This is my favourite song in the whole show and it actually brings me to tears.
Thunderchild's crew probably knew they couldn't win, that they were going to their deaths if they fought and that they could probably make a run for it, but instead they stood their ground. They had a duty and were going to go out, guns blazing to buy time for the refugee fleet to escape. One last act of defiance so that all those people had a chance.
Man, I have this album and the concert DVD. Been listening to the album since 1985. It is sheer awesomeness. They need to tour in the USA AND do a remake of the POS 2005 Spielberg version with a Jeff Wayne soundtrack. Set it in Victorian England, not New Jersey (although I understand why they set it in NJ since the radio version was set there) and totally steampunk it out. Justin Hayward, CGI Richard Burton, the world. UUUULLLAAAAA!
I first heard this on a radio station in the late 70s in Texas while in the army. It was fantastic. I went out and bought the album. Now I have this video to charish too. It is one of the most fantastic pieces of music ever written. Thank you Jeff Wayne! Oh and by the way they don't plays stuf like this on the radio today. They play crapola.
@TheAlienFan The bald guy is Chris Thompson,who is most famous for being the vocalist for Manfred Mann,for the hit song "Blinded by the Light" back in the 80's.
this song is sort of about my financial situation - I was struggling to make ends meet (alien invasion) , so I got a part time job that I thought would help (The Thunderchild) but then my job gave us pay cuts, so I was defeated again : (
Shame because of the redesign there was no Thunderchild in the 2005 film
Force fields my ass, saying that; the tripods of that version wouldn’t have lasted 5 minuets without them. Especially when a few AT4’s brought one down. (sick or not)
@mark25964 I’m refereeing to the 2005 version; they shoehorned the magic force field crap so the aliens will still be perceived as a threat against a modern military and the thunder child brings more then one down and so including that scene in the 2005 film would just undermine the; they are a threat because of there magic force fields crap.
That’s why it wasn’t included or a similar scene atleast and the fact the steamer doesn’t escape in the new version is supposed to add validity to the heighted threat they pose even against a modern military.
I love this. I could sit at my computer and watch this until I rotted away in this chair and every time I will get teary as the ship sinks. Thank You.
This is surely the most mind-blowing part of the show. So emotional! I remember that part while reading a book. I had same feeling in my chest like i have it now, when i'm listening to this song.
I well remember when this album was released thirty-one years ago. K99 in B'ahm played it on Halloween night with no commercial interruption. It was my senior year in HS, I was taking English Lit, and my teacher let me do all the writing on H.G. Wells that I wanted. Someone had given me a copy of the story when I was 10, and I've loved it and others of Wells ever since.
A great album! I turned my son onto it years ago. We both wish we could have seen this show.
Matthew22381- in the book the 'Thuderchild' is an Ironclad, which is a pre first world war term for an Iron hulled warship. They Tripods were at a disadvantage because they had waded out into deep water, and, they were pretty focused on wrecking more of the wooden vessels they had encountered already. Thunderchild was fast,agressive and saved firing it's guns until the last possible second, which allowed it to get in close, destroying one tripod at almost point blank range and ramming one head-
Was going to say.....if you loved this READ THE BOOK! It is truly one of the all time sic-fi classics,and once you have read it you too might want to give Cruise and Spielberg a swift kick in the gonads for having the budget AND the influence to make a truly great film instead of the easily forgotten cash cow they did churn out.......a real shame.
I used to listen to this album as a child (think it was my brother in laws) and it always captivated me. It was listening to this that prompted me to read the book,and I have to say, if you loved the mu
I remember when I was a child my dad had this on vinyl, I was trying to listen to it by myself. I couldn't get it to work at first so i fiddled with the volume etc, I then realised the cable wasn't connected at the back of the turn table so I plugged it in (at full volume). I scared the HELL out of myself :D.
Yes, that's why they had the shields, I like both versions the Jeff Wayne version is a big factor of my life now, but the movie is cool, I loved the Tripod design and... it is just a more personal story... But it is just a matter of taste ;). (I still prefer the musical version though :P) But if these Martian attacked... we would win easy, but becouse it is set in 1898 they are much more advanced than we were back then. But still I love the whole War of the Worlds story... :D
In the original, the fighting machines are their equivalent of (gigantic) infantry. The tripods just armored bodies with them being the brain to said body. With heat rays that could fry a tank instantly and mechanized troops capable of dodging artillery rounds, I think they would massacre our modern armed forces. We never even got to see their rumored flying machines or anything else they had in store before disease took them out.
