Review: Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of "Spartacus"
Chris Thomas
Columbia UK 472030
So it took over a decade, but Jeff Wayne has finally returned with a
followup to his classic musical version of "War of the Worlds".
"Spartacus" is a faithful telling of the story of the rebellious
slave who builds an army to challenge the mighty Romans, but who
loses in the end to the forces of senator and multi-millionaire Marcus
Crassus.
Here, the part of Crassus is played grandly by Anthony Hopkins, whose
narrative style is usually commanding but is sometimes forced. British
actress Catherine Zeta Jones plays Spartacus' woman, Palene. The
voices of Spartacus' army are contributed by African band Ladysmith
Black Mambazo (well known for their work with Paul Simon). Fish, from
Marillion, sings as Crixus the Gaul. Jimmy Helms, the lead singer with
Londonbeat ("London Nights") is Isoricus the Cicilian Pirate. The
role of Spartacus is played by Alan King, leader of a band called
Walk on Fire. Bill Fredericks, former lead singer of the Drifter(!),
performs, as do two alumni from "War of the Worlds" -- Chris Thompson
and Jo Partridge.
Inevitably, Jeff Wayne's work is compared to two other relevant works:
first, his own "War of the Worlds"; and, second, the 1975 album "Spartacus"
by German progressive-rock band Triumvirat.
How does Jeff Wayne sound in the 90s? Much of the music is obviously
synthesized, and seems not as "full" as the orchestrated arrangements
from WOTW. Two of the main "fight" sequences (in "Animal & Man" and
"The Eagle & The Hawk") contain a mix of driving music and forceful
narration that made WOTW so extraordinary, but there are also many
weaker moments... especially the "hit single" from the album, "For All
Time". Jones provides a competent vocal, but this sappy love song
simply doesn't even hold a candle compared to Justin Hayward's "Forever
Autumn".
On the other hand, the Triumvirat interpretation of the Spartacus saga
was musically complete and compelling, if a little short on words.
The feeling of each stage in the saga was often -- but not always --
captured in Wayne's version and, at almost two hours long, is very
difficult to listen to in just one sitting.
In fact, I've found that I've enjoyed Jeff Wayne's "Spartacus" more when
I've used it as a background to some other activity, and listened at a
distance, rather than focusing on the work itself. Perhaps at a distance,
the shallowness of some of the songs doesn't stand out as much.
Through all of the critical comments about "Spartacus", one point kept
nagging at me. "War of the Worlds" was truly a story of conquest (at
least in the Wayne version, which presupposed a real Martian invasion).
There was truly something to rejoice about at the end when the humans
killed off the Martian machines. In "Spartacus", however, the denouement
has the wealthy multi-millionaire bloodily crushing the army of rebellion,
restoring the powers-that-be to their self-proclaimed positions of
grandeur. "Spartacus" makes this out to be a "good" (if not "happy")
ending: "I, Marcus Crassus, broke him and I saved Rome. Today the
triumphant shouts of the crowd are for me alone. The voices of Spartacus
and all his followers are silenced -- forever!"
Depending on one's school of thought, this may not be a particularly
pleasant ending, and Jeff Wayne's typically grandiose style doesn't seem
to completely mesh with this very tragic, death-ridden event. Is it
a fault of the music? Not really; instead, it's more the choice of subject
matter.
When Triumvirat tackled Spartacus 17 years ago, they crafted a state-of-
the-art synthesized production that didn't have much pretentiousness (at
least not much more than did other bands of the day!). They captured the
essence of the story in the music, and still produced an entertainint
product.
In 1992, Jeff Wayne has truly created another masterwork in his interpreation
of the Spartacus story. Even with all of the difficulties I've mentioned,
"Spartacus" still is a very good album on all fronts. But be warned: it
is definitely not of the same caliber as "War of the Worlds". With all of
these disclaimers, and with reasonable expectations, it's still quite easy
to give some very high marks to this album.
Ratings: The goose bump scale (0 to 10, with 10 best) measures how often
the music made my skin tingle and my mind take notice.
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of "Spartacus" 7 goose bumps
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Chris Thomas (415) 390-4118
S4/7 b g+ l y+ z+ n+ o+ x-/+ a++ u v-/+ j++ j...@mti.sgi.com