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Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Musical Drama
- An Audible Original Drama
- Narrated by: Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton, Theo James, Adrian Edmondson, Anna-Marie Wayne
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
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Immerse yourself in The War of The Worlds
Listen to an immersive audio drama
Characters and cast
Jeff Wayne
Michael Sheen
Taron Egerton
Adrian Edmondson
Anna-Marie Wayne
Theo James
Behind the scenes with the cast of Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds
Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton and Jeff Wayne on recording Audible's musical dramaSummary
When H. G. Wells first published The War of The Worlds in 1898, the novel quickly became a sci-fi classic. The story of extraterrestrials from Mars invading Earth captured the public’s imagination, inspiring a famed 1938 radio broadcast with Orson Welles, several feature films, countless video games, and a best-selling musical concept album by Jeff Wayne in 1978, among others.
Immersing listeners in a world that is as thrilling as it is desolate, Jeff Wayne’s eerie and pulsating score brings the suspense, drama, and urgency of Wells’s original novel to a fever pitch in this Audible Original Drama. Michael Sheen headlines an ensemble cast of talented performers that also includes Taron Egerton, Adrian Edmondson, Theo James, and Anna-Marie Wayne.
©2018 Music Masters: Sony Music Entertainment
©2018 Existing compositions: Universal Music Publishing Group, Jeff Wayne Music (Publishing) Ltd
©2018 Newly composed music: Jeff Wayne Music (P)2018 Audible, Ltd
Critic reviews
"The science-fiction classic undergoes a fantastic modernization, thanks to Jeff Wayne's energetic score and a cast of talented narrators. Michael Sheen capably steps into the character of the unnamed journalist and imbues his narration with steady calm as he recounts the Martian invasion of England. A varied cast coupled with subtle sound effects keeps the drama feeling fresh and dynamic. The musical score complements the story by punctuating the arrival of the Martians and other thrilling moments but also highlights the story's isolating atmosphere. Score and narration combine with high production values, resulting in a unique audio drama that enhances the original story." (AudioFile Magazine)
Martians through the ages
1897HG Wells' novel The War of The Worlds is published and examines humanity’s struggle for survival in the face of an alien invader, drawing on themes of industrialisation, the expansion of the British Empire, and the relentless advance of technology. 1938 Orson Welles' adaptation of The War of The Worlds airs for CBS Radio and becomes infamous for the media frenzy it caused, with reports of deserted streets and listeners suffering heart attacks.1976After reading HG Wells’ novel just once Jeff Wayne is immediately entranced and sets about creating his musical interpretation.1978Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds is released in the UK on June 9th and becomes a worldwide success. The album has since gone on to sell more than 15 million copies and has charted in 22 countries.2005Steven Spielberg’s War of The Worlds film starring Tom Cruise releases.2006The War of The Worlds – Alive On Stage! launches in April, breaking box office records and winning huge critical acclaim. The biggest touring show on earth, the spectacular production is part live musical concert, part theatre, part multimedia, multi-sensory experience.2012After several years of planning, The War of The Worlds enters a brand new era in 2012, with the release of a double album and tour known as The New Generation.2016Forty years after first starting work on his musical interpretation of The War of The Worlds, the epic production is brought to life in London’s West End at the Dominion Theatre.2018To mark the 40th Anniversary of Jeff Wayne’s original album, Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton, Theo James, Adrian Edmondson and Anna-Marie Wayne bring to life HG Wells’ original story accompanied by Jeff’s epic, emotive and sensational score in the audio drama Jeff Wayne’s The War of The Worlds: The Musical Drama.What listeners say about Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Musical Drama
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Simon
- 29-11-18
Stunning Interpretation of Jeff Wayne's Classic!
If like me you still get a small frisson thinking of the words, No-one would have believed . . . they drew their plans against us, then put this right on your wish list! I can still remember the sheer awe I felt as a young lad when I started to listen to the cassette tapes I had received for my birthday and Burton's chilling opening words came out of the speakers like it was yesterday. Forty years on and this new version had me absolutely captivated from start to finish.
It's the same story, just completely remixed and with a lot of additional sound and detail. That sound is fantastic, like many of the great bands the bass is high in the mix giving it full expression and the use of stereo is superb. Definitely one to be listened to with quality headphones and preferably not in noisy areas to get the very best out of it. There are great riffs from that glorious score, thunderous explosions and more subtle sounds too. The overall soundscape is the best I have experienced in an Audible production.
The voice acting is top quality. Anna-Marie Wayne, who is Jeff's daughter of course, as Carrie and Michael Sheen as the journalist give outstanding performances and the supporting cast don't let them down by any stretch of the imagination.
I never thought that anything could match the original. This is different and stands in its own right but those forty years were suddenly a mere instant in time and I was transported back through the decades to that same feeling of excitement that the younger Simon felt. If you can, just don the headphones, turn off the lights, shut your eyes and crank up the volume!
