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Posts tagged Jeff Wayne
Jeff Wayne – War of the Worlds Collector's Edition (@256 + Video)
01 May 2007
This set is pretty crazy. It’s a limited edition 7 disc set of the famous musical. Like the regular edition it features the original album on the first two CDs. In addition there is one disc of remixes, and 3 CDs of unreleased material of various outtakes and the actors reading from the unabridged script. There is a DVD which features a “making of” documentary and new interviews with Jeff Wayne. Clearly it’s for the die hard fan.
Track List:
CD3
01. Ulladubulla [Papa Ootzie Remix]
02. Eve of the War [Hybrid's Fire in the Sky Mix]
03. Forever Autumn [N-Trance Remix]
04. Horsell Common and the Heat Ray [Max Mondo Remix]
05. Spirit of Man – Spirit of Dub [Tom Frederikse/Gaëtan Schurrer Remix]
06. Eve of the War [Hani Remix]
07. Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine [Max Mondo Remix]
08. Brave New World [Todd Terry Remix]
09. Forever Autumn [Dark Autumn Dub. Tom Frederikse/Gaëtan Schurrer Remix]
10. Red Weed [Mister Joyboy Remix]
11. Spirit of Destiny (The Parson Versus Palene) [Cassidy/Langan/Wayne Remi
12. Eve of the War [1980 Disco Steve Thompson Remix]
13. Spirit of Man [Max Mondo Remix]
14. Eve of the War [Ben Liebrand Remix]
15. Brave New World [Dario G Remix]
16. Dead London [Mister Joyboy Remix]
17. Eve of the War Versus Animal and Man [Forrest/Schurrer/Wayne Remix]
CD4
01. Four Narrators (Opening Passage)
02. Eve of the War [Original Unused Intro]
03. Eve of the War [Early Band Take]
04. Eve of the War [Stripped Down Mix]
05. Eve of the War
06. ‘That’ Laugh
07. Out-Takes (From Horsell Common and the Heat Ray)
08. Out-Takes (From Horsell Common and the Heat Ray) (Continued)
09. Out-Takes (From Horsell Common and the Heat Ray)
10. Horsell Common and the Heat Ray [Early Version]
11. Out-Takes (From Horsell Common and the Heat Ray)
12. Heat Ray Versus the Jangle Piano (Martian Versus Man)
13. Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine [Early Band Take, Featuring Origi
14. Richard Burton Out-Take
15. Lego Toys [Original 1969 TV Commercial]
16. Forever Autumn [Original 1972 Version]
17. Bar Count-Under Attack (From Forever Autumn)
18. Forever Autumn [Early Version]
19. Bar Count Continues (From Forever Autumn)
20. Paperboys [Original Unused Out-Take]
21. Paperboys [Original Unused Out-Take]
22. Paperboy Shouts and Panicking Crowd [Original Unused Out-Takes from For
23. Paperboy Shouts and Panicking Crowd [Original Unused Out-Takes from For
24. "Ugly Brutes! " and "See Them?" [Original Unused Out-Takes from Forever
25. Forever Autumn [Early Version]
26. Thunder Child [Early Version]
27. Thunder Child [Later Version]
28. Four Narrators (The Earth Belonged to the Martians)
29. Four Narrators (The Red Weed)
30. Red Weed [Early Version]
31. Unused Out-Take (From the Red Weed)
32. Red Weed [Original Unused Part]
33. Red Weed [Original Unused Part]
34. Jeff’s “Worth a Listen” Red Weed Alternative
35. Original 75″ Radio Commercial
CD5
01. Parson Nathaniel [2005 Revisited Version]
02. Spirit of Man [Early Version With Unused Acting Parts]
03. Spirit of Man [Early Version Guide Vocals]
04. Spirit of Man [Jerry, Doreen & Phil Acting Out-Takes]
05. Spirit of Man [Alternative Version]
06. “Are You Ready Jeff?” [Acting Out-Take from the Spirit of Man]
07. “Are You Ready Jeff?” [Acting Out-Take from the Spirit of Man]
08. Spirit of Man
09. Spirit of Man [Out-Take, Including Original Unused Script]
10. Spirit of Man [Out-Take, Including Original Unused Script]
11. Spirit of Man [Out-Takes, Including Original Unused Script]
12. Spirit of Man [Beth & Parson Out-Takes, Including Original Unused Scrip
13. Spirit of Man [Out-Takes, Including Original Unused Script]
14. Spirit of ‘Mayan’ [Parson Out-Takes]
15. Spirit of Man (Beth Is Killed)