@onigojira Maybe, we could take them out without having to leave our cities, with our smart bombs and intercontinental missiles... We can use nukes... but that would kill us too and wouldn't be a very smart move.... I mean, although the Martians are cool and all and the 100 foot high Fighting Machines are really awesome... with our modern weapons we would bring them down. That is what makes War of the Worlds so awesome, back then we would be 'beaten to shit' by the Martians
Well yeah we could wipe out their tripods with nukes probably. At least the novel versions (the old movie version and the radio or at least just the radio version however survive a direct nuclear attack).. but the real bonus would be making our planet uninhabitable.. the whole reason they want to take over our world. Although I don't know that'd be a bonus. The martians are limited in how they can fight because they want to keep earth pristine for themselves.
@onigojira Hahaha, the tripods as described in the book wouldn't stand a chance against most militaries of the world today. Maybe they have a 50/50 chance of dodging the artillery of the late 19th century when the book was set, but I'm pretty sure they couldn't dodge missiles. It just goes to show how much perception of military strength changes over the years. Back then the tripods seemed to Wells to be great, but today we can see that they're actually useless for their technological level.
Because the newest, latest, greatest thing in anti-missile technology isn't heat rays, right? We're only just catching up with them in terms of weaponry.
@onigojira Good point, but I was more talking about just what they are. Heat rays are also more for small numbers of large ballistic missiles, large numbers of hellfire missiles, or even RPG rockets would be the end of them because they are so big. My point is that back then something huge and imposing would be unstoppable, but nowadays size means very little except how easy something is to hit.
Everything's got a weakness, but these things are depicted as dodging cannon shells. I think they'd be able to avoid RPG's. In the end, they're just glorified infantry units, and they still trump ours by a long shot. Their weapons would also knock our planes out of the air and instantly destroy our modern day tanks too. While we might win, it'd still be one hell of a fight.
@onigojira Oh okay, hmm. I don't remember reading them dodging the artillery, but then again it has been years since I read it, and now that I think about it I might have mistaken it for just the normal inaccuracy of the artillery shells. Still, some of the old inaccurate shells found their targets and destroyed them, so most of the guided missiles today would probably do a better job. RPG's wouldn't, but there are lot more of them than there were cannons.
One avoided a cannon round, and another got hit. After that they just gassed the artillery instead of waiting to get ambushed. They seemed to only move in small packs of 3-5 if I recall. They'd be able to strike down missiles with their heat cannons, too. In the same way we use lasers nowadays. Our best bet would be camo'd tanks, or hoping they don't notice the super sonic missiles being fired from beyond visual range before it hits. Once one is down though others'd be alert.
@darkblood626 - well when the tanks and Apache copters are fighting the t-pods on the hill, they get routed. SO thats kinda like the Tunderchild. Still an awsome observation!
Keep hoping Jeff will bring this show to the states. If so...I am so there. Had a pal pick up a copy of the 30th Anniv. DVD set when he was in London. Cn only watch on my PC but that's fine. What an amazing creation this musical is...
Great video and sound. I feel lucky that I was able to find a dvd for sale in the U.S. It's awesome. Even though I had some trouble because of the the region encoding it was well worth it. I can't believe a version encoded for region one is not available for here in the states. The origional album certainly was or do you Europeans like to keep a good thing for yourself. Just kidding! Awesome video etc.
There Is Nothing More Entertaining Than Watching Chris Thompson Putting Everything Into This Song...Soo Brilliant To Watch Live. Surely A Living Legend :)
@madcat789 Uhh, do you mean Justin Bieber? My granddaughters go nuts over him. (All 3 of them). My grandson prefers the "Beatles". Smart kid, huh?=Stefan=
Thumbs up for old rockers!
NatsuOsugosuHotaru 3 weeks ago in playlist Favorite videos
This is my favourite song in the whole show and it actually brings me to tears.
