The Album Review Club - Week #145 - (page 1923) - Tellin' Stories - The Charlatans

[journolud]

I'm not feeling the love for this album that others are. I may have heard it in it's entirity before, I'm not sure but certainly I'm aware of the two main songs from it. And I can't argue with what an effective opener The Eve of the War is, it's a great piece of music. But up there with Beethoven? Do me a favour... It is so good though that Wayne decides to flog it to death throughout the album, not in anyway making up for the paucity of the rest of it...

Burton's delivery is fine but there's only so often I want to listen to any story. I got bored reading the Gruffalo to my children and I got bored listening to this tale. In fact I wonder if HG Wells got bored writing it and having gone so far couldn't really be arsed coming up with any scenes that demonstrated the power of human resistance and just though fuck it, all the aliens just died because they couldn't hack it on earth.

Forever Atutumn, nice song. I prefer the version that I'm used to without bits of the story in it but that's by the by becuase it's not a song I would listen to anyway.

As for the rest of it... I generally hated it. The songs are too long, the drama is flat, the lyrics are hackneyed. At one point listenting to this driving through the beautiful Welsh contryside I was kind of wishing aliens would come down and get me so I wouldn't have to listen to any more.

I've got a natural aversion to stuff like this, I'm bracketing it with Meat Loaf which for the life of me I can't understand the popularity of and Queen and other music aimed at satisfying the masses.

If I was being more generous I'd accept this album as prog rock and it would have a chance. I love the pretentions of Genesis, Yes a little less so but still highly listenable. This though? Awful vocals from Lynott but not as bad as those of David Essex. Those songs might have just been acceptable if they had made their point and fucked off but they went on and on...

I've said before that I would never score something low just because it isn't my cup of tea if I felt it was a genuine attempt to make music. Low scores are for the perfunctory and cynical. I think this is a cynical piece of work. One great motif and a nice song about somebody dying or something aren't enough to sustain an album. Who asked for a musical fucking version of the War of the Worlds anyway? It sold millions, so as an exercise it worked but not for me.

It's a 4

 

[threespires]

I got bored reading the Gruffalo to my children and I got bored listening to this tale.

Should have just kept switching the voices (and narrative) up to amuse yourself. By the time the kids had had enough of me reading the gruffalo it was madder then anything on this album.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

Apart from the two singles released ‘Forever Autumn’ and ‘The Eve Of The War’ I hadn’t heard anything else from this album before, although a mate had a copy.I don’t like musicals so it didn’t appeal to me.
I’ve only managed one full listen and sadly that was enough, it was like listening to an audio book with an annoying soundtrack and additional space invaders sound effects.Very much of its time.

A brave pick BB and as usual a great nostalgic write up.

1 for the write up,1 for ‘Forever Autumn’ a pleasant song and 1 for Richard Burton.

3/10

 

[LGWIO]

Of it's time and of it's place (as backing to BB's parents swinging parties).

I did think that perhaps the coming of aliens may have been akin to the coming of prog rock or perhaps more precisely with this, synths and electronica.

I also thought that it was perhaps spoilt (or aided) as with TH/SMS, by the fact that so many may have read the book or seen the original film prior to hearing Mr Waynes' offering. Then there are the wonderful tones of Richard Burton which I do think add something to this...but then as others have said, also get in the way.

A couple of stand out tracks and then I have to say everything else was a bit "meh". As the refrain from "Eve of War" kept on being dropped in, it did also make me think that Mr Wayne was struggling to pad this out. But it was ground breaking ... of its time, which is why it stayed in the charts for so long and why word of mouth suggested to so many people that they needed to hear it/own it. We are of course spoiled these days with technology as almost every tom, dick or harry could produce something like this at home with their own PC. They could probably at least produce more alien or eerie sounds that could have enhanced this.

I then think that with my total lack of musical ability, that I am being somewhat churlish in making such comments...not least as I really enjoyed listening to this. Volume up and able to listen uninterrupted was very enjoyable and so its going to be a 6 from the Derry jury

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds
I went into this week's album mostly new on this other than reading @BimboBob's excellent intro to this selection and the memories of it he had.

I had only commented that:

1. this album wasn't a hit in the US
2. I was completely unfamiliar with it prior
3. based on a few scores that I skimmed, this appeared to be to be pretty marmite.

Step right up, indeed.

I didn't watch @BlueHammer85's helpful link to the YT video until after I listened to the full album, and I'm glad I didn't, because I wanted to hear it first, and then this helped fill in "the rest of the story".

For full disclosure, I enjoy and love a good concept album. Always have. The double albums? Even better. A few of the albums mentioned in the video as an inspiration are among my favourites too. The Who's Tommy, The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers, Rush's 2112, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Pink Floyd's The Wall, and DBT's Southern Rock Opera. There are lots.

