The Album Review Club - Week #139 - (page 1815) - Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds

[FogBlueInSanFran]

War of the Worlds is unintentionally dumb, stupid and absolutely glorious. I didn't stop smiling throughout. This is obviously not the response it's meant to generate but this is so much fun. You can't dismiss it as camp as it's clearly trying to be serious but it's so ridiculous that I loved nearly all of it.

This was not a staple in my household growing up although i was aware of its central motif. I think there was a 90's dance mix of The Eve of the War or something but I definitely had not heard anything beyond that famous dun dun dun line. I would definitely have remembered something this nuts. Eve of the War sets things up nicely laying out that main line plus many of the other central motifs. The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one. But still they come is a great line over a great melody I was always happy to hear elsewhere on the album. The music is overblown, dramatic and exciting. It's also influential. At various moments I'm reminded of a thousand anime theme songs clearly paying homage.

Horsell Common is probably my favourite. I guess by playing the melody on an usual instrument it's meant to sound odd (i had to google what it was because i thought it sounded a little like a harpsichord but it definitely wasn't a harpsichord) but it sounds proper cheery to me. We hear the first of the voicebox that will reoccur fabulously elsewhere and the whole thing is underpinned by a proper mad bassline. It makes no sense if you question it just enjoy it.

In Artilleryman the narrator describes the deafening howls of the heat ray roaring like thunder and we are treated (seriously it's a treat) to the voicebox oooooolaaaaaaa. It's perfect in how stupid it is. Another great line in the narration - "bows and arrows against the lightning" gives way to some funky disco bass octaves for no reason. Yay! It peaks here for a while and becomes more restrained although still banana's.

All the motifs come in and repeat at various times as the narration progresses. It doesn't always land perfectly i think due to Burton's refusal to narrate over the music. When he says "I realised with horror that I'd seen this awful thing before" and the main motif reappears it's pretty cool.

After a fairly sedate section at the end of Side 1 and beginning of Side 2 it goes bonkers again for The Artilleryman Returns. We get his cheeky spy motif and then big brass Goldfingeresque stabs as it enters Brave New World. It makes absolutely no sense. I love it. The falsetto as Essex hits the word "world" is amazing.

If you ignore everything it's trying to be and just allow it then you'll have a lot of fun. 8/10

I am now very, very confused.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Given that there are about 5 quadrillion novels and very few have been set to pop music ever, I'd suggest almost no one has ever been able to get away with it really, and that it nearly never works.

Did I mention I hate musicals? :)

Not too fond of them myself.
I get it though that they float some people’s boats.

I loved Prog at the time and particularly Yes, so I’d also have a fondness for the individuals in the band.

However, I did try some of RW’s solo work and a bit like the MAGA crowd with Trump, I wilfully overlooked the criticisms at first but eventually could see exactly what the punk crowd were complaining about.
There is a difference between obvious talent or proficiency in one’s field and actual artistry.
I tried but had to let Rick go.
Even Olias of Sunhillow by Jon Anderson is very much dated now and I loved it at the time. Then again it IS most definitely an album with a fantastical theme admittedly but it is a coherent album with decent music and songs.

This however, WotW, I even thought at the time, your taking the piss now.

It wasn’t for me. It still isn’t.
There’s a couple of decent songs on it, well one actually and with the second your just glad that Essex is actually singing rather than trying to act.

Sorry folks. I’ll stay out of it from here, let some add a bit of positivity.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I am now very, very confused.

What’s confusing? It’s plain as day.
He said it do shite, he loves it!

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Not too fond of them myself.
I get it though that they float some people’s boats.

I loved Prog at the time and particularly Yes, so I’d also have a fondness for the individuals in the band.

However, I did try some of RW’s solo work and a bit like the MAGA crowd with Trump, I wilfully overlooked the criticisms at first but eventually could see exactly what the punk crowd were complaining about.
There is a difference between obvious talent or proficiency in one’s field and actual artistry.
I tried but had to let Rick go.
Even Olias of Sunhillow by Jon Anderson is very much dated now and I loved it at the time. Then again it IS most definitely an album with a fantastical theme admittedly but it is a coherent album with decent music and songs.

This however, WotW, I even thought at the time, your taking the piss now.

It wasn’t for me. It still isn’t.
There’s a couple of decent songs on it, well one actually and with the second your just glad that Essex is actually singing rather than trying to act.

Sorry folks. I’ll stay out of it from here, let some add a bit of positivity.