Thunderchild's crew probably knew they couldn't win, that they were going to their deaths if they fought and that they could probably make a run for it, but instead they stood their ground. They had a duty and were going to go out, guns blazing to buy time for the refugee fleet to escape. One last act of defiance so that all those people had a chance.
weldonwin 4 weeks ago
how happy is the guy who got to say ULLLAHHH!!!!!!!!
Plastikage 1 month ago
Make the film of the book, not the film of hollywood.
clive3262 4 months ago
Man, I have this album and the concert DVD. Been listening to the album since 1985. It is sheer awesomeness. They need to tour in the USA AND do a remake of the POS 2005 Spielberg version with a Jeff Wayne soundtrack. Set it in Victorian England, not New Jersey (although I understand why they set it in NJ since the radio version was set there) and totally steampunk it out. Justin Hayward, CGI Richard Burton, the world. UUUULLLAAAAA!
warszawianka 6 months ago 13
THEY NEED TO TOUR IN THE USA!!!!!!
NatTheDestroyer 6 months ago
I got the book to WOTW, and I played this song when I read the "Thunderchild"
It was a little mixed with all the paragraphs, but it was pretty epic
magicalkitten1 7 months ago
I first heard this on a radio station in the late 70s in Texas while in the army. It was fantastic. I went out and bought the album. Now I have this video to charish too. It is one of the most fantastic pieces of music ever written. Thank you Jeff Wayne! Oh and by the way they don't plays stuf like this on the radio today. They play crapola.
littlebuddyd 7 months ago 3
Nice post, great to see this! Thanks a lot.
PugnoProPatria 8 months ago
Who's the guy singing Thunderchild? I don't recognise him.
TheAlienFan 8 months ago
@TheAlienFan The bald guy is Chris Thompson,who is most famous for being the vocalist for Manfred Mann,for the hit song "Blinded by the Light" back in the 80's.
mopmonkey 7 months ago
@mopmonkey Oh yeah,I remember that song.Now you've let me know that,I can hear the song in my head. Thanks very much : )
TheAlienFan 7 months ago
OMG I can't believe it's been AGES since I saw this video! I LOVE the music!
I NEED to see a live performance!
...if they do more...)
magicalkitten1 8 months ago
ALL HAIL THE MARTIANS!
Bug8511 8 months ago in playlist Music Videos
this song is sort of about my financial situation - I was struggling to make ends meet (alien invasion) , so I got a part time job that I thought would help (The Thunderchild) but then my job gave us pay cuts, so I was defeated again : (
Defender78 9 months ago
I am so glad they could get the same guy to sing this song :)
AussieZac 9 months ago
Hey, the Thunderchild was a TORPEDO RAM, not a battleship... ; ) Nice musical though...
KronnangDunn 9 months ago
It was an IRONCLAD TORPEDO RAM to be more precise...
KronnangDunn 9 months ago
Love the musical! Hope to see it when it comes to London next! I am the only one who thinks the voice of humanity looks like Heinrich Himmler???
bulletnumber9 10 months ago
Shame because of the redesign there was no Thunderchild in the 2005 film
Force fields my ass, saying that; the tripods of that version wouldn’t have lasted 5 minuets without them. Especially when a few AT4’s brought one down. (sick or not)
darkblood626 11 months ago
@darkblood626 but the book was set in victorian times when all we had were horse drawn cannons and steamships
mark25964 8 months ago
@mark25964 I’m refereeing to the 2005 version; they shoehorned the magic force field crap so the aliens will still be perceived as a threat against a modern military and the thunder child brings more then one down and so including that scene in the 2005 film would just undermine the; they are a threat because of there magic force fields crap.
darkblood626 8 months ago
@darkblood626 it brings 3 down i think bu ramming into them
Dinobot2468 6 months ago
@mark25964
Part 2
That’s why it wasn’t included or a similar scene atleast and the fact the steamer doesn’t escape in the new version is supposed to add validity to the heighted threat they pose even against a modern military.
darkblood626 8 months ago
CRASHING DOWN ITS SHEETS OF FLAAAME!
