Eve Of The War

For those of you who have already purchased the fine 'Collector's Edition' of Jeff Wayne's album will already now of the huge amount of narration that adorns the 3 disc's of rarities. Being a huge fan of the album and more so the book, I was saddened to see these fine examples of narration were removed from the album, some completely removed, some reshaped, much never used at all.

Here is my 'pick of the best' from the 3 disc's of rarities of what is for offer in the way of narration. There are tons more on the disc's and far too much for me to reproduce here.

All narration in BOLD is what was recorded and never used. The remainder is what is ALLREADY in the album as we know it today.

NOTE: This is NOT the full contents, just MY pick of the best and I hope that someday, Jeff will have it in his heart to create for us a kind of musical version of a films directors cut and put back what was removed.

Hope you like these - 3 hours it took to write all this out .

THE EVE OF THE WAR

Richard Burton: At midnight on the 12th of August, a huge mass of luminous gas erupted from Mars and sped towards Earth. I made contact with Ogilvy the astronomer and we huried to his observatory. Across fourteen million miles of void, invisably hurtling towards us came the first of the missles that would bring so much calamity to Earth

HORSELL COMMON AND THE HEATRAY

Richard Burton: A few young men krept closer to the pit. A tall funnel rose, then a invisible ray of heat lept from man to man and there was a bright glare as each were instanly turned to fire. The Heat Ray swept around turning every tree and bush into a mass of flames, an invincable sword of heat. People clawed there way off the Common and I ran too. I felt I was being played with, that when I was on the very verge of safety this mysterious death would leap after me and strike me down. Later, in the dim coolness of my home, all I could swallow was a little wine before I sank into a restless haunted sleep.

Richard Burton: In the afternoon, acompany of soilders came through and deployed along the edge of the commom to form a cordan. I felt more secure now that the army was in control. even though the hammering continued and there was a steady streamer of smoke from the pit. That evening, a falling star with a trail of green mist landed in the woods with a flash like Summer lighting, this was the 2nd cylinder. At dawn came a thud of a gun from the common, then there was a violent crash that shook the ground. House slid down into ruin and I realised with horror that my home was now within range of the Martians Heat Ray. Overhead, dark clouds were driving fast, and then startlingly it was as though the clouds had been pierced a thread of green fire - it was a 3rd falling star.

THE ARTILLARYMAN AND THE FIGHTING MACHINE

Richard Burton: We hurried along the road to Weybridge and found the people sorley devided. For some believed the Martians would attack and destroy them while others were convinced the invaders would never reach there town.

Richard Burton: Quickly, one after the other, four of the Fighting Machines appeared. Monsterous tripods higher than the tallest steaple, striding over the pinetree's and smashing them. Walking engines of glittering metal with articulated ropes of steel dangling from them and puffs of green smoke squirting from the joints in these limbs. Each carried a huge funnel and I realised that I had seen this aweful thing before.

FOREVER AUTUMN

Richard Burton: The shouts of newspapers boys broke into my thoughts
Newspaper boy 1: Martians advancing on London
Newspaper boy 2: Poisonous Black Smoke spreading!
Richard Burton: Fire suddenly leapt from house to house, the population packed and ran and I was swept along with them, aimless and lost without Carrie.

THUNDER CHILD

Richard Burton: The steamer began to move slowly away, but on the landward horizon faint but unmistakable appeared the silhouette of a Fighting Machine. Imediately afterwards another came and another, striding over hills and tree's, then without pause plunging far out to see and blocking the exit of the steamer. In the deeps between them lay the silent grey ironclad THUNDER CHILD. Slowly it moved towards shore then with a deafing roar and woosh of spray it swung about and drove at full speed towards the waiting Martians.

THE RED WEED (part one)

Richard Burton: Where ever there was a stream, the Red Weed clung and grew with frighting varacosnous. Its claw like fronds chocking the movement of the water. Then it began to creep like a slimey red animal across the land, covering field and ditch and tree and hedgerow with living scarlet feelers, crawling, crawling. It was impossible to recognise the route I had taken only yesterday so engulfed was it by the Red Weed, but I palced the sun behind me and started across a field. It was like walking upon gigantic blood drops. I stumbled knee deep and then neck deep and had to fight my way out of this menacing devouring red mass. I kept to the road after that, walking steaderly towards London. As I approached the little village of Latchingdon, I longed for the familiar site of its cool green fields and hedges sweet with dogroses, but alas the Red Weed sprouted here with terrorfying abundance. At Cold Norton, the walls of ruined cottages were alive with moving red fingers, and at Billericay everything has shrivelled and died leaving nothing but a vast red swamp. I new a terrible fear, the Red Weed had formed a crimson blanket over our world and it threatened to smoother all mankind.

THE SPIRIT OF MAN

Covington: Nathaniel, are you alright?
Lynott: Dont touch me!
Covington: But it's me, Beth, your wife!
Lynott: No, your one of them, a devil, you belong to these invaders from hell.
Covington: Nathaniel they came from Mars
Lynott: Lies, I saw the devils sign.
Covington: What are you saying?
Lynott: The green flash in the sky, these demons were here all along, in our hearts and souls, just waiting from a sign from him and now there destroying our world.
Burton: WE MUST leave here!
Covington: Look!, there's a house across the fields still standing, come Nathaniel quickly.
Burton: We took shelter in a cottage and Black Smoke spread hemming us in. Then a Fighting Machine came across a field spraying jets of steam that turned the smoke into thick black dust.
Martains: ULLA
Covington: Did you hear that?, dear god what is it?
Lynott: The voice of the devil is heard in our land.

