Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: The New Generation [DVD]

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But in 2021, which marks a momentous 15 years of live touring, the production is up to 12 trucks, and with it, a host of ingredients and special effects that will challenge and excite the senses. Burton had already committed to start work on Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) in Los Angeles after the Equus run, so Wayne organised to record the narration there to avoid further delays.

Several musical changes were made for the West End production including a key change for the song "Thunder Child", a new song written for the production titled "With Joy and Hope and Wonder", as well as a "Forever Autumn" duet at the beginning of Act II. Although his contract with CBS did not guarantee a public release, Wayne consulted his wife and parents who encouraged him to continue and finish the album despite the substantial costs involved in its production. A company of soldiers is deployed at the common, and that evening an injured and exhausted Artilleryman wanders into the Journalist's house and tells him his comrades have been killed by fighting machines—tripod vehicles built and controlled by Martians, each armed with its own Heat-Ray. Wayne said the one that he is asked about the most is the sound of the cylinder unscrewing when the Martians emerge from their spaceship, which he achieved by turning and scraping two kitchen saucepans together that Young then amplified and captured in stereo.

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.

Wayne originally commissioned Roger Dean, best known for his work for the progressive rock band Yes, to produce the artwork for the album. Since the album was released, Wayne has tried to be more faithful to his original version by toning down the synthesizer elements and re-arranging the string orchestra when he performed the album live in 2014 and 2018, but keeping his new compositions and Liam Neeson's narration entirely unchanged. Sadly, snow and blizzards conspired to prevent me attending the 2010 show; I was fortunate, however, to be able to attend the 2012 showing of the revamped show.In terms of the DVD, the production is pretty slick, capturing the epic moments of the New Generation show rather admirable; however, the full impact of the descending Martian Fighting Machine and Heat Ray can only be seen in a live environment.