TheCGIMaster 11 months ago
the double album , was great also , it left a lot to your imagination , old alfred hithcock trick , this is stunning high art , inspirational ,
Thadmotor1044 11 months ago
I love this. I could sit at my computer and watch this until I rotted away in this chair and every time I will get teary as the ship sinks. Thank You.
syakamaru 1 year ago 3
1 person was a martian
FalconKPD 1 year ago
Best track on the album!!
GrandPrix55 1 year ago
May humanity never forget the sacrifice of the HMS Thunderchild
gunnerdelta 1 year ago 3
best.music.EVER.
Martianelder 1 year ago
God bless HMS Thunderchild!
Amazing with the instruments
GrandPrix55 1 year ago
That guitar in the middle made me jizz a little.
Joiner113 1 year ago
This is surely the most mind-blowing part of the show. So emotional! I remember that part while reading a book. I had same feeling in my chest like i have it now, when i'm listening to this song.
So epic, so fantastic!
gerilac86 1 year ago
Farewell, Thunderchild... we will never forgets ya!
viejoolmo 1 year ago
Who's the bald dude?
accuristau 1 year ago
ulah :)
umcock 1 year ago
come on thunderchild :D
ubeaste 1 year ago
Damn! Tourettes Guy can really sing Thunderchild.
happygregory1989 1 year ago
Thumbs up if this album is the best!
Martianelder 1 year ago 3
My fav song
Martianelder 1 year ago
1 person is an exploded martian
Some1stoleSHARP546 1 year ago
@stagell i saw this as well after my bday but i rly wish i could see it at least one more time live the best experience of my life
cbbbtc 1 year ago
I well remember when this album was released thirty-one years ago. K99 in B'ahm played it on Halloween night with no commercial interruption. It was my senior year in HS, I was taking English Lit, and my teacher let me do all the writing on H.G. Wells that I wanted. Someone had given me a copy of the story when I was 10, and I've loved it and others of Wells ever since.
A great album! I turned my son onto it years ago. We both wish we could have seen this show.
Thanks so much for posting this.
dixieflyer500 1 year ago
Matthew22381- in the book the 'Thuderchild' is an Ironclad, which is a pre first world war term for an Iron hulled warship. They Tripods were at a disadvantage because they had waded out into deep water, and, they were pretty focused on wrecking more of the wooden vessels they had encountered already. Thunderchild was fast,agressive and saved firing it's guns until the last possible second, which allowed it to get in close, destroying one tripod at almost point blank range and ramming one head-
KingBarnaDuke 1 year ago
its funny how one wooden boat with like 6 cannons can take down 2 tripods by its self
matthew22381 1 year ago
Was going to say.....if you loved this READ THE BOOK! It is truly one of the all time sic-fi classics,and once you have read it you too might want to give Cruise and Spielberg a swift kick in the gonads for having the budget AND the influence to make a truly great film instead of the easily forgotten cash cow they did churn out.......a real shame.
KingBarnaDuke 1 year ago 2
I used to listen to this album as a child (think it was my brother in laws) and it always captivated me. It was listening to this that prompted me to read the book,and I have to say, if you loved the mu
KingBarnaDuke 1 year ago
I remember when I was a child my dad had this on vinyl, I was trying to listen to it by myself. I couldn't get it to work at first so i fiddled with the volume etc, I then realised the cable wasn't connected at the back of the turn table so I plugged it in (at full volume). I scared the HELL out of myself :D.
TheKarlish 1 year ago
My fav song of the show, those synths are screaming, sounds amazing!
U5096 1 year ago
remeber my bro listening to this on vinyl and being scared shitless lol
NeverNova 2 years ago
When I was a kid My bro had I think the 3 or 4cd version.
He used to play it on his CD player, and the moment where the Martian appeared out of the cylinder - I always had to run out onto the landing.
Scared the hell of me :-D.
RS250Squid 2 years ago
where can i find guitar "how to" or tabs or something for this! the heat ray guitar part would be sick to learn
MOIZAN 2 years ago
Hey, if they can bring "Tommy" to the States, why not this? Truly prog rock at it's best! Awesom!!
normharris 2 years ago
this is my favourite song of the muiscal.
IT"S AWSOME!!!