My positive contribution is not to score it. I want a listening experience to be pleasurable or moving. I've read the novel -- it's quite good as a critique of imperialism (at least that's how we contextualiz(s)ed it in school 40 years ago). But the idea of mixing the great Richard Burton with . . . errr, average musicians, indifferent songs and a photocopy of someone else's art, all now dated beyond hope stylistically, is too shudder-inducing to contemplate. 20 minutes I found myself reacting as I never have to a record here -- not wanting to fast forward, but to simply turn it off and make it stop. As I have no nostalgic connectivity to it, I've nothing to say in that regard, although the fact that the nerds I hung out with at that stage of my life didn't bring it to my attention then is a potentially even more damning indictment of it. Put that into the mixer with my recent pleas for short, punchy and uplifting, and this feels like a sail to Antarctica for me. Again apologies, but I am not sure a record exists that could be more polar opposite to what I want to listen to right now.

 

[journolud]

War of the Worlds is unintentionally dumb, stupid and absolutely glorious. I didn't stop smiling throughout. This is obviously not the response it's meant to generate but this is so much fun. You can't dismiss it as camp as it's clearly trying to be serious but it's so ridiculous that I loved nearly all of it.

This was not a staple in my household growing up although i was aware of its central motif. I think there was a 90's dance mix of The Eve of the War or something but I definitely had not heard anything beyond that famous dun dun dun line. I would definitely have remembered something this nuts. Eve of the War sets things up nicely laying out that main line plus many of the other central motifs. The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one. But still they come is a great line over a great melody I was always happy to hear elsewhere on the album. The music is overblown, dramatic and exciting. It's also influential. At various moments I'm reminded of a thousand anime theme songs clearly paying homage.

Horsell Common is probably my favourite. I guess by playing the melody on an usual instrument it's meant to sound odd (i had to google what it was because i thought it sounded a little like a harpsichord but it definitely wasn't a harpsichord) but it sounds proper cheery to me. We hear the first of the voicebox that will reoccur fabulously elsewhere and the whole thing is underpinned by a proper mad bassline. It makes no sense if you question it just enjoy it.

In Artilleryman the narrator describes the deafening howls of the heat ray roaring like thunder and we are treated (seriously it's a treat) to the voicebox oooooolaaaaaaa. It's perfect in how stupid it is. Another great line in the narration - "bows and arrows against the lightning" gives way to some funky disco bass octaves for no reason. Yay! It peaks here for a while and becomes more restrained although still banana's.

All the motifs come in and repeat at various times as the narration progresses. It doesn't always land perfectly i think due to Burton's refusal to narrate over the music. When he says "I realised with horror that I'd seen this awful thing before" and the main motif reappears it's pretty cool.

After a fairly sedate section at the end of Side 1 and beginning of Side 2 it goes bonkers again for The Artilleryman Returns. We get his cheeky spy motif and then big brass Goldfingeresque stabs as it enters Brave New World. It makes absolutely no sense. I love it. The falsetto as Essex hits the word "world" is amazing.

If you ignore everything it's trying to be and just allow it then you'll have a lot of fun. 8/10

I preferred your first review and I think it’s only fair we take the score from that as your first and final answer. But then I’m not the boss of this thread

 

[bennyboy]

Enough is enough.
Even worse than the Streets.Wish I had given them a 2 now.
1/10.

 

[mrbelfry]

I am now very, very confused.

It fails at absolutely everything it tries to do
So if you divorce it from it's intention (if that is something that's possible to do) then out of the madness something beautiful grows. It's doing the working and the thinking that wears a fella out. Do neither, drink champagne in the sewers and just enjoy how incredibly stupid it is.

 

[RobMCFC]

I preferred your first review and I think it’s only fair we take the score from that as your first and final answer. But then I’m not the boss of this thread

Amen to that.

@mrbelfry seems keen to re-write how people review albums here. His reviews are very good, I love his enthusiasm, and I applaud his efforts to up the ante. However, whilst two reviews is fine, two scores isn't.

So what's it gonna be, Mr B?

 

[mrbelfry]

Amen to that.

@mrbelfry seems keen to re-write how people review albums here. His reviews are very good, I love his enthusiasm, and I applaud his efforts to up the ante. However, whilst two reviews is fine, two scores isn't.

So what's it gonna be, Mr B?

It's going to be an 8 then sorry. It just makes me happy hearing this

I wasn't trying to be awkward. The first time I heard it I hated it. It isnt even 5% of how dark and discordant it should be. However by the third listen I'd just decided to let myself be happy

Also to clarify that although I think this is pretty stupid I'm not laughing at it. It's not really pompous enough to laugh at and Im definitely not laughing with it because it's not trying to be funny. I also don't see how you can pastiche it because it's so genuine and well intentioned. It's not camp so it's not that. Maybe it's like Baby Shark for grown ups or something

 

[RobMCFC]

It's going to be an 8 then sorry. It just makes me happy hearing this

I wasn't trying to be awkward. The first time I heard it I hated it. It isnt even 5% of how dark and discordant it should be. However by the third listen I'd just decided to let myself be happy

I'm impressed you've had time to listen to it three times already!