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Tales of Mystery and Imagination

The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination Audio CD

A fair review of the The Alan Parsons Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Alan Parsons Project reviews here, or go back to the The Alan Parsons Project tabs.

Band: The Alan Parsons Project
Title: Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-09-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dream Within a Dream [Instrumental] 2: Raven 3: Tell-Tale Heart 4: Cask of Amontillado 5: (The System Of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether 6: Fall of the House of Usher: Prelude [Instrumental] 7: Fall of the House of Usher: Arrival [Instrumental] 8: Fall of the House of Usher: Intermezzo [Instrumental] 9: Fall of the House of Usher: Pavane [Instrumental] 10: Fall of the House of Usher: Fall [Instrumental] 11: To One in Paradise 12: Raven [Original Demo][*] 13: Edgar [Demo of an Unreleased Track] 14: Orson Welles Radio Spot [*] 15: Interview with Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson [1976][*] 16: Dream Within a Dream [1987 Remix][Instrumental] 17: Raven [1987 Remix] 18: Tell-Tale Heart [1987 Remix] 19: Cask of Amontillado [1987 Remix] 20: (The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether [1987 Remix] 21: Fall of the House of Usher: Prelude [1987 Remix] 22: Fall of the House of Usher: Arrival [1987 Remix] 23: Fall of the House of Usher: Intermezzo [1987 Remix] 24: Fall of the House of Usher: Pavane [1987 Remix] 25: Fall of the House of Usher: Fall [1987 Remix] 26: To One in Paradise [1987 Remix] 27: Eric's Guide Vocal Medley [*] 28: Orson Welles Dialogue [*] 29: Sea Lions in the Departure Lounge: Sound Effects and Experiments [*] 30: GBH Mix: Unreleased Experiments [#][*]

great BUT....
BUT one thing I cannot forgive. OK, it's a masterpiece of prog aural bliss. The Prelude on the suite "Fall of House of Usher" is literally from an unfinished piece by Claude Debussy, "La chute de maison Usher". The fact that this is not acknowledged in the album information (or is it on the Deluxe edition?) is something of a scandal, I believe. Do messrs Parsons/Woolfsons/Powell want us to suppose they could ever write such music on their own? Opinions on this please!

.

Actually, 5 Stars doesn't rate this justly!
This ranks right up there with the best of Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and any other classic art-rock band, ever. Fantastic is an understatement. And the remastering is amongst the best of all music, no surprise, it's Alan Parsons we're talking about here! Don't miss this one! .

Stunning renditions of 7 classic tales and poems by E.A. Poe.
(Yes, I was an impressionable 16-year-old, but Poe really *was* the master of horror for all ages. I'll never forget the first work by Edgar Allan Poe I ever read: it was "The Tell-Tale Heart," and Poe's short story about a madman who kills and dismembers an old man by whose "evil eye" he feels haunted soon outgrew the high school class assignment it had originally been for me; and the narrator's nightmares began to haunt me, too. ) Alan Parsons's rendition