History Music / JeffWaynesMusicalVersionOfTheWarOfTheWorlds

''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' is a 1978 concept album by Music/JeffWayne, retelling the story of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'' by Creator/HGWells. It was IMMENSELY popular around the world, selling millions of records (and still doing so today) and spawned multiple versions of the album, [[VideoGame/JeffWaynesWarOfTheWorlds a computer game]], a DVD, a 30th anniversary live tour including Alexis James, Rhydian from ''Series/TheXFactor'', Music/JasonDonovan, and Jennifer Ellison in the cast, and a 40th anniversary tour with Adam Garcia, Nathan James and Jason Donovan reprising his role as Nathaniel. There's also a large amount of merchandise available at [[http://www.TheWarOfTheWorlds.com the website]].

* CanonImmigrant: The Martian campaign intro from [[VideoGame/JeffWaynesWarOfTheWorlds the game]] is integrated into the prologue (verbatim in the original, re-recorded with new lines in ''The New Generation''), and the game's model of the Flying Machine appears at several points.

''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' is a 1978 concept album by Music/JeffWayne, retelling the story of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' by Creator/HGWells. It was IMMENSELY popular around the world, selling millions of records (and still doing so today) and spawned multiple versions of the album, [[VideoGame/JeffWaynesWarOfTheWorlds a computer game]], a DVD, a 30th anniversary live tour including Alexis James, Rhydian from ''Series/TheXFactor'', Music/JasonDonovan, and Jennifer Ellison in the cast, and a 40th anniversary tour with Adam Garcia, Nathan James and Jason Donovan reprising his role as Nathaniel. There's also a large amount of merchandise available at [[http://www.TheWarOfTheWorlds.com the website]].

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. It's a musical interpretation of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds''. By Jeff Wayne.

* MythologyGag: According to the official website's making-of book, the sound of the cylinder opening was created in exactly the same way as it was in the Creator/OrsonWelles [[Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds radio version]]: a saucepan being scraped along the rim of a toilet bowl.

* AwardBaitSong: The bittersweet ''Forever Autumn'', sung by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, made it into the top 40.

* CulturalTranslation: The Parson is definitely based on more recent American evangelical variants of Christianity, rather than the kind of stern Evangelical Christianity you'd expect to find in Victorian England, though [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it's hard to see his fire-and-brimstone proclamations working as hammishly well with an English character]]. Further justified in the fact that he's, well, been driven completely insane by the Martian invasion, and his fire-and-brimstone ravings are intended as a symptom of his madness; his wife notes with despair at one point that he was once a kindly, well-loved man more in keeping with the typically Victorian stern-but-fair image of the clergyman.

* GriefSong: ''Forever Autumn''

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole - The poisonous Black Smoke is mentioned once or twice, but the part where its nature and threat is explained was cut for time. This probably created some confusion for any listener unfamiliar with the original novel.

** The song ''The Spirit Of Man'' combines this with the IronicEcho - whilst the embittered, broken and deranged Parson Nathaniel's verses [[{{BSOD Song}} deal with his disillusionment with the sins of those around him, and his delusional belief that the invading Martians are 'demons' sent by Satan to wipe out humanity]], his wife Beth's chorus is an [[IWantSong optimistic, hopeful exhortation to the finest and noblest elements of human nature]]. Then a Martian craft crash-lands on the house in which the characters are sheltering, [[spoiler: Beth is crushed under the rubble and Nathaniel takes over her chorus]], the lyrics now altered to reflect his bitter, defeatist worldview.

--> ''The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one'' - but still they come!

* SanitySlippageSong / BSODSong: All the big songs in the second half of the musical - "Earth Under The Martians" - are this to an extent:

* CanonForeigner: Two additional ones in ''The New Generation'' - the stargazers [[AgentScully Vera]] and [[AgentMulder Will]], who discuss the likelihood of life on Mars in a brief prologue. Vera makes some [[CassandraTruth fairly accurate]] predictions about the impending extinction that leads to the invasion in the first place, which Will dismisses as "feminine fancy" [[spoiler: right before the first cylinder lands]].

* DeathFromAbove: On cue, a 40 ft tall fighting machine descends onto the stage, remaining there for the rest of the first act. [[spoiler:It returns for the end of the second act, before slowly collapsing.]]
** Also in-universe - flying machines are added to the ''Fighting Machine'' battle sequence (but, oddly, not to ''Thunderchild'', where they '''did''' appear in the book).

* UpToEleven: Parson Nathaniel and the Artilleryman are even ''more'' hamtastic on stage.

* AdaptationalWimp: The HMS Thunder Child is far less formidable than it was in the novel. It only manages to down a single tripod before being destroyed, whereas in the book it took out at least two, kept going even when ''on fire'' and possibly took out a third.
** Great Britain itself gets hit with this compared to the novel. In the book the artillery batteries constantly harass the Martians as they advance on London, and although hopelessly outgunned they are effective enough to force the Martians to use their black smoke against them. Here it seems like 6 guns is all England has to defend itself. Additionally the novel makes mention of other warships waiting in the Thames estuary to engage the Martians. The Thunder Child was simply the first to enter the fray to [[BigDamnHeroes try and save the civilians.]]

* BadassMoustache: The artillery commander in ''The Fighting Machine'' has a rather impressive one, though ultimately it doesn't do him any good.

'''Tracklist'''

[[AC:Side Two]]

* CompositeCharacter: The experiences of the protagonist and his brother are combined in the character of "[[TheNarrator the Journalist]]".

* InfantImmortality: Averted at several points, most horribly when one of the people being drained inside the Handling Machine is shown to be a young girl.

--> ''The chances of'' anything coming from Mars are a million to one - but still they come!
** And the motif comes back at the end of "Dead London" once the journalist realizes that the Martians have been killed. While this reprise is without vocal accompaniment, it can represent the million to one chance that the Martians ''lost''.

* PokemonSpeak: The Martians communicate exclusively in "ULLAAAA!"

* YouCantThwartStageOne: The first [[WhatAreRecords disc]] is "The Coming Of The Martians", the second is "The Earth Under The Martians" (which was also how Wells divided his novel). The break comes when the Martian domination is complete.
-->'''The Journalist:''' But the Thunder Child had vanished forever, taking with her man's last hope of victory. The leaden sky was lit with flashes, cylinder following cylinder, and no-one and nothing was left to stop them. The Earth belonged to the Martians. \\
'''Martians:''' ''ULLA!''

[[caption-width-right:350: [[HeroicSacrifice Farewell]], ''[[CoolShip Thunder Child]]'']]

* EthrealWhiteDress: Beth, briefly reappearing as a ghost at the end of ''Spirit Of Man''.