Tales Of Mystery & Imagination

One of the most complex recordings by alan.parsons..if you are a fan of poe..this is a must..highly recommend

This 1976 debut is simply excellent and is unquestionably the finest recording to come out of the 1970s British symphonic pop scene. In fact, I would place it on equal stature with the follow-up album and fan favorite I Robot (1977) even though I find Tales of Mystery and Imagination to be a more musically rich and satisfying recording. As an added bonus, the album sets a few stories of tortured soul Edgar Allen Poe to music.The musicians on this album include the "Project" core of Alan Parsons (organ, projectron, EMI Vocoder, and additional vocals); David Paton (bass guitar); Stuart Tosh (drums); Ian Bairnson (electric and acoustic guitars); and Eric Woolfson (keyboards and additional vocals). Various luminaries from the prog rock scene are present too including crazed vocalist Arthur Brown (he really belts out on The Tell Tale Heart), and keyboardist Francis Monkman (formerly with Curved Air). Other notables from the rock realm include the band Ambrosia. The vocalists (and there are several) are all pretty good and their voices work well with the particular track they were selected for. Last but not least is Darryl Runswick on acoustic bass (Pavane - Part IV of The Fall of the House of Usher) - his playing is restrained, jazzy, and very well done.I should note that this album is not the same album that was released in 1976. For starters, the cover is different (the stripe is new). Furthermore, short segments of spoken word passages were contributed by Orson Welles and Alan overdubbed various keyboard parts along with remixing the entire album in 1987. Although I never listened to the original album, I have to say that the changes Alan made are both tasteful and very organic sounding in a 1970s way (no 80's tone colors whatsoever). Specifically, a new guitar solo was added to The Raven; Projectron and new analog sounding synths were added to The Tell Tale Heart; additional synth parts were added to the Cask of Amontillado; pipe organ parts were added to Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather; and new synth parts were added to the excellent Pavane (Part IV of the The Fall of Usher suite).My favorite tracks on the album include the opening instrumental Dream within a Dream; The Cask of Amontillado (the combination of the sweet melodies with Poe's macabre subject matter was a very clever idea); the lengthy instrumental suite The Fall of the House of Usher (which features a 7 minute overture played by the English Chorale Orchestra); and the dreamy pop song To One in Paradise.This version of the CD comes with all lyrics and a synopsis of the life of Edgar Allen Poe.All in all, this is an excellent debut by the Alan Parsons Project and is highly recommended to those looking to explore the British symphonic pop genre - which is an offshoot of progressive rock. Also recommended are I Robot (1977) and Pyramid (1978).

The Alan Parsons Project's TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION is one of the best horror-themed rock albums ever produced. Every track is based on a work by that master of the morbid, Edgar Allan Poe, and the band--actually only two musician-songwriters, Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, backed up by some outstanding session musicians--does a fantastic job of weaving Poe's eerie narrative and lurid atmosphere into a macabre musical tapestry.Some of Poe's best works are interpreted here, not the least of which are "The Raven," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." The more widely-known piece on the album is probably "The Raven," having been granted a lot of radio play when it debuted in the 1970s, and "The Tell-Tale Heart" stylistically stands as the album's most traditional rock-and-roll song. But from an aesthetic standpoint, "The Fall of the House of Usher" is undoubtedly the best track. The entire song lasts for more than 16 minutes, contains no lyrics (other than a newly added voiceover at the beginning), and is divided into different movements in much the same way as a classical symphony. Like the Poe story that inspired it, it runs the gamut of human emotion, starting off with a serene yet melancholy classical passage, then seamlessly moving through jazzy new-age and rock segues towards an intense symphonic crescendo. When listening to the song from start to finish, it is impossible to NOT feel that sense of inexorable deterioration and downfall that is inherent to the Poe work, and it is altogether quite artistically satisfying.TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION was originally released in 1976 and was, to the dismay of some fans, re-released a few years later with different jacket illustrations. Though the remixed and remastered CD version reviewed here uses the original jacket art for the cover and liner illustrations, there are other aspects of the disc that will nonetheless upset fans who are "purists." For example, musical passages such as guitar riffs or background synths have been blatantly superimposed onto some of the tracks, and many of the tracks are now tied together with narrative voice-overs recorded by the late Orson Welles (yes, THAT Orson Welles). However, one must bear in mind that these alterations have been executed by none other than Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson themselves, and they claim to have done everything possible to ensure that the music contains the same spirit that endeared it to fans when it was originally released in 1976.Still, musically speaking, the album has undergone a noticeable facelift. Of course, if this CD represents your first exposure to the music, the changes probably won't matter to you in the least. But if you're someone who has loved the album since its original debut, you'll just have to give this version a listen and decide for yourself if the changes either deface or enhance. To most fans, though, the album will most certainly remain a classic.This CD is highly recommended to fans of horror, those who love the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and anybody who fondly remembers the concept rock of the 1970s.