<i>Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds</i>

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

<p><i><b>Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds</b></i> is a studio double album by American-born British musician, composer, and record producer <a href="/en/Jeff_Wayne" title="Jeff Wayne" class="wl">Jeff Wayne</a>, released on 9 June 1978 by <a href="/en/CBS_Records_International" title="CBS Records International" class="wl">CBS Records</a>. It is an <a href="/en/Album_musical" title="Album musical" class="wl">album musical</a> adapted from the science-fiction novel <i><a href="/en/The_War_of_the_Worlds" title="The War of the Worlds" class="wl">The War of the Worlds</a></i> by <a href="/en/H._G._Wells" title="H. G. Wells" class="wl">H. G. Wells</a> in a <a href="/en/Rock_opera" title="Rock opera" class="wl">rock opera</a> style with a rock band, orchestra, narrator, and <a href="/en/Leitmotif" title="Leitmotif" class="wl">leitmotifs</a> to carry the story and lyrics that express the feelings of the various characters. The album features guest artists <a href="/en/David_Essex" title="David Essex" class="wl">David Essex</a>, <a href="/en/Justin_Hayward" title="Justin Hayward" class="wl">Justin Hayward</a>, <a href="/en/Phil_Lynott" title="Phil Lynott" class="wl">Phil Lynott</a>, <a href="/en/Chris_Thompson_(English_musician)" title="Chris Thompson (English musician)" class="wl">Chris Thompson</a>, and <a href="/en/Julie_Covington" title="Julie Covington" class="wl">Julie Covington</a>, with actor <a href="/en/Richard_Burton" title="Richard Burton" class="wl">Richard Burton</a> as the narrator.</p>

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<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt8">1978 studio album<span> </span>by Jeff Wayne</div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of th...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vevent haudio mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above summary album notheme" style="font-style: italic; background-color: lightsteelblue; font-size: 125%;">Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:WayneTWOTW.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" title="Front cover artwork by Peter Goodfellow" data-hash="File:WayneTWOTW.jpg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Front cover artwork by Peter Goodfellow" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/WayneTWOTW.jpg/220px-WayneTWOTW.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="316" data-file-height="316" data-file-type="bitmap" height="220" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/WayneTWOTW.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/WayneTWOTW.jpg 2x"></a></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header description notheme" style="background-color: lightsteelblue"><a href="/en/Album" title="Album" class="wl">Studio album</a><span> </span>by <div class="contributor" style="display:inline"><a href="/en/Jeff_Wayne" title="Jeff Wayne" class="wl">Jeff Wayne</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Released</th><td class="infobox-data published">9<span>&nbsp;</span>June<span>&nbsp;</span>1978<span style="display:none"><span>&nbsp;</span>(<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1978-06-09</span>)</span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Recorded</th><td class="infobox-data plainlist">18 May 1976 – 30 June 1977</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Studio</th><td class="infobox-data plainlist"><a href="/en/Advision_Studios" title="Advision Studios" class="wl">Advision Studios</a>, London <a href="/en/Abbey_Road_Studios" title="Abbey Road Studios" class="wl">Abbey Road Studios</a>, London (Strings) and <a href="/en/Wally_Heider_Studios" title="Wally Heider Studios" class="wl">Wally Heider Studios</a>, San Francisco (Richard Burton’s voice)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Music_genre" title="Music genre" class="wl">Genre</a></th><td class="infobox-data category hlist"><a href="/en/Progressive_rock" title="Progressive rock" class="wl">Progressive rock</a><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-louder_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-louder-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-open_culture_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-open_culture-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Length</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="duration"><span class="min">94</span>:<span class="s">54</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Record_label" title="Record label" class="wl">Label</a></th><td class="infobox-data hlist"><a href="/en/Sony_Music_Entertainment" title="Sony Music Entertainment" class="mw-redirect wl">CBS</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Record_producer" title="Record producer" class="wl">Producer</a></th><td class="infobox-data hlist"><a href="/en/Jeff_Wayne" title="Jeff Wayne" class="wl">Jeff Wayne</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header description notheme" style="background-color: lightsteelblue"><a href="/en/Jeff_Wayne" title="Jeff Wayne" class="wl">Jeff Wayne</a> chronology</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data">
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<td style="width: 33%; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: .2em .1em"><i><b>Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds</b></i><br>(1978)</td>
<td style="width: 33%; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; padding: .2em 0 .2em .1em"><i><a href="/en/Highlights_from_Jeff_Wayne's_Musical_Version_of_The_War_of_the_Worlds" title="Highlights from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds" class="wl">Highlights from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds</a></i><br>(1981)</td></tr>
</tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-below"></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background: lightsteelblue"><a href="/en/Single_(music)" title="Single (music)" class="wl">Singles</a> from <i> Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds </i></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><div style="text-align:left">
<ol><li><span class="item"><span class="fn">"<a href="/en/Forever_Autumn_(song)" title="Forever Autumn (song)" class="wl">Forever Autumn</a>"</span><br>Released: 2 June 1978</span></li>
<li><span class="item"><span class="fn">"The Eve of The War"</span><br>Released: September 1978</span></li></ol>
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<p>The album became a commercial success in the UK, peaking at number 5 on the chart and selling over 2.7 million copies there since its release. In 2018, it was the UK's 32nd best-selling studio album of all time, and has sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide. It won two <a href="/en/Ivor_Novello_Awards" title="Ivor Novello Awards" class="wl">Ivor Novello Awards</a>, including one for Wayne and main lyricist <a href="/en/Gary_Osborne" title="Gary Osborne" class="wl">Gary Osborne</a> for Best Instrumental or Popular Orchestral Work. Two singles from the album were released; "<a href="/en/Forever_Autumn_(song)" title="Forever Autumn (song)" class="wl">Forever Autumn</a>", with Hayward on lead vocals, reached number 5 in the UK, followed by the disco-inspired opening track, "The Eve of the War". Wayne's adaptation has spawned multiple versions including video games, DVDs, and live stage shows.</p>



Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a studio double album by American-born British musician, composer, and record producer Jeff Wayne, released on 9 June 1978 by CBS Records. It is an album musical adapted from the science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells in a rock opera style with a rock band, orchestra, narrator, and leitmotifs to carry the story and lyrics that express the feelings of the various characters. The album features guest artists David Essex, Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott, Chris Thompson, and Julie Covington, with actor Richard Burton as the narrator. The album became a commercial success in the UK, peaking at number 5 on the chart and selling over 2.7 million copies there since its release. In 2018, it was the UK's 32nd best-selling studio album of all time, and has sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide. It won two Ivor Novello Awards, including one for Wayne and main lyricist Gary Osborne for Best Instrumental or Popular Orchestral Work. Two singles from the album were released; "Forever Autumn", with Hayward on lead vocals, reached number 5 in the UK, followed by the disco-inspired opening track, "The Eve of the War". Wayne's adaptation has spawned multiple versions including video games, DVDs, and live stage shows. 