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

The British composer Jeff Wayne, in the mid-1970s, felt he had reached a creative dead end and was looking for something new. Then his father suggested he read the book by H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds," written back in 1898 (!), and draw inspiration from it. Jeff Wayne followed his father's advice, read the book in one go, and immediately the idea for a musical work based on the novel came to him.

The creation of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds began in May 1976 and was completed in June 1977, while the album was finally released in June 1978. The album was unprecedented in the realm of progressive rock. Jeff Wayne, through the music he writes, conveys 100% the atmosphere of the book as he sonically depicts the alien invasion on our planet. The voice of actor Richard Burton plays a stunning and catalytic role, as he uniquely and singularly narrates parts of the literary work amidst the compositions or over Jeff Wayne's music. Exceptional and unsurpassable is also the work of Ken Freeman on the synthesizers, which are dominant throughout the album. The cover is the result of designer John Pasche, who took ideas from the paintings of three other painters, combined them, and delivered this specific cover to Wayne.

This double album is estimated to have surpassed 15,000,000 copies in sales worldwide. Upon its release, it reached No. 5 in the United Kingdom, while on the Billboard chart, it only managed to reach No. 95. In Britain, the album appeared consistently on the charts until 1982 (!) Ultimately, it must be one of the best pieces of advice a father has given to a son (!)