Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I bought this CD on a whim back in the late 80's. In my early days of buying CD's, truly unique sound projects were very scarce. Only the most popular albums were being transfered to compact disc at the time.
I read a review many years earlier about a "progressive rock concept" from England. H. G. Well's classic story, "War of the Worlds" on a double LP. When I saw it on CD years later, I thought that I would go ahead and buy it. It was a brave move because a double CD of something I never heard before, was a big expense.
When I brought it home, I started to play it during the dusk of the coming evening. I remember pouring a glass of wine, sitting in the "sweet spot" of my sound room. I turned on the CD, and kicked back:
It opened with Sir Richard Burton (who is the journalist and the main narrator of the whole CD). His chilling, opening words to this H. G. Wells classic, truly set the stage for the impending doom and terror of my next 90 minutes.
The first CD really is just fantastic! The guitar licks, and the ambient, but nerving, incidental music that played in the background as Richard Burton describes what's happening before him. He puts you right there with him. You feel as if you should get up and run because the horror is unfolding right in front of you. Although, it's all just psychological, you might actually feel the heat of the space ship in the commons. Good narration can compell terror quite well. (Just like Rod Serling with the "Twilight Zone" and Robert Stack narrating the stories of "Unsolved Mysteries". A commanding voice, and the effective use of dramatic pause, can inspire terror).
For the longest time, I thought that I was the only one (in America) that has ever heard of this album. This was one of those albums that contributed to my being "proudly unhipp" for many years. Now I have friends calling me and asking me: "Is that the same "War of the Worlds" album that you told me about so many years ago?" Only now, are they interested in hearing the whole thing instead of just a few highlights.
Well, I'm glad it's available again, remastered, and being heavily promoted, along side of the new movie soundtrack.
I give this CD release a 4 star rating because I just don't like the paper digi-paks that they use to release this. CD's belong in jewel boxes. Always. Because, although, jewel boxes can get scratched up, the paperwork can stay new looking forever. Just replace the jewel box, and you have a new CD again. But these digi-paks suck. When these get tethered and worn, you're stuck with a packaging that's deteriorating in just a few years.
Anyway, check this album out. It's one of the UK's biggest selling albums. If you like the narrator concept of music and story, check out Rick Wakeman's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (1974), and also, check out a double CD concept called "Closed on Account of Rabies: Poems and Tales from Edgar Allan Poe". That's a gathering of various celebrities telling Edgar Allan Poe stories. (Marianne Faithful, Christopher Walken, Dr. John, Iggy Pop, Diamanda Galas, etc.) Really cool, chilling stuff.
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Original double album re-packaged into deluxe 6 panel digi-pak. Includes: * 2 Hybrid SACDs - The original double album remixed in stereo and multi-channel 5.1 surround sound from the original 48 track master tapes by Jeff Wayne. * Expanded 48 page full color booklet with new artwork, sleeve notes and content
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