HG Wells’ prose is the hero of Jeff Wayne’s full-blown musical revival,which has enough bombast to drown out any ringtones in the audienceThere was always an overlap between the concept double album and the stage musical: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita were tried out on record before they reached the theatre. But another gatefold LP of the same era – Jeff Wayne’s 1978 electric oratorio version of the HG Wells novel The War of the Worlds – has taken 38 years, moving through different recording technologies and semi-staged stadium versions, and to become a full-blown – and,as it turns out, often overblown – West finish musical. Related: Jeff Wayne and David Essex: how we made The War of the Worlds Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com