Phil Lynott: To hell with the Spirit Of Man, forget about goodness and mercy, there gone!.

Lynott: Beth!, LOOK she's dead, buried under the rubble, WHY?
Burton: Quite!
Lynott: Satan why didn't you take one of your own?
Burton: One more word and i'll throw you out there!

RED WEED (part two)

Richard Burton: I burried myself under the coal and 2 days passed before I dared to crawl up to the kitchen for the drink I craved. There I found the Red Weed had poluted the water and spoiled every scrap of food. Desperately wretched I sat about for 3 more days and finally resorted to drinking tainted rain water becoming so light headed I could no longer hear the accustomed noises from the pit.

THE RETURN OF THE ARTILLARYMAN

Richard Burton: Again, I was on my way towards London, through towns and villages that were blackend ruins, totally silent, desolated, desirted. Only the Red Weed lived. I felt a sense of dethrownment, a realisation that I was no longer a master but a puppet under Martian domination. Mans empire had passed away taken swiftly, surely and with error by these creatures who were composed entirely of brain. Unhampered by the complex systems which make up man, they made and used differant bodies according to there needs. In a sexual world they were without sex, without the tumoltuous emotions that arrise between man and woman. They never tired, never slept, and never suffered having long since elimanated from their planet the bacteria that cause all fevers, cancers and other morbidities.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Richard Burton: As I heard about the wonderful new world we were to build, I felt hope stirring for the first time since all this began and I could no longer keep thoughts of Carrie out of my mind. Memories of her came sweeping in, warming me, filling my heart with a joy I thought was gone for ever. Yes, Carrie would come back and we would live in this Brave New World together.

DEAD LONDON

Richard Burton: There was a dozen dead bodies in the Houston Road, there outlines softend by the black dust. All was still, houses locked and empty, shops closed but louters had helped themselves to wine and food and outside a jewellers some gold chains and a watch were scattered about the pavement. In Blumsbury the stillness grew even more profound. An odd unnerving feeling of suspense as though the destruction which had annihilated the countryside might at any moment strike these gracious houses in the very heart of London and leave all in smoking ruins.

Richard Burton: I passed through Portland Square and from the top of Baker Street saw over the tree's in Regents Park glittering in the sunlight the hood of the Fighting Machine from which the howling came. As I approached it I was not afraid, it stood quite still, yelling for no reason I could discover and as I watched, a dog with a piece of putried meat in its jaws came running past me. I crossed Regents Canal, a spongy mass of dark red vegitation and pushed on towards Primrose Hill. There stood a 2nd Fighting Machine, upright, but as still as the first.

EPILOGUE (part one)

Richard Burton: I marched wrecklessly towards the titan, and then as I drew nearer I saw that a multitude of black birds were circling and clustering about the hood. At that my heart gave a bound and I began running along the road. The thought that had flashed into my mind grew real, grew credible. I felt no fear only a wild trebling exhultation as I ran up thre hill towards the motionless monster, out of the hood hung red shreads at which the hungry birds now pecked and tore. In another moment I had scrambled up the earthen rampart to the crest of Primrose Hill and the Martians camp was below me, a mighty space it was filled with gigantic machines. And scattered about it some in there overturned Fighting Machines some in there crab like Handling Machines and a dozen of them stark and silent laying in a row were the Martians - DEAD - slayne after all mans devices had failed by the humblest things upon the Earth, Bacteria, minute invisible bacteria.

Richard Burton: These germs have plagued us since life began here, but through millions of years we have developed a resistance to them becoming emune to many and succumbing to non without a struggle, but there are no bacteria on Mars. Directly these invaders arrived and drank and fed, our microscopic allies attacked them, from that moment they were doomed. Mans resistance has been bought at the cost of a billion lives.

EPILOGUE (part two)

Richard Burton: As life returns to normal, man is again supreme. A question of greive and universal interest is the possibility of another attack from Mars. It maybe that across the emensity of space they have watched the fate of their pioneers have learned there lessons, even now await there opportunity. Can we any longer regard this planet as safe. It may well be this time[/b] that peace is only a repreive. Perhaps the future does not belong to us, but to the Martians.

NASA (original ending)

Voice of Nasa: . . . . today as we all celebrate their safe landing on Mars. The President has added his congratulations to those pouring in from all over the world. The magnitude of this acheivement cannot be underestimated. There seems to be a slight hitch. Transmission been interupted from one of our spacecraft. Now we seem to have lost both craft. Im sure it'[s only temporary. Everything is OK. We've just sighted a flare . . . Are they supposed to release flares?. Tom, check it out. Now the flare can be seen with the naked eye: bright green, drawing a green mist behind it - coming closer. Its like a falling star, a beautiful and . . . .

Good job you did, H_C, now I know what really was forgotten in the final version. Well done (and I mean it).

Why thank you.

This is just a rough guide to waht was made and not used and such a shame it was never put back in, but the positive side is that you can hear in on the 3 rarities discs, not only as a narration on its own, but also at times with the music.

Thanks H_C, a good 3 hours work and well worth it.

Thanks LC, much apreciated.

There is some cracking stuff there. The full 37 minute narration (on its own with acting - rarities dics 3) includes a huge amount of that and the original Parson and a huge extended slot of the Artillaryman and his talk of humans being captured by Martians and trained.