Throw in that this was a prog album, and this seemingly would be right up my alley. And for parts of it, it certainly was. I didn't know that lead singer Justin Hayward from the Moody Blues sang on this, but when I heard his voice, it was unmistakable. And he really does a fantastic job on the two tracks he was featured on. Of course on "Forever Autumn" with those great lyrics to work with, it's no surprise that this track was a hit. I felt a similar way in hearing Orlando Weeks last year on The Gritterman, an album which I felt very much well integrated the spoken word and singing parts in a very seamless way.

I also enjoyed Chris Thompson from Manfred Mann on "Thunder Child", even if the lyrics there weren't as inspired as the Hayward songs. From a casting point of view, from Richard Burton as the narrator, to those mentioned and also Julie Covington and Phil Lynott on "The Spirit of Man" on the second album, I thought the vocals on this were well-cast.

One thought I had on first listen was these lyrics from "Forever Autumn":

Never before in the history of the world,
Had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together.
​

I'm thinking at that point "what about the holocaust?" and then I hear the next lines:

This was no disciplined march, it was a stampede,
Without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned driving headlong.​

And at that point, I'm thinking, is that a direct nod written for that, or just a coincidence on the number used? I realize the original setting was Victorian England in the late 19th century, but those narrated lines seemed to me too much of a coincidence in the statement and then the number used later, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.

The problem I had (and sorry if this is a repeat), but the music was repetitive, and I do get this was by design from an overall thematic (reprise) angle. However, by the 2nd LP, the music had more than somewhat worn out its welcome, and the music and songs overall were just weaker. There was little in the Red Weed (either part) or the like I could really appreciate. 12 minutes of "Brave New World" felt like "leave me in the grave you are slowly digging and don't let me out". The "Epilogues" were nice and short and we got a NASA shout-out with with an American accent, but by then the 2nd LP record damage had been done.

The first album by far was the enjoyment on this, and if I were to give each a @mrbelfry "best of times, worst of times" dual scores, it would be 8 and then a 3. That works out to 5.5 total and sounds about right, but then I'm inclined to bump 0.5 for the Hayward surprise enjoyment factor on those LP 1 selections, and a 0.5 for the novel concept and efforts taken musically and vocally to put all of this together. I'm good with 6.5 total for an album I believed I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Pass the biscuits for the marmite, please.

 

[mrbelfry]

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds
I went into this week's album mostly new on this other than reading @BimboBob's excellent intro to this selection and the memories of it he had.

I had only commented that

1. this album wasn't a hit in the US
2. I was completely unfamiliar with it prior
3. based on a few scores that I skimmed, this appeared to be to be pretty marmite.

Step right up, indeed.

I didn't watch @BlueHammer85's helpful link to the YT video until after I listened to the full album, and I'm glad I didn't, because I wanted to hear it first, and then this helped fill in "the rest of the story".

For full disclosure, I enjoy and love a good concept album. Always have. The double albums? Even better. A few of the albums mentioned in the video as an inspiration are among my favourites too. The Who's Tommy, The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers, Rush's 2112, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Pink Floyd's The Wall, and DBT's Southern Rock Opera. There are lots.

Throw in that this was a prog album, and this seemingly would be right up my alley. And for parts of it, it certainly was. I didn't know that lead singer Justin Hayward from the Moody Blues sang on this, but when I heard his voice, it was unmistakable. And he really does a fantastic job on the two tracks he was featured on. Of course on "Forever Autumn" with those great lyircs to work with, it's no surprise that this track was a hit. I felt a similar way in hearing Orlando Weeks last year on The Gritterman, an album which I felt very much well integrated the spoken word singing parts in a very seamless way.

I also enjoyed Chris Thompson from Manfred Mann on "Thunder Child", even if the lyrics there weren't as inspired as the Hayward songs. From a casting point of view, from Richard Burton as the narrator, to those mentioned and also Julie Covington and Phil Lynott on "The Spirit of Man" on the second album, I thought the vocals on this were well-cast.

One thought I had on first listen was these lyrics from "Forever Autumn":

Never before in the history of the world,
Had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together.
​

I'm thinking at that point "what about the holocaust?" and then I hear the next lines:

This was no disciplined march, it was a stampede,
Without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned driving headlong.​

And at that point, I'm thinking, is that a direct nod written for that, or just a coincidence on the number used? I realize the original setting was Victorian England in the late 19th century, but those narrated lines seemed to me too much of a coincidence in the statement and then the number used later, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.

