The Cosmic Overture: A Rock & Roll Sermon on Eternal Existence
The very title, “War In Heaven,” sounds less like a pop song and more like a declaration, a thunderous prelude to an existential quest. For those of us who came of age in the 1970s, the name The Osmonds evokes a specific, almost blinding flash of bubblegum pop, dazzling smiles, and Donny‘s heartthrob status. Yet, for the discerning listener, particularly those of us old enough to remember the seismic shift they attempted, “War In Heaven” stands as a fascinating, audacious anomaly—a glimpse into the deeply held faith that underpinned their entire world. This isn’t the group of “One Bad Apple” or “Puppy Love;” this is a serious rock band wrestling with cosmic questions.
This powerful, psychedelic opener hails from the 1973 concept album, The Plan, an ambitious and, frankly, risky rock opera released on MGM/Kolob Records. The single “War In Heaven” was never released as an A-side single and, therefore, does not have a standalone chart position of its own. However, its parent album, The Plan, achieved a respectable run, climbing to No. 58 on the US Billboard 200 chart and a much higher peak of No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart, proving that while American audiences were a little perplexed, the British were more willing to embrace the brothers’ hard rock evolution.
The very existence of The Plan—and its overture, “War In Heaven”—is the story behind the song. By 1973, the brothers—Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, and Donny—were at the peak of their teen idol fame, but they felt a vocational need to reconcile their rock-and-roll lives with their deep-seated faith as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Their father, George Osmond, insisted they share the “plan of salvation” through their music. This concept album was their answer: a musical treatise on the eternal progression of the soul, from its premortal existence to life on Earth and finally, the return to God. It was, in many ways, an act of defiance against the constraints of their bubblegum image and a massive financial gamble, a rock-and-roll sermon in an age of excess.
“War In Heaven” acts as the dramatic overture, setting the stage. The song, primarily composed by Alan, Merrill, and Wayne Osmond, is an intense, almost theatrical piece that leans heavily into the hard-rock sound they had developed on the previous album, Crazy Horses. Its meaning is literal, drawing directly from LDS theology: it depicts the pre-mortal spiritual conflict, the ultimate struggle between Lucifer and the forces of good—a biblical prologue to the human experience. The track’s heavy, riff-driven sound and dramatic arrangement—befitting a stage musical—perfectly capture the epic, chaotic nature of a cosmic war. It wasn’t meant to be easy listening; it was meant to be a musical portal, drawing the listener into the grand, eternal narrative that the rest of the album would explore.
For older readers, this song is a potent memory trigger. It’s the sound of a wholesome family trying to be a serious rock band, a unique tension that defined their mid-’70s output. It was a time when musicians still felt they had a message, a time when a pop phenomenon could shed its skin and risk everything for a statement of faith. Listening to “War In Heaven” today, one can appreciate the sheer ambition and courage it took for The Osmonds to put their entire livelihood on the line for a concept this profoundly personal and spiritual. It’s a remarkable piece of 70s rock history—a moment when the glitter and the gospel collided in a burst of psychedelic, proto-prog-rock passion.