Eve Of The War

Plenty to discuss here, here are the highlights...

Well, given that the "book" here was written by Wayne's mother, Doreen, who seems to have no other writing credits, it's no surprise that the storyline is a bit uneven, to say the least, being decidedly jejune in parts. The album would have benefited from a vetting by a more experienced writer, such as D.G. Compton, for example, or Michael Moorcock, or even Chris Priest. How cool would that have been? Alas!

The biggest problem, though, is with the music. For a rock opera (more properly an oratorio), Wayne's WOTW is not as majestic or as powerful as it should be. While it's admittedly catchy in places, the whole shebang is driven by the ubiquitous mid-'70s disco beat and the relatively crummy synth patches that were available back then. The patches are acceptable, really, but the beat has not worn well, to say the least. In fact, what really stands out in this multi-disc package is the remix tracks, most of which eschew the disco or at least bury it down in the mix. Also, the alternate and early-version takes generally display rather more musical muscle and imagination than the "finished" product. For example, there's some interesting use of instruments rarely heard in a rock format, such as autoharp and marimba. Too bad these didn't make it over to the final version.

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So what do you think then??? (the above are not my views!!!)

BAH HUMBUG!

That review is actually incorrect. There are many flaws and the reveiwer sadly did not do his homework before putting pen to paper. This is such a shame really considering its on a sci-fi network.

A. L. Sirois, never heard of him and I'm sure in 27 years from now no one will even remember him. unlike Jeff Wayne. who is still achieving great things with an album that's 27 years old. it bugs me when these people think they've done something clever just because they are able to criticize someones hard work. It's probably because they've never achieved anything they can be proud of ..................Sorry about that, I went off a bit didn't I

I can't fault the book. It is perfect. I memorized the lot of it as a kid. Even wrote it all down. I can still say almost all of it in order.
The man's a fool. FOOOL I tell you.