Jeff Waynes's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds' - An Album from Another Planet

Released in June 1978, Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War Of The Worlds is one of the most recognisable albums of all time which had become a classic overnight. It has sold 13 million copies worldwide and remained in the British chart for 260 consecutive weeks following its launch.

Inspired by the HG Wells novel, the album is a startling mixture of prog rock, classical and literary influences. It had instant street-cred with narrator Richard Burton along with wonderful performances by many of biggest stars of the 70s, including David Essex, Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott and Julie Covington.

Originally spawning four hit singles the songs have been updated for new audiences on many occasions including Ben Liebrand's remix of The Eve of the War which returned to number one in 1989.

TWOTW remains a favourite across the generations and is still winning new fans today nearly 30 years on.

Last year a remastered version was released, suspiciously close to the Tom Cruise film version of the story, sending the album Top 10 again. It is an awesome album which, while sounding a little dated in some ways, still stands up as a production of immense power.

In addition to the standard re-issue came the ultimate release - a seven disc set featuring the original album on double hybrid SA-CD with 5.1 surround sound and stereo re-mastered mixes, a CD featuring the best of the remixes, three discs of rarities and outtakes plus a making of' DVD documentary.

TWOTW deluxe edition is in no doubt a labour of love and as far as many box sets are concerned it's difficult to be too critical of how it has been put together. With so much material available how could I be? It makes a change to be over-indulged as opposed to underwhelmed by supposedly definitive releases.

The first thing to note with this edition is that it is all packaged in a 12" by 12" hard back book which reflects the original album artwork. The paintings are so much more dramatic and imposing at this size compared to those in the standard CD issue.

The book itself is a lavish affair and I find myself turning the pages with the care you would if this was the original copy of the Doomsday book. I don't know how many of these sets have been issued but you would imagine it was fairly limited. Jeff Wayne and CBS have taken a great deal of time to put this together so I feel I must respect that care.

It

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