In 2020, writing for Prog, Alex Burrows described the record as "the ultimate concept album and best-selling prog soundtrack of all time", concluding "it's still an album that certainly ticks all the boxes of the true definition of 'progressive': groundbreaking, cutting-edge and seminal. Filmed at London's O2 Arena and innovatively combining music, technology and live performance, Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds: The New Generation features an all-star cast including Liam Neeson, Marti Pellow, Jason Donovan, Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson, Jettblack's Will Stapleton and Wicked's Kerry Ellis. After reviewing the album for thirty days, CBS praised its strong story, songs, guest artists, and uniqueness, but doubted if people were willing to listen to a double album of continuous material, and believed its chance of success would suffer with Wayne, an American, producing an adaptation of an English novel. Other changes included adding the character of Carrie's Father (actor Nigel Barber) and lyrics to the song "Life Begins Again".

The new Liam Neeson hologram planned for the tour was demonstrated at the press conference with Neeson and Wayne and was also shown on The Alan Titchmarsh Show, on which an "Eve of the War" and "Forever Autumn" medley was performed with Wayne conducting. People praised its new compositions, dialogue and re-arrangement of Wayne's original music, claiming it to be "less dated", but criticism was aimed at the overuse of the synthesizer elements, as well as some of the singers' performances, mainly by some fans of the original album.

He again encounters the Artilleryman, who is planning a new life underground that would allow humans to evade the Martians and ultimately strike back with reverse-engineered fighting machines. While most of the contributors are relatively unknown, [27] the album includes two versions of a remix of "Dead London" by Apollo 440 and other remixes by house-music pioneer Todd Terry.

Justin Hayward, lead singer and guitarist for the Moody Blues, sings the song " Forever Autumn" (sung from the perspective of the Journalist), which was a hit single from the album. The wandering Journalist discovers that red weed—the vegetation that gives Mars its color—has taken root on Earth and spread rapidly across the landscape.The live show, titled Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation: Alive on Stage!

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds opened on April 13, 2006 at the Bournemouth International Center in the UK. However, Wayne went on to read Wells's book "three or four times" and saw the 1953 film adaption, and decided it was the most suitable for a musical adaptation. Set just after the end of World War II, he is dying, but now speaks about the extent of atrocities committed during the recent war, how human beings can, in some shapes and forms, be as destructive as the Martians had been in his novel. Filmed live at London’s O2 Arena, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds is not to be missed! The New Generation album received mixed reactions from music critics and lifelong fans of Wayne's original album, with many praising Liam Neeson's performance as The Journalist, though some fans of the original were not impressed, comparing his performance to that of Richard Burton's.

Music Week commented that the album is "superb" and predicted it will become "one of the biggest sellers. It ran from 8 February to 30 April 2016 [31] and featured direction by Bob Thompson, an onstage orchestra conducted by Jeff Wayne, and Liam Neeson as the Journalist in the usual 3D holography. The classic story of ruthless alien invaders is reimagined for a new generation in this dazzling sci-fi opera.