Jeff Waynes Musical Version von 'Der Krieg der Welten' - The New Generation

Jeff Wayne's Musical version of War Of The Worlds released in 1978 is one of the great concept albums mixing progressive rock with symphonic orchestra and vividly remember buying the album on the year of its release with my Christmas money . As I write this at the start of 2014 the album remains the 38th best selling album in British chart history with over 2.5 million sales . In 2012 Wayne decided to update the album . Brave move because there's a danger that you're going to release something so radically different that the original fans are going to hate what you've done . Wayne decided to play it safe and the 2012 version is little different from the original save for the line up where notably Liam Neeson replaces the late Richard Burton . That said the album itself didn't sell very well just like Wayne's musical version of SPARTACUS fro twenty years ago . so the market of a concept album seems confined to the 1970s . This is the stage version of that 1978 concept album

You certainly can't fault Wayne for his ambition . This mixes stage performance with cinema and because you can't expect Liam Neeson to commit himself to a theatre run he appears as a hologram and yet the physical presence of Neeson feels very real and he emits a sense of gravitas on to the audience . The music plays and singers come on stage as HG Wells iconic alien invasion story takes place . This isn't .so much a stage show but more of an experience and undoubtedly a logistical nightmare for everyone involved . Neeson's narrator is required to knock out Jason Donovan's deranged preacher which sounds more difficult than it sounds . Leaves fall on the audience as the show stopping ballad Forever Autumn plays , a Martian fighting machine comes on stage as humanity loses its war against the invaders with the fighting machine firing its heat ray in to the audience . Perhaps the most difficult feat is the ending when a Martian vaporises an unnamed NASA controller live on stage that will have you gasping " How did they do that " ? The audience must have gone home very satisfied and this DVD is a great substitute for those of us who missed the stage show

A word on the film playing in the background . It's done in a cartoonish CGI sort of way which is in no way a criticism . If it resembles anything in look then it resembles Zack Snyder's 300 and at the same time looks very expensive especially when it shows epic crowd scenes and one wonders how expensive this was ? Undoubtedly the most impressive aspect is the Martians themselves who are disturbingly alien and slimy and the stuff of nightmares . I'm sure if Wells himself was alive today he'd give this show his seal of approval

Amazing I loved it!! So much to keep you entertained not to mention great music! Highly recommend a watch if you like Sci-fi or just a good show for that matter.

The music is HORRIBLE

And does Liam Neeson really need the money? It's absurdly boring.

The album was amazing, unlike anything, and very listenable, although Disc 1 (on vinyl) was far superior to Disc 2.

There have been numerous live re-incarnations, which have received great reviews generally. This version, with a 3D Liam Neeson (that really works and he has a great voice) dates from 2012-2013, and was the only version (of 9 live productions) that has the risible Marti Pellow destroying "Forever Autumn", the wonderful song that Wayne adapted from a Lego advert for the incredible voice of Justin Hayward (Moody Blues; Blue Jays; solo).

I have to admit that Pellow destroying this song, with his horrific teeth emotionless delivery and fake sincerity was where me and this DVD parted company. I gave up in disgust. Adding to the general meh factor was Wayne supposedly "conducting" by doing Dad Dancing whilst being hilariously ignored by the various highly talented session musicians. Special credit must be given to the guitarist / vocoder / mandolin ? Balalaika) player, he is truly amazing, his tone, technical accomplishment and general IDGAF attitude was the best thing about this show, I think it is Huw Edwards and the bassist also was superb, who knew some of those sound effects came from a bass guitar?

Even after seeing this I'd probably still go to a live show, but not if tombstone-teeth is singing, and I'd be more than happy if they just did a 3D version of Wayne to fist punch from the sidelines, like a Travis Kelce style interpreter for the deaf.

Jeff Wayne's original album is without a doubt 10/10 perfect timeless classic. It was a totally original concept album featuring legendary narration by Richard Burton and wonderful electronic music while also telling a faithful and enjoyable adaptation of H G Wells story. Many years after its first release, and by which time it was a classic album in many households, Jeff Wayne created a live tour to perform his work live to the masses. The 2006 recording of the original tour was a lot of fun too and brought to life the classic sounds which for many years were 2-dimensional only. The singers were excellent and the musical performers excellent. There is a video that runs behind the performers which helps visually tell the story. This helped bring the actual heart of the story to life in a way that always seemed secondary to the music when one is listening to an album. So watching the live tour is another way to experience and to bring to life the wonderful classic piece of musical work.

However, in 2012 Jeff Wayne rerecorded the album under the title of War of the Worlds - The New Generation. The music is the same but rerecorded with different arrangements and instrumentation. This album was largely criticised by fans because nothing was broken so why did he decide to fix it? He only rendered it worse? Well I thought so too, I never listen to the New Generation album as it is inferior to the original. However, after watching the 2013 blu ray recording of the New Generation live tour I now understand why jeff felt he needed to redo it. It is because it was about reworking the live show to include more of the H G Wells narrative so as to make the liver performance more impactful to the audience, particularly in regards to conveying the story. And I have to say that watching the 2013 recording of the New Generation live tour was much more engaging than watching this 2006 recording of the original tour. The staging is better with better visuals and effects and narration and the Wells story comes through in a more complete way. And this in turns heightens the experience of the music that accompanies it. So in the end, while the original album is by far the superior to listen to, the 2013 live recording is by far the better one to watch. It is just a shame that in the 2013 recording you have the inferior musical arrangements as accompaniments and some rather dreadful vocals by Marti Pellow.