Absolutely superb!
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132 people found this helpful
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- tony foggin
- 29-11-18
Brilliant Jeff Wayne does it again!!
I hope Jeff Wayne never gives up with his adaptations of his wonderful classic. What a cast as well. Michael Sheen sounds very much like the late great Richard Burton. Brilliant cast. I wonder if Jeff Wayne had a hand in choosing them also. JUST BRILLIANT!! Highly Recommended
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44 people found this helpful
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- AJ Poulter
- 22-05-19
Great, but…
I love Jeff Wayne’s ‘The War of the Worlds’, and I love the source material from the great H.G. Wells - so in balance I should’ve completely loved this fusion of the two. And I kind of did. Except that for me it somewhat fell between two stools. There was far too much music for an audiobook (though to be fair it didn’t claim to be one); but not enough of the music in a single contiguous block to let you enjoy it as music. I do recommend it still as it was very good - but for most listeners there will be either too much or too little music. Or possibly both.
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34 people found this helpful
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- Tony Swinton
- 29-11-18
Just brilliant
I love the classic version with Richard Burton but this is just brilliant with added dialogue it adds so much more to a classic
I downloaded the pre order as soon as it became available and listened in one sitting
I will be sure to listen to this book again
It is in my top 5 audio books
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31 people found this helpful
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- Dave
- 29-11-18
Amazing
An amazing array of talent and very well put together. This is War of the Worlds as it should be heard.
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21 people found this helpful
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- Karl
- 05-12-18
Very, Very Good!
Short review: Superb production of the book and the musical blended into a sweet mixture. If your a fan, you should buy it!
Longer review:
I'm writing this review having only listened to two chapters. I could have well done this after only one. It reminds me of an idea I had a only a little time ago: I already knew the book was superb, having read it numerous times, I already knew that the musical version was utterly superb, having literally grown up listening to it countless times over the years. Create a uber-masterpiece from the two masterpieces! Have the narrative blended with the goodness of the music Jeff Wayne created, but use more, if not all of the book.
And they did it.
But who would take the narrator/journalist role? This above all was most important, but who? When I listened to the sample, I actually thought they'd used Richard Burtons' voice somehow, then read that Michael Sheen had done it. Absolutely perfect! Adrian Edmonson is brilliant! I'm getting to know the rest of the cast as I go, but I know that they WILL be exceptional performances. You have to get something like this right, and I feel they've nailed it sweetly.
Some slight niggles though, but this is mainly due to the use of the newer musical versions' music, the dance beat style portions just didn't feel right. Having said that I will say I eventually began to like the newer musical version, very well produced!
Some of the books' greatest fans may not like this production much as they may say there is too much music for it to be called an audio book as such, and so its called a audio drama/book maybe? Maybe not a musical in the true form? Well they seem to use a good portion of music, and have used pieces in different places too. Nicely done!
AND the BBC TV version of the book is just around the corner. Finally set IN THE RIGHT COUNTRY AND TIME PERIOD.
Thankyou for the time taken to read this giddy fans mumblings. Thankyou to the good people behind this production.
Now go buy it!
Very Best Regards,
Karl Hart
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15 people found this helpful
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- Quirkyjay
- 17-01-19
Disappointing
I was really disappointed - this did not live up to my expectations.
I grew up listening to the original 70’s version which is just fantastic & was expecting a new adaptation to take it to the next level. Sadly not.
The narration is good overall but the sound effects get in the way of the story. They are jarring & at times downright odd & don’t enhance the experiencing on the whole. The updated music score was enjoyable in places but mostly it was over the top, synthetic & the loss of lyrics detracted greatly.
Such a shame!
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12 people found this helpful
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- RSLEGION
- 30-11-18
A Gripping way to listen to H. G. Wells classic
Jeff Wayne's The Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a classic and must hear musical now this Musical Drama accompanies The Musical Version very well, I found it very gripping and at the end found I wanted more. The Musical Drama has the great instrumental music from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version along with great sound effects and audio acting. A gripping new way to tell the classic H.G. Wells story.
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11 people found this helpful
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- IoBB
- 25-02-19
Sorry, poor sound control and random music
Firstly, I love his original War of the Worlds narrated musical version... but that hasn't been well merged into this. The music (instrumental only) snippets chosen for this are repetitive and random, particularly in the first half, often with too little spoken audible voice between. The spoken voice is far quieter than the music, so I'd be constantly turning the car volume up and down by 12 or more volume steps. some voices are quieter than others, Carrie's for example I'd have to turn up to the car's maximum just to hear. It could have been a great recording but it's not one I'll listen to again... I'll stick with the narrated musical version i bought nearly 30 years ago instead!
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9 people found this helpful
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- DHeppell_UK
- 29-11-18
Oooo Laaaa
If you like the original musical version by Jeff Wayne, then this is a must, the mix of Story, Drama and Music, is Nostalgic and brilliantly retold.
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9 people found this helpful