by Bruce EderMike Batt stepped into Jeff Wayne's realm of expertise with this progressive/pop work (sometimes referred to as The Hunting of the Snark), based on Lewis Carroll's nonsense poetry. The Hunting of the Snark recalls Wayne's The War of the Worlds with its all-star cast and enveloping concept. It isn't done on quite so grand a scale, and it lacks the propulsive narrative thrust of Wayne's work, but it has an opening rock/orchestral section and an introductory piece -- "Children of the Sky," sung by Batt -- that's about as catchy and lyrical a piece of pop/prog rock as had been heard this side of Kate Bush's Hounds of …  » Read more