrid Super Audio CDs featuring a 5.1 multi-channel Surround Sound mix and a stereo remix of the original double album.

For the 5.1 remix the original album was painstakingly re-built from the 70 plus multi-track tapes, sound by sound, track by track, entirely remixed and brought into the digital domain delivering the most superior sound technology can provide. To hear the album in full Surround Sound is truly a mind-blowing experience.

Disc 3 is devoted to the best club remixes of the album from 1979-2005.

Discs 4-6 include never-before-heard rarities, outtakes and unreleased tracks from the original recording sessions including on disc 6 the entire, unabridged Richard Burton performance of which only 40% made its way on to the original album.

Finally, disc 7, a DVD, features a brand-new 75-minute ‘Making Of’ documentary, which includes rare video footage and also a sneak peak into Jeff Wayne’s upcoming animated CGI version of this harrowing tale.

And who could forget those beautiful yet disturbing paintings from the original album? A 12x12 80-page bound booklet will also be included containing the original images and biographies and other additional information on the history of the classic novel and album. All of these features will be housed in a beautiful and imposing packaging -- the Collector’s deluxe package is something to treasure and display for future generations of fans to discover and fall in love with.

In addition to the collector’s edition, the original double album will also be reissued on hybrid SACD with the new stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound remastered audio from the collector’s edition and expanded album artwork.

Jeff Wayne, commenting on remixing the album in 5.1 Surround Sound added:

“Mixing my musical version of The War of The Worlds in the new SACD format was something else entirely, and has proven to be one of the true highlights of my career as a composer, arranger, conductor and producer.

The end result, in my opinion, is nothing short of spectacular – the listener IS in the recording with a Martian invasion in Victorian England happening all around you. The power and the glory of SACD as a music delivery platform is no doubt here to stay, and deservedly so.”

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds is released in double album version as well as the collector’s edition from SONY BMG.

COLLECTOR'S EDITION
J6K 94427
- 7 Disc collector's edition box set, the definitive version of The War Of The Worlds.
- 2 hybrid SACD - The original double album remixed in stereo and multi-channel 5.1 Surround Sound from the original 48 track master tapes by Jeff Wayne.
- 4 CDs of remixes, rarities, never before heard material, outtakes, foreign language versions and more including 37 minutes of never before heard Richard Burton narrative.
- DVD documentary 'The Making Of The War Of The Worlds' and 'deconstructing'' the album feature.
- Packaged in a deluxe 12x12 hardback presentation book with 76-page full color perfect bound book featuring the history of this phenomenal musical version, HG Wells’ history and biog, details on rarities and TWOTW merchandise and much more...

REMASTERED DOUBLE ALBUM
J2K 94434
- Original double album repackaged into a deluxe 6-panel digipak.
- 2 disc hybrid SACD featuring new mixed stereo and multi-channel audio from the collector's edition.
- Expanded 48-page full color booklet with new artwork, sleeve notes and content

FURTHER NOTES ON JEFF WAYNE’S MUSICAL VERSION OF THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

Combining the stylized tradition of old-radio-dramas with the sophistication of modern studio composition, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of the Worlds was a completely innovative work when it was first heard. Reared in the New York musical community, Wayne fashioned his talent and experience in record composition and production in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. He produced the David Essex album Rock On, which reached number one in the UK and earned a Grammy Award nomination in the States.

His reputation as a unique talent with precise musical sensibilities earned him the loyalty of the rock community and its most technically skilled players, including Chris Spedding, Herbie Flowers, Ray Cooper, Barry Morgan, and Jo Partridge. As a result, when Wayne announced his plans to reinvent H.G Well’s TWOTW as a musical drama, it was an easy task to recruit the cream of the acting and music talent at the time. The Moody Blue’s Justin Hayward, Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, David Essex, Julie Covington as well as Chris Thompson from Manfred Mann’s Earth Band all contributed their vocal abilities to the work. In the role of The Journalist, one of Britain’s greatest acting talents was enlisted for the role. With his distinctively rich tones, Richard Burton brings the story to life with his gripping delivery. The result is a gloriously lurid, multi-faceted composition, which unites progressive rock, classical, narrative, and innovative electronic technology to bring this frightening story to life.

The rest is music history. It went on to sell tens of millions worldwide, eventually being dubbed the best-selling UK ‘Soundtrack’ in 15 years. International hits like ‘The Eve of War’ and ‘Forever Autumn’ are instantly recognizable with the latter, sung by Justin Haywood, getting major airplay and becoming a club favorite on both sides of the pond. Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds won various awards including two Ivor Novellos for songwriting as well as the 1980 USA Best Recording in Science Fiction and Fantasy, judged by none other than Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock and George Lucas. Various foreign language versions have topped the charts throughout the world and have generated even more interest in TWOTW.

Jeff Wayne, recently commenting on his experience remixing his entire musical version of The War of The Worlds in stereo and a brand new mix for the SACD 5.1 format:

‘Having returned to my old Martian friend after almost 27 years, where the original multi track tapes (77 in all) required for reasons of protecting them - first to be baked, then transferred onto hard discs, and finally into the digital domain, before any creative work could start.

Once achieved, the original recordings were rebuilt - sound by sound, track by track and put into synchronization as a digital equivalent to the original analogue 48-track production from the mid-1970’s. This part spanned just over three months alone and proved to be an achievement in itself, something a number of top London studios thought was impossible.

The next phase was to select and edit CD 3, The Remixes 1979-2005 – a collection of remixes that have either been hits through the years, or just simply musically rewarding to listen to, all influenced by the ‘groove of the day’.

Then 3 separate CDs worth of rarities and outtakes were assembled, taken either from the digital material sourced from the 77 multi track tapes, or from the 345 stereo tapes of rough mixes that had been saved and archived from every original session.

Next we chose to remix the stereo version. There is no doubt that remixing TWOTW in stereo proved a very rewarding experience. The extra punch and clarity due to the improved band widths and technology generally gave a qualitative difference to the previous stereo version of TWOTW.

But mixing my musical version of The War of The Worlds in the new SACD format was something else entirely, and has proven to be one of the true highlights of my career as a composer, arranger, conductor and producer.

The end result, in my opinion, is nothing short of spectacular – the listener IS in the recording with a Martian invasion in Victorian England happening all around you. The power and the glory of SACD as a music delivery platform is no doubt here to stay, and deservedly so’.

REVIEW: Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds
by K Hoffman

Get immersed into the world of HG Wells' novel War of the Worlds with Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds. Originally released in 1978, Jeff's music has had many fans and has grown to become a classic. Now a whole new generation will be exposed to this galactic experience. And they will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly the music will pull them into the story a create a whole new world from HG Wells words.

At times the music seems a little dated [at one point it is very reminiscent of Logan's Run or the disco scenes from Buck Roger's in the 25th Century], but that feeling quickly disappears as one becomes so engulfed in the music and what it is telling us above and beyond the words of the narration.

Fans of the both the book and films will find this to be a remarkable addition to the entire War of the Worlds experience.