The problem I had (and sorry if this is a repeat), but the music was repetitive, and I do get this was by design from an overall thematic (reprise) angle. However, by the 2nd LP, the music had more than somewhat worn out its welcome, and the music and songs overall were just weaker. There was little in the Red Weed (either part) or the like I could really appreciate. 12 minutes of "Brave New World" felt like "leave me in the grave you are slowly digging and don't let me out". The "Epilogues" were nice and short and we got a NASA shout-out with with an American accent, but by then the 2nd LP record damage had been done.

The first album by far was the enjoyment on this, and if I were to give each a @mrbelfry "best of times, worst of times" dual scores, it would be 8 and then a 3. That works out to 5.5 total and sounds about right, but then I'm inclined to bump 0.5 for the Hayward surprise enjoyment factor on those LP 1 selections, and a 0.5 for the novel concept and efforts taken musically and vocally to put all of this together. I'm good with 6.5 total for an album I believed I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Pass the biscuits for the marmite, please.

I think the NASA voice might be Jeff Waynes' dad. Brave New World is pretty funny and over the top - playing cricket underground and stuff.

A few people have commented that it's a bit repetitive and whilst it's definitely true that three or four motifs repeat I find them quite appealing overall. I think the repetition makes sense and I keep mentioning it but I absolutely love the sound of the heat ray so I'm always happy to hear that.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

I think the NASA voice might be Jeff Waynes' dad.

It was, he was in the wiki credits.

Brave New World is pretty funny and over the top - playing cricket underground and stuff.

I get that, but I felt like that song led me to a dead end, in more than one way.

A few people have commented that it's a bit repetitive and whilst it's definitely true that three or four motifs repeat I find them quite appealing overall. I think the repetition makes sense and I keep mentioning it but I absolutely love the sound of the heat ray so I'm always happy to hear that.

The synths and the guitar voice box definitely got a workout in the making of on this. Again, the YT video covers it all very well.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds

Definitely different! which is always a good thing.
Only connection I have with WOTW is the Tom Cruise film back in the early 00's, other than that I've never really read or looked into it.

For me it felt like being right in a theatre but with a guy sat in front of me with a massive afro so i couldn't see anything. However the iconic voice of Richard Burton does help to narrate the imagery for the story and the setting, i also do think the Music fits well with the apocalyptic theme of giant steel Aliens invading Earth.

Some of the music is a bit to proggy for my liking and drags on and on... espeically side 2.
'Eve Of War' is a classic piece of Music, 'Forever Autumn' was a relief just to have a standard Beatles pop sounding track after such long period of clangers mixed with prog rock, Julie Covington has a lovely voice in the 'Spirit Of The Man' and 'Dead London' has some Pink Floyd moments.

I guess as a kid back in the 70's this was something mind-blowing and for many others. However after a couple of listens all the way through i couldn't bare a third.

Thanks for a interesting pick.

4/10

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

The album also reminds me of one night of taking a C60 tape (FFS I needed a C90) to tape it from a friend after my Dad lent the album out and never got it back.

OK, I missed this gem remark the first time skimming, but I sure remember those days in debating the C60 vs. C90 tape in the 80's. Those were the days of teenage music collecting "big decisions".

If I was just short on a C60 and felt the band wasn't up to "C90 worthiness", I'd chop off that filler song and call it a day on the C60 for a better listening experience. Wish I could remember a few of those, but those homemade cassettes are long gone.

I don't think one could do that on a concept story album such as this, even though I can think of some LP 2 candidates.

It's been a while thinking about those formats, thanks!

All that said, Eve of the War and Forever Autumn in particular are two of the greatest songs ever written. The album version of Forever Autumn is absolutely brilliant and the way Burton describes everyone fleeing for the boats and seeing Carrie leaving is superb. Eve of the War is just absolutely magnificent. The whole album is the soundtrack of many a 1980s Sunday afternoon and my first introduction to music!

It's an easy 10/10!

Agreed on those 2 songs, glad you got to enjoy this selection again and I got a taste of what I had missed back in the day.

 

[GornikDaze]

Broadsword calling Danny Boy…
Broadsword calling Danny Boy…

Okay, War of the Worlds isn’t Burton’s finest work, but he is perfect for this narration project. This takes me back to some heady days - no swinging parents however! It was almost mandatory to recite most if not all of the words to this when I was at school. Haven’t listened to this in full for a long time, but it’s like putting on an old pair of slippers. To my now very critical ears, it lacks a bit musically at times. On that note I would point out that I prefer Journey to the Centre of the Earth which offers a more rounded listen.
However, taken as a whole with the narration, composition, Lynott and Covington’s vocals and some sublime guitar - plus of course the obvious ‘hits’, it’s a solid 8/10 for me.
Whether I will listen to it again before I turn my toes up, who knows. However this was a brilliant nostalgic pick, which for me defines the essence of what the thread is about. Sadly it’s given me an idea for my next pick which will probably be even more controversial.
Ps - bonus point included for being on Spotify ;)