16. Spirit of Man [Beth Is Killed - Original Out-Take]
17. Spirit of Man [Guitar Solo]
18. ‘Outcries’ (From the Spirit of Man)
19. Spirited Man [Strings and Acoustic Guitar Alternative]
20. Spirit of Man [Beth Out-Takes]
21. Spirit of Man [Beth Out-Takes]
22. Spirit of Man [Beth Out-Takes]
23. Spirit of Man [Beth Out-Takes]
24. Spirit of Man [Beth Out-Takes]
25. Spirit of Man [Beth Out-Takes]
26. Spirit of Guitars (Guitars and Strings from the Spirit of Man)
27. Tea for Two: Jerry & Phil’s Late Night Cabaret
28. Parson Nathaniel Scream Out-Takes (From the Spirit of Man)
29. Parson Nathaniel Scream Out-Takes (From the Spirit of Man)
30. Original Parson Scream Out-Takes
31. Original Spanish Parson Scream Out-Takes
32. German Journalist and Parson Out-Takes
33. Spanish Journalist and Parson Scream Out-Take
34. “And There Was Nothing I Could Do to Prevent It” [Out-Takes and Master]
35. Parson Nathaniel [Original Unused Song]
36. “Less Piano and More Air, Please! “
37. Artilleryman Returns [With Unused Parts]
38. Artilleryman’s Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
39. Artilleryman’s Out-Takes (From Brave New World) (Continued)
40. Artilleryman’s Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
41. Brave New World [Early Piano Demo]
42. Brave New World [Early Band Take]
43. Artilleryman’s “I’ve Got a Plan! ” Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
44. Brave New World [Acoustic Alternative]
45. Brave New World [Alternative Version]
46. Spanish Artilleryman’s Plan (From Brave New World)
47. Acting Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
48. Acting Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
49. Acting Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
50. Acting Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
51. Acting Out-Takes (From Brave New World)
52. Original 40″ Radio Commercial
53. Regressing Bar Count
CD6
01. Dead London [Early Version, Featuring Original Piano Demo]
02. Dead London [Early Band Run-Through]
03. Murderous Out-Takes (From Dead London)
04. Murderous Out-Takes (From Dead London)
05. Bar Count (From Dead London)
06. Breathless Out-Take (From Dead London)
07. Epilogue I [Early Band Take]
08. Four Narrators (Epilogue)
09. Unused Alternative NASA Epilogue Out-Take
10. Unused Alternative NASA Epilogue Out-Take
11. Unused Alternative NASA Epilogue Out-Take
12. NASA Epilogue Spanish Version
13. Spanish Narrator Out-Take
14. Spanish Narrator Out-Take
15. Spanish Narrator Out-Take
16. Spanish Narrator Out-Take
17. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
18. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
19. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
20. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
21. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
22. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
23. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
24. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
25. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
26. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
27. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
28. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
29. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
30. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
31. Original Narration and Acting Parts [Unabridged]
Bonus DVD : Deconstructing the War of the Worlds
Video: Xvid, 720×576, 25 fps
Audio: Dolby AC3 (stereo, 48000 Hz)
92 min
Links in comments.
Jeff Wayne – Spartacus (1992) (@256)
24 Feb 2007
(Review from progarchives.com)
For the follow up to “War of the Worlds”, Jeff Wayne brought together once again many of the same ingredients. Talented performers, orchestration, and a strong storyline (in this case the story of Spartacus from the epic film of the same name) all indicated that this would be another fine album.