Finkledude 2 years ago
I hated how Thunder Child was left out of the 2005 movie
But you know all that shit about the shields I mean with the more modern time period without the shields the tripods would have gotten about 4feet
darkblood626 2 years ago 7
Yes, that's why they had the shields, I like both versions the Jeff Wayne version is a big factor of my life now, but the movie is cool, I loved the Tripod design and... it is just a more personal story... But it is just a matter of taste ;). (I still prefer the musical version though :P) But if these Martian attacked... we would win easy, but becouse it is set in 1898 they are much more advanced than we were back then. But still I love the whole War of the Worlds story... :D
nikedorchain 2 years ago
@nikedorchain
In the original, the fighting machines are their equivalent of (gigantic) infantry. The tripods just armored bodies with them being the brain to said body. With heat rays that could fry a tank instantly and mechanized troops capable of dodging artillery rounds, I think they would massacre our modern armed forces. We never even got to see their rumored flying machines or anything else they had in store before disease took them out.
onigojira 1 year ago
@onigojira Maybe, we could take them out without having to leave our cities, with our smart bombs and intercontinental missiles... We can use nukes... but that would kill us too and wouldn't be a very smart move.... I mean, although the Martians are cool and all and the 100 foot high Fighting Machines are really awesome... with our modern weapons we would bring them down. That is what makes War of the Worlds so awesome, back then we would be 'beaten to shit' by the Martians
nikedorchain 1 year ago
@nikedorchain
Well yeah we could wipe out their tripods with nukes probably. At least the novel versions (the old movie version and the radio or at least just the radio version however survive a direct nuclear attack).. but the real bonus would be making our planet uninhabitable.. the whole reason they want to take over our world. Although I don't know that'd be a bonus. The martians are limited in how they can fight because they want to keep earth pristine for themselves.
onigojira 1 year ago
@onigojira Hahaha, the tripods as described in the book wouldn't stand a chance against most militaries of the world today. Maybe they have a 50/50 chance of dodging the artillery of the late 19th century when the book was set, but I'm pretty sure they couldn't dodge missiles. It just goes to show how much perception of military strength changes over the years. Back then the tripods seemed to Wells to be great, but today we can see that they're actually useless for their technological level.
StrangerQuark 1 year ago
@StrangerQuark
Because the newest, latest, greatest thing in anti-missile technology isn't heat rays, right? We're only just catching up with them in terms of weaponry.
onigojira 1 year ago
@onigojira Good point, but I was more talking about just what they are. Heat rays are also more for small numbers of large ballistic missiles, large numbers of hellfire missiles, or even RPG rockets would be the end of them because they are so big. My point is that back then something huge and imposing would be unstoppable, but nowadays size means very little except how easy something is to hit.
StrangerQuark 1 year ago
@StrangerQuark
Everything's got a weakness, but these things are depicted as dodging cannon shells. I think they'd be able to avoid RPG's. In the end, they're just glorified infantry units, and they still trump ours by a long shot. Their weapons would also knock our planes out of the air and instantly destroy our modern day tanks too. While we might win, it'd still be one hell of a fight.
onigojira 1 year ago
@onigojira Oh okay, hmm. I don't remember reading them dodging the artillery, but then again it has been years since I read it, and now that I think about it I might have mistaken it for just the normal inaccuracy of the artillery shells. Still, some of the old inaccurate shells found their targets and destroyed them, so most of the guided missiles today would probably do a better job. RPG's wouldn't, but there are lot more of them than there were cannons.
StrangerQuark 1 year ago
@StrangerQuark
One avoided a cannon round, and another got hit. After that they just gassed the artillery instead of waiting to get ambushed. They seemed to only move in small packs of 3-5 if I recall. They'd be able to strike down missiles with their heat cannons, too. In the same way we use lasers nowadays. Our best bet would be camo'd tanks, or hoping they don't notice the super sonic missiles being fired from beyond visual range before it hits. Once one is down though others'd be alert.
onigojira 1 year ago
@darkblood626 - well when the tanks and Apache copters are fighting the t-pods on the hill, they get routed. SO thats kinda like the Tunderchild. Still an awsome observation!
