Jeff Wayne (‘The War Of The Worlds: The New Generation’ interview

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Earlier this month, CultBox caught up with the man behind one of the greatest double-concept albums of all time, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the The War of the World.

Now, Jeff Wayne is back with a new album featuring an updated cast and recording (including Liam Neeson and Gary Barlow) and a new stage version too.

> Buy the album on Amazon.

Here’s what Jeff had to say about The New Generation

How did The New Generation come about and why make a new version of such a beloved, classic album?

“It was like a slow burn. Over the years, I’d always been asked, “If you’re going to do it in today’s terms what would you do as a composer and producer?” I’d never gave a considered reaction to it because I’d just say, “Nobody’s told me it’s broken, so I have to presume there’s nothing for me to fix.”

“I’m proud of it as it is. We started touring the arenas in 2006 with a live rendition and multimedia extravaganza, based on the original recording, we started performing it and I’m up there conducting. I’ve been the creative producer of the tours and I started seeing it from a different way, a dramatic way as a live piece.

“Over time I went back to the original script that I recorded with Richard Burton and the other guest artists and I remembered, when I read it, how much didn’t make it on to the original album. There was at least as much again of Richard’s role as The Journalist as that did make it on to the album and that got me thinking.

“There’s a lot of rich material – I went back and read the HG Wells novel again, ‘cos I thought I knew it all but I thought I’d double-check and see how we adapted it. We kept it in the same time and themes as HG wrote it. That’s what I fell in love with was this Victorian tale, dark and on Earth, it’s not out there in the galaxy somewhere (which is another thing I loved about it).

“I committed to working on the story, the script and, as a result of expanding that, and, just as a statistic, Liam [Neeson] performs 90 sequences whereas Richard was 74. So that gives you an idea of just how much it’s opened up. I’ve expanded the story, now I can expand my score, my compositions, the sounds, everything about it – which I did.

“The artwork has all been reimagined so it’s familiar, but it’s got a whole new look to it. Our tour, similarly, has almost two hours of CGI and that too, in parallel, has been reimagined. So everything is as one.

“I wanted to be sure I was doing this for a valid reason, I wanted to genuinely reimagine it on every level. I started in January 2011 and the album was finished about six weeks ago and we’re still working on the tour.”

The War of the Worlds stage show used comprehensive CG work on huge screens, is the CGI different to the previous tour?

“Very different. Not only in the look, but different angles, textures. So it’s totally familiar in content. We never exploited the third machine that HG Wells created called the Flying Machine. Now in the animation, and even in the new artwork package, they actually fly and have a more prominent place because it’s relevant to the story.

“The story has really expanded as well. Which was the heart of how I then moved on to expanding the score – everything has grown as a result of that.

“The detail in the music, if you give it a chance, it’s virtually a new recording. The detail, the new arrangements, the grooves, the beats-per-minute, all that and the story have all moved on but it’s still familiar – which was my goal. That it would stand up, fresh in its own space but still be familiar to those who know it. For those who don’t know it, they’ll just judge it on its own merit – or look at it in its own way.”

Have the old cast heard the new album?

“No, well maybe now because Forever Autumn is being played [on the radio in the UK]. Justin [Hayward, singer on the original album version]  may have heard it if he’s around. The last time I communicated with him he was touring in the States. He knows that Gary Barlow has performed it on the new record and he said, “Gary’s singing it? Great,” but I doubt anyone has heard anything else.

“I had diner with David [Essex, who played the role of the Artilleryman in the ’78 release] and his wife and David said, “Who’s doing my role?” I said, “Well it’s Ricky Wilson,” and he said, “I’m not familiar with this name,” I said, ” He’s the lead singer from Kaiser Chiefs, ” he said, “Oh right, OK, he’s great!”

“I’d seen Kaiser Chiefs live and the one thing Ricky really has, aside form having a great voice, is that he really commands the stage, he just has a way of keeping you, the audience, watching him – as a lead singer he does dominate. And that, for our role, the Artilleryman, is fantastic.

“In truth, everybody who’s on the album or I’m touring with their work I’ve either known for a while or my son put me on to them. These are great artists and I really wanted to work with them.”

Liam Neeson has taken the role Richard Burton made so iconic on the 1978 original, was he your first choice?

“I did build up a list of maybe 10 to 12 of names of actors whose work I admire, just thought they were terrific actors and that could be right the role, if they were interested.  I got movies out on DVD, went on to YouTube to check out interviews they may have done, TV shows, anything I could gather of all these various actors. Watched them all and then I repeated the process where I closed my eyes, just to hear their voices on their own and it was an extraordinary transition.

“Listening to a voice is quite different than listening and watching it with a physical body with everything that goes with a physical performance. And that list reduced itself to one name which was Liam’s. I don’t know what would have happened had Liam not expressed an interest [laughs]. We probably wouldn’t be here talking today!

