Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: The New Generation [DVD]

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The production included a holographic projection of Richard Burton, giant fire-breathing aliens, and epic visual effects. The music takes you on an out of this world experience and the stage effects brings everything to life; the hologram of Liam Neeson is the icing on this already divine cake. This new piece, entitled "Distant Shores", is an exchange between the two after they have been separated and is seen onstage via holographic projections of both characters in which they express hope they may one day see each other again, speaking as though to each other, from distant shores. In November 2013, it was confirmed that Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation would tour arenas again in late November through December 2014 for The Final Arena tour.

He approached John Pasche, who went on to design the logo on the front cover, and direct the overall design of the record's sleeve which features paintings from three artists: Geoff Taylor, Mike Trim, and Peter Goodfellow. Jeff Wayne has made some additions in areas of dialogue, new fans will not even notice but old school veterans like myself will. The recorded show was well received in a series of platform digital screenings in the UK before it transitioned to home entertainment; it was released on DVD in November 2013. The album features guest artists David Essex, Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott, Chris Thompson, and Julie Covington, with actor Richard Burton as the narrator.From the start Wayne saw his adaptation as an opera, with "story, leitmotifs, musical phrases, sounds and compositions that relate to the whole. The DVD was released in November 2006 and was the highest selling music DVD in the UK for seven weeks.

The New Generation features Academy Award nominated actor Liam Neeson as the Narrator, formerly played by Richard Burton. With its unique orchestration combing prog rock (rock that is heavily influenced by classical music) and disco elements, the album was an huge success. Essex, who was present at the recording session, said that Burton insisted to narrate without hearing the music, which became "a bit of a nuisance" since Wayne and he had recorded their shared vocals in time with the background tracks. Jonathan Vickers reprised his role as the NASA controller, and Stephanie Aves joined the company as Vera May.In response to the COVID-19 shutdown, the musical was streamed for free from October 23-25, 2020, on the YouTube channel The Shows Must Go On. In 2018, it was the UK's 32nd best-selling studio album of all time, and has sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide. The New Generation album received mixed reactions from music critics and lifelong fans of Wayne's original album, with many praising Liam Neeson's performance as The Journalist, though some fans of the original were not impressed, comparing his performance to that of Richard Burton's.

The steamer escapes, but Thunder Child is destroyed and her crew are lost by the Martian heat-rays, leaving England defenceless against the invasion.With an all-star cast including Liam Neeson, Wet Wet Wet’s Marti Pellow, Jason Donovan, Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson, Jetblack’s Will Stapleton and Wicked’s Kerry Ellis, plus stunning new 3D holography and a 3-tonne 35foot Martian Fighting Machine. The role of Parson Nathaniel was originally given to Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers, and although Wayne thought he delivered "fantastic" vocals, Rodgers was reluctant to take on the speaking part and dropped out. Because Wayne wanted to keep his adaptation set in Victorian England, this eliminated the possibility of hiring American people in the main cast. Burton originally signed on for five days of recording for a maximum of 12 hours for each, but he finished his parts in just one day, except for an additional three-hour session held several months after for what Wayne described as "some repair work". You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.