It is then, all the more surprising that this such a disappointing album. The main problem here is in the quality of the compositions. There is a real dearth of strong melodies, and the performances themselves can be best described as average. Perhaps it was the fact that unlike “War of the Worlds”, the performers here, while highly competent, were not “stars”. It’s only speculation, but perhaps Wayne did not get the expert feedback from the performers this time which he enjoyed previously, and thus the quality control was compromised.
A quick examination of the list of performers reveals that the rock orientated musicians who dominated War of the Worlds are largely missing, to be replaced by generally lesser know performers with dance music backgrounds. Ladysmith Black Mambazo play the part of the “crowd” giving the album a significant “world music” feel. Only Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s Chris Thompson remains from the War of the Worlds guest singers. If that’s not concerning enough(!), the lead female role is sung (yes sung) and narrated by Catherine Zeta Jones! At the time, she was not nearly as well known as she is these days. To be fair, Jones is actually a pretty good singer in a stage show context, and the album does have the feel of a Lloyd-Webber/Rice musical, rather than a rock extravaganza. On the plus side, Fish (ex-Marillion) also appears, albeit briefly.
The tracks are lengthy but rather drawn out, with too little variety, and some sections become downright boring. The peculiar mixture of dance, world music, orchestration, story telling, stage show and a small amount of rock do not sit particularly well together resulting in a disjointed and unsatisfying mix.
The narration is shared by Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta Jones, and while the album tells the story well, it can become a bit tedious. It has to be said too, that while the film was undoubtedly a classic, the story has not transferred well to the audio only medium.
“Spartacus” may appeal to someone who enjoys all the diverse influences include in it. Unfortunately, for me those influences have not been put together in a coherent and enjoyable format, and when seen as a whole, the album fails to inspire. Indeed, inspiration appears to largely lacking from the project as a whole.
Line-up:
- Anthony Hopkins / Marcus Crassus (spoken part)
- Catherine Zeta Jones / Palene (spoken and sung part)
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo / The “voices of Spartacus army”
- Incantation / multi-instrumentalists
- Jimmy Helms / Isoricus the Cicilian pirate
- Fish / Crixus the Gaul Alan King & Spartacus
- Chris Thompson / Oeomanus
- Bill Fredericks & Jo Partridge / guitar
- Danny Campbell & Marwenna Haver / backing vocalists on “For All Time”
- Lorna Bannon & Carol Kenyon / Slave Girls on “Trust Me”
- Gaetan Schurrer / programming
- Steve McLaughlin / programming
- James Cassidy / keyboards
- Jeff Wayne / keyboards
- Jo Partridge / guitars and guitar synths
- David Sinclair / bass guitar, stick
- John Cann / live drums
- “The Parting of the Ways” & “Trust Me” Kick Horns / brass section
Track List:
CD1:
01. Destiny
02. Animal & Man (Part One)
03. Animal & Man (Part Two)
04. For All Time
05. Whispers
06. The Eagle & the Hawk
CD2:
01. Going Home
02. The Parting of the Ways
03. We Carry On
04. Trust Me
05. Two Souls With a Single Dream
06. The Last Battle (leading into)
07. The Eagle & the Hawk
08. The Appian Way
09. Epilogue (Part One)
10. Epilogue (Part Two)
Links in comments.
Jeff Wayne – War of the Worlds (1977) (@256)
02 Feb 2007
(Review from progarchives.com)
Jeff Wayne is not so much the performer as such; his role here is to bring together many highly talented musicians to perform his masterpiece. To be fair, he does contribute keyboards and backing vocals. While Wayne is indeed the main composer and producer, credit is due Garry Osbourne who writes virtually all the lyrics. ‘The War of the worlds’ could perhaps be seen as a follow up to Lou Reizner’s excellent symphonic version of ‘Tommy’, with which it has more than passing similarities (although admittedly Reizner was not involved in the composition in that case).
