Ridley Scott can abstract the narration from Blade Runner, Spielberg can remove guns from E.T. and Lucas can tinker with the Star Wars trilogy all he likes, but a re-recording of the most iconic and daring double concept album ever? Is nothing sacred?
Originally released in 1978, ‘Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds’ remains an award-winning landmark masterpiece that has continually won new fans, spending over 330 weeks on the UK chart to date, reaching No. 1 in 11 countries and selling over 15 million copies. But now Wayne has revisited his original work with a new recording and new voices.
Liam Neeson (OSCAR nominee, we should say) takes over from Richard Burton on the role of The Narrator, bringing all his celtic charm and impeccable voice skills to the part – which really is the essence of the album for many people. This is no copycat performance (unlike the rest of the cast) – this is a supremely powerful interpretation from one of the world’s finest living actors. A reading that rivals the great Welshman.
The Taken star brings a rugged restlessness and an unflinching urgency that Burton’s poetic and beautiful performance lacked. Neeson is very much a part of the proceedings, a character in the midst of the alien apocalypse. The Irish actor’s class shines with every utterance, with every vowel delivered.
Sadly, the rest of the cast don’t fare as well. Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson’s take on The Artilleryman (portrayed by David Essex on the original) is straight out of a school play. His sung antics are a tad better though it feels like a cheap impression of Essex. Similarly Maverick Sabre displays no signs of any acting ability and his vocals are but a copy of Phil Lynott’s extraordinary performance on ‘The Spirit of Man’.
Joss Stone also pops up on the same track, serving up her predictable X Factor style histrionics and wavers all over the tune as if the notes were merely a suggestion, rather than, you know, like the actual tune. Her acting skills are satisfactory though the tone of her voice features none of the innocence or precious fragility of Julie Covington’s 1978 vocal.
Gary Barlow does a fine job with ‘The Eve of the War’ and ‘Forever Autumn;, his voice is perfectly suited to the soft tones of Justin Hayward (who sang the original tracks), double tracked to perfection. Again, however, it’s a facsimile of the original.
Which is mirrored in the album’s production. Very little has been changed. There’s the odd dub-step, trancey style synth and bass thrown in (which already makes it sound dated) and some new alien voices appear occasionally but, for the most part, it’s the same as Wayne’s first attempt. This is not really a revisiting or remaining, as promised, but simply just a new cast recording.
Similar, but satisfyingly different, is the fantastic artwork that accompanies the album. The original record came with the most beautiful booklet, illustrating the events of the story and thankfully the 2012 version also obliges (there’s also a vinyl edition too!). This time, the scenes are the same though from a new point of view, all superbly done and dazzling on the eye – adding to the full War of the Worlds experience.
It has to be said that ‘Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds’ is still one of the most remarkable pieces of music you’ll hear this decade, if not century. Its boldness is unparalleled and its vision is still light years ahead of the music industry.
If you’ve never heard the album before then waste no time, get out there and purchase – be under no misapprehension, it will blow your fucking mind.
Epilogue…
If, however, you have heard it then you already know what an awesome audio adventure this is. And you’re undoubtedly more concerned with the value of this release. It really is simply just a cast re-recording, the soundtrack itself, for the most part is almost identical but ‘The New Generation’ is certainly worth a listen just for curiosity’s sake and for the tones of Liam Neeson, who makes this redux such a compelling listen.
Released on Monday 26 November 2012 by Sony CMG.
What’s your favourite track on the album? Let us know below…