Defender78 2 years ago
Used to have this full album on CASSETTE when i was a kid.Some parts actually scared me lol
20dc06 2 years ago 5
Keep hoping Jeff will bring this show to the states. If so...I am so there. Had a pal pick up a copy of the 30th Anniv. DVD set when he was in London. Cn only watch on my PC but that's fine. What an amazing creation this musical is...
Flap999 2 years ago 3
WOW.thats all I can say! Talented. . .
thefilmaker16 2 years ago
Wow I remember this video. Still amazing.
MastaChief345 2 years ago
perfect song!!!!
awesome performance.
5 stars
MaxSchiet 2 years ago 2
I hope that Jeff Wayne will also perform his awesome opera acc. H.G. Wells masterpiece will be performed in Berlin at any time.
ichmalealsobinich 2 years ago
thats awesome
benebrius 2 years ago
saw this recently, front row at newcastle. this bit gave me goosebumps - my god he can sing can that bloke.
wilsonslass 2 years ago 3
I saw him at Heineken Music hall.
I totaly agree!
darkkitchenwitch 2 years ago 2
Best part of the show, I was pleasently surprised; Chris is such an amazing artist!
sannevgalen1980 2 years ago 19
Glad every1s enjoying it ^_^
Kheperan 2 years ago 5
Great video and sound. I feel lucky that I was able to find a dvd for sale in the U.S. It's awesome. Even though I had some trouble because of the the region encoding it was well worth it. I can't believe a version encoded for region one is not available for here in the states. The origional album certainly was or do you Europeans like to keep a good thing for yourself. Just kidding! Awesome video etc.
hsjames1 2 years ago 2
Comment removed
FalconKPD 2 years ago
Chris is definitely the best... what a voice.
dweideman 2 years ago
There Is Nothing More Entertaining Than Watching Chris Thompson Putting Everything Into This Song...Soo Brilliant To Watch Live. Surely A Living Legend :)
PropaneNightmare001 2 years ago
Best part of the show, loved it!
WhiteLeviathan 2 years ago 2
loved this but the artillary man was good
skycladwow 2 years ago
Fantastic performance at the Echo in liverpool by everyone, i was completely blown away.
GrimDiamond 2 years ago 4
Was amazing.
skycladwow 2 years ago
2.15 - 3.18 = best piece of music i have ever heard :-)
swansong95 2 years ago 2
Outstanding!
hsjames1 2 years ago 4
3:10 my fav solo
Danimations08 2 years ago
Is that jeff singing?
DEPTrooper 2 years ago 2
No, It's Chris Thompson
bagnewauckland 2 years ago 10
jeff wayne is the maestro or whatever u call it the guy standing in the front waving his arms
abbyjr 2 years ago
My Fav War of the worlds song
Danimations08 2 years ago 3
chris thompson gives a super performance for this part.. looks like he's giving his heart and soul into the song... brilliant performance
sleepysnz 2 years ago 4
This has been flagged as spam show
Jeez he sang the hell out of that song. Love it!! Thanks so much for posting
marleneartsandcrafts 2 years ago
Comment removed
marleneartsandcrafts 2 years ago
Hammer
Farkas62 2 years ago
Chilling!!! Maybe that is what this world needs to get us all together, a threat from outside. =Stefan=
chengloki 3 years ago 19
Maybe...
FalconKPD 2 years ago 2
@chengloki I think justin beaver is already doing a good enough job of that.
madcat789 1 year ago
@madcat789 Uhh, do you mean Justin Bieber? My granddaughters go nuts over him. (All 3 of them). My grandson prefers the "Beatles". Smart kid, huh?=Stefan=
chengloki 1 year ago
@chengloki I call him Beaver because to me he sings like one.
madcat789 1 year ago
@madcat789 OK my friend, point to you. LOL =Stefan=
chengloki 1 year ago
@chengloki And point to you old gesser,you know about Justin Beaver...wait...no thats -5 points then.
madcat789 1 year ago
@madcat789 A Conversation about Justin Bieber is the last thing i was on this vid -.- lol
Kheperan 1 year ago
@Kheperan Yeah,he wouldn't comprehend this book/play/crappy movie anyway.
madcat789 1 year ago