Fans and critics of this amazing and remarkable piece of music alike are currently celebrating the 30th Anniversary since it was first unleashed by Jeff Wayne in 1978.
![CD cover of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds [1978]](https://darkaeon.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/cd20war20of20the20worlds.jpg)
Co-incidentally, H.G. Wells’ innovative and spectacular novel puts the first Martian landing as occurring on Horsell Common (Woking, Surrey) at midnight on 12th August 1898; 110 years ago.
In celebration of this, Jeff Wayne and the official website for the album are set to release a special 30th Anniversary web page at midnight (currently showing the holding page) which amongst other things will set out the plans for a special tour next year (the past two have been amazing) as well as including a whole feast of other The War Of The World goodies.
I can’t wait for October when the new dates go on sale – this time, I am determined to go and watch this live!
The 2 Disc Special Edition DVD from 2006, and the still photos from 2007 make the production look amazing, and I hear that Jeff Wayne and co. are planning to put on an even better show this time round!
Above is a clip from The Eve Of War – perhaps the most known of the tracks from this album/musical adaptation.
Below is the DVD trailer which shows a little more of the tour, including the result of the marvelous reconstruction of Richard Burton so that they could revive him in his original role as the narrator.
For those unaware of the classic sci-fi story “The War Of The Worlds” (ignoring for a moment the terrible film adaptation, and it’s soon to be released sequel) I would suggest checking out the below pages:
The War of the Worlds (1898), by H. G. Wells, is an early science fiction novel which describes an invasion of England by aliens from Mars. It is one of the earliest and best-known depictions of an alien invasion of Earth, and has influenced many others, as well as spawning several films, radio dramas, comic book adaptations, and a television series based on the story. The 1938 radio broadcast caused public outcry against the episode, as many listeners believed that an actual Martian invasion was in progress, a notable example of mass hysteria.
[Quote from Wikipedia – the first link below]
- Wikipedia Page (H.G. Wells’ Novel)
- Wikipedia (Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds)
- Official site: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds
- Youtube search for the live tour
Finally, to end, I thought I’d post the below fan video as I’ve not giggled so much at something in ages! 😛
Gari Wellingham 
I rather doubt that the CD cover is an original from 1978 😛
I do adore the soundtrack though 🙂
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In fact, as an afterthought, I should also say I like the artwork: its a successful entwinement of the space age designs popularised by the space exploration and lunar landings in the 1960s and early 1970s – and repopularised by Star wars, released a year before War of the Worlds – and the Jules Vernes depictions, apocalyptic visions and organic Art Nouveau life forms more contemporaneous to Wells.
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Right you are Mr Alex, I’ve never had it on vinyl and so CD popped into my head automatically for some reason… a true child of my time!
Cor – what an afterthought!
I also like how HG Wells gave detailed instructions on how to build these machines – measurements, fibres the works! I believe that it was these detailed plans that helped Jeff Wayne and co. to build the fantastic (and first!) of these Martian Fighting Machines which was a focal point of the stage tour.
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[…] first started getting excited about the 30th Anniversary Tour last year, and the excitement of going to see this live has been […]
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[…] Jeff Wayne’s Musical War Of The Worlds […]
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