“From that point, when I really knew it was Liam, we found out his agent in New York who passed the idea onto Liam immediately and he came back within a couple of days saying, “Liam’s keen to talk! Can you come to New York?”

“We got on a plane, went there and we chatted for about two and a half hours and eventually it had to come to conclusion and I asked, “So what do you think Liam?” And his response, which I’ll never forget, was, “It’s the demons.”

“I paused and thought, “What’s the demons?” I know he’s from Ireland. Maybe this is something from within the Irish heritage and means something in tradition and he could see my brain ticking over not quite understanding what he meant and added, “No, no. It’s the demon of Richard Burton.”

“Just before Richard passed away the last thing that he did was a mini TV series [1984 CBS production, Ellis Island], what I didn’t know was that Liam was in that mini-series with him. But he had a much minor role by comparison with Richard who had the lead in it.

“Liam said, “I used to watch him work and listen to his voice. Not only that, but years earlier I actually bought your album. So I know the album, I know how Richard sounds, so I got to think about it.” I said think about it as a baton being handed from Richard to you, and don’t forget there’s an opportunity for you as an actor certainly not to do a Richard Burton – I want you to do a Liam Neeson, that’s why we’re sitting here.

“In three days, I got a call from his agent, “Count him in!” Good fortune has struck twice I feel.”

Was there a temptation to put new songs or characters in The New Generation?

“That’s a good question. On every level, I was looking at it to see if there was a new character, a new song by an existing character and what I wound up with is: expanded score, so there is new content, entirely re-recorded, re-grooved; there is some new singing but there isn’t a new song. I concluded that, not that I wouldn’t have wanted to, I couldn’t find a way to genuinely open it up and not abuse the time that it was gonna take. Whether it was going to help it along or slow it down and I tried for some time for places to do this but I felt I couldn’t.

“My instinct is telling me not to do this just for the sake of releasing a single or something. It has to still fit with what we’ve achieved over these many years but still expand it in a natural way. And the way I’ve done it is the way I’ve perceived it, right or wrong.

“What there is not on the album, but is in the show is about two/three minute scene between Liam as The Journalist and his fiancee Carrie. It works great for the show – she’s know seen up where Liam is generally seen which is this floating holographic performance where Carrie is now also, not just up on the screen.

“He’s down on stage and they’re interacting in this scene together. It’s a very emotional scene. They’ve been separated by the end of the first half and they’re not on stage together, they’re talking out toward each other.

“Liam picked it up, he said, “I know the album very well and I’m thrilled to see that what you’ve done is bring out the personal relationship.” You’ve got all hell breaking loose, an alien invasion from Mars, so the canvas is huge but it’s the simplicity of two people being separated and and don’t ever quite connect until the very, very end when The Martians are defeated. [Spoilers! – Ed.]”

Speaking of the ending, yours is much darker than in the novel, what was the thinking behind that?

“The last thought that I got out of the novel, and you’re absolutely right, it’s a happier ending, but the key dialogue or text is, “Does the future belong to us or The Martians?” My forward progression to contemporary times of that possible return is why I did what I did to make the ending as it was.

“On the next tour, NASA Control is a character now live on stage and we’ve got a whole scene with NASA Control. He’s facing the audience, all the NASA controllers are behind him at their various space stations communicating. What he doesn’t notice is this 35 foot tall, 3 tonne Fighting Machine standing behind him.

“He knows he’s losing contact with all the other space stations and then he turns around and there’s the Fighting Machine. The last thing you hear is from The Martians, “The problem is, of course, the humans.” It fires its Heat Ray and splinters in to five real flame Heat Rays and incinerates in full view of the audience NASA Control and then blackout. It’s quite and ending!

You worked on over 3,000 television ads with directors such as Ridley Scott and Alan Parker – do you miss writing jingles?

“No, for me, that period of time – it was the right time in my career. But I look back fondly. It was a great period because some people saw me as a classical composer (I was trained classically) where others knew me more of a rock musician and others electronic. So I was getting commissions all the time from all different sources which, for me, put a discipline on both time to produce music and write but also to keep testing every style of music that was out there.”

The Eve of the War has been remixed many, many times – how does it make you feel to have your work re-appropriated by other artists?

“I think for anybody who’s creative, it’s the greatest kind of reward. To hear other people reinterpreting what you’ve created is fantastic. I love it when it happens.”

From working on The War of the Worlds, do you have any abiding memories?

“I think the overriding memory I have on both productions is the people I worked with; the guest stars, the musicians. The enjoyment of working with so many talented people who really gave everything they could because they just wanted to be involved. Quite different, two generations. So you get a completely different energy from one to the other.”

And finally, do you have a favourite moment from your versions of The War of the Worlds?

“I don’t have any favourites, they’re all my children! That’s one I can’t answer. [Laughs]”

> Buy the album on Amazon.