The 1970s provided a lot of strange musical artifacts, but none more so than this – a two-LP prog rock/disco adaptation of the classic HG Wells novel The War of the Worlds, narrated by a recalcitrant Richard Burton (in the midst of his Exorcist II bender) with vocals from Phil Lynott, Justin Hayward, Chris Thompson, and stage performers David Essex and Julie Covington. The odds of it working were about as long as that of an actual Martian invasion. Lo and behold, producer Jeff Wayne’s vision somehow triumphed – just like the spirit of man! Highlights include the chilling opening “The Eve of the War” and the Lynott/Covington duet “The Spirit of Man” but, thanks to Wayne’s impeccable arrangement and orchestration, the entire thing still remains one of the best translations of the original text to any medium.

– Jeff Treppel