The album is of course based on the HG Wells novel of the same name, with narration by the late Richard Burton. Burton’s distinguished voice is ideal for the music. While his interjections playing the part of a journalist tell the story perfectly, there is never any danger of this becoming a talking book. The music at times has an almost dance like beat as on the opening track (’The eve of the war’), but it is diverse with strong orchestration, and some first class instrumental work (especially from Chris Spedding on guitar). There are also moody, ambient phases (’Dead London’), and Rice/Lloyd-Webber like stage show pieces (’The spirit of man’).
The most familiar tracks will be the two that feature Justin Hayward (Moody Blues). While ‘Eve of the war’ is largely an instrumental, it opens with a brief introductory narration from Burton, before the now so familiar orchestral theme crashes in. It is almost like the theme to a documentary or newsreel, where you just know what?s coming is not going to be good news. Hayward is the first singer to appear on the album as he reminds us, ‘The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, but still they come’.
The tracks on the album are all lengthy, each side of the double LP only holding two or three songs. Side one is completed by ‘Horsell Common and the Heat Ray’. The sound effects can be a bit too literal in this section, with what appears to be a tin can being slowly unscrewed, then the lid dropping to the ground, to simulate the Martian heat ray being unveiled. It’s all a bit too BBC sound effects department!
The track distinctions and names are largely irrelevant, as the album flows as a continuous and complete piece. There are many excellent performances throughout the album. Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) as the manic and delusional preacher, Julie Covington as his devoted wife, and David Essex as the naive young artillery man who is going to build a whole new world from scratch, underground. The distinctive voiced Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) tells the tale of the ‘Thunder child’ warship, on which all hope for the future is resting, with his customary excellence.
Above all these however comes Justin Hayward’s performance on ‘Forever autumn’. If you have only ever heard the single version of this song, the full-length version included here will be a pleasant surprise. The lush orchestration, instrumental breaks, and narration interludes by Burton all go towards making this an absolute epic of a track. Lyrically (other than the narration), it doesn’t really add anything to the story, apart from painting a picture of the emotional devastation felt by the “journalist” with both his personal, and indeed the world’s predicament. Musically however, it is the highlight of the album, and one of the best pieces of music Hayward has contributed to (and he has been involved in many fine pieces).
Of course, there is the happy ending to the story to conclude, with a final sting in the tail added by Wayne(!).
‘War of the worlds’ is a quite stunning album, full of strong melodies, inspired song-writing, and excellent performances.
Line-up:
- Jeff Wayne / synthesizer, keyboards, voices, director, conductor, executive producer, performer, orchestration
- David Essex / vocals, performer
- Justin Hayward / vocals, performer
- Chris Spedding / guitar
- Julie Covington / vocals, performer
- Herbie Flowers / guitar (bass)
- Billy Lawrie / vocals (background)
- Phil Lynott / vocals, performer
- Chris Thompson / vocals, performer
- Richard Burton / vocals, performer
- Ray Cooper / percussion
- George Fenton / zither, taragat, santur
- Ken Freeman / synthesizer, keyboards
- Barry Morgan / drums
- Gary Osborne / vocals (background)
- Jo Partridge / guitar, vocals, performer
- Paul Vigrass / vocals (background)
- Roy Jones / percussion
- Barry Da Souza / percussion
Track List:
CD1:
01. The Eve of the War (9:06)
02. Horsell Common and the Heat Ray (11:36)
03. The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine (10:36)
04. Forever Autumn (7:43)
05. Thunder Child (6:10)
CD2:
01. The Red Weed (5:55)
02. The Spirit of Man (11:41)
03. The Red Weed (part 2) (6:51)
04. Brave New World (12:13)
05. Dead London (8:37)
06. Epilogue (Part 1) (2:42)
07. Epilogue (Part 2) (NASA) (2:02)
Links in comments.
