Superb adaptation
This is more than just the single greatest adaptation of H.G. Wells' original novel; it's simply the greatest album in the history of everything... ever. I'll be the first to admit that not everyone shares the same tastes in art, literature and music, but I will say that if you don't like this album then there is something wrong with you (and I mean MEDICALLY wrong with you).
Get it now if you don't already have it. You've got two versions to choose from, so no excuses.

Just your standard spoken word / rock opera / sci-fi thing
I had forgotten all about this project until recently I heard the spoken intro used as a lead-in for a segment of Dennis Miller's radio show. The next caller correctly identified Jeff Wayne as the creator of the project, and I ordered it from amazon the next day!

It certainly does have a bit of the 70's disco Star Wars/wakka wakka feel to it. But once you give it a good listen, this thing can really grab hold of you. Burton's voice is spendid, as you would expect. The integration of the orchestration with the keyboard layers is done expertly. The entire cast, both in their speaking and singing roles, is just flat out great. I was particularly impressed with David Essex (who really evokes the sense of the hopeless dreamer) and Chris Thompson. The guitar/voicebox effect used when the Martians shout "Ulla!" is chilling.

Treat yourself to this CD. It is captivating, and fires up your imagination since you largely create your own visual storyboard. The overall packaging is first-rate.

I give it my highest recommendation.

This is the best CD you'll ever buy
I was a small boy when my father put this on in his International Scout (it was an 8 track player by the way) and we were on a road trip to the mountains and even better it was at night... and this is the absolute best time to listen to this CD. I recently bought this CD and am still amazed at the way the story is told through music and narration. I don't own a better album.

War of the Worlds
I had this musical version back in the 70's on cassette tape and would drive around listening to it in my car. It sure brought back memories of those days, only now it is digitally remastered for an even more realistic sound effect. I highly recommend it, even with todays technology this musical is still with the times, that just tells you how far ahead of its time it was. With Richard Burtons great narration, and Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues on alot of the songs you can't loose.

The perfect "Third Choice" for Rick Wakeman and Alan Parsons fans... Theatrical/Progressive Rock Masterpiece!
If, like me, you became a Prog/Symphonic Rock fan after listening to "Tales Of Mystery And Imagination-Edgar Allan Poe" by the Alan Parsons Project, and "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth" by Rick Wakeman, you certainly got crazy for getting Jeff Wayne's musical version of "The War Of The Worlds" when it was issued as a double-LP album back in 1978.

(Hey, if you haven't noticed it, all three above albums have been inspired on the most "raw" science-fiction literary works published in the 19th century, all of them were certainly "best sellers". But... Their musical versions recorded by Parsons, Wakeman and Wayne, certainly rival the literary heights reached by E. Allan Poe ["Tales..."], Jules Verne ["Journey To..."] and H.G. Wells' "The War Of The Worlds".)

This album, is worth to remember, was also released in the middle of the "Space Fever" caused by STAR WARS the movie (so I think it's not a matter of coincidence, that some chords in this album at not doubt, will make you remind immediately on the wonderful musical score produced by John Williams for "Star Wars"). I find that this fever was even more weird, than the other 'fear fever' caused by Orson Welles and his infamous radio broadcast, of a supposed ferocious Martian invasion to the territory of the United States back in the 1930s...

Jeff Wayne produced this now almost classic album of Symphonic/Prog Rock, with the help of the latest technology available for sound effects. He also got the support of talented musicians and selected voices: no one less than Sir Richard Burton himself as the storyteller, plus Justin Hayward (leader of The Moody Blues), the late Phil Lynnot (vocal master of Thin Lizzy), David Essex and even Julie Covington (who played Eva Peron in the first recorded edition of the super-famous Rock Opera "Evita").

There's not much more to say about this superb musical production. If you haven't heard it yet, DO IT RIGHT NOW! The SACD Hybrid remastered version sounds really wonderful! Of course, if you haven't read previously the wonderful story told by H.G. Wells in the original book, it is worth to do it just before you listen to this album! You can also get the book in Amazon.com at a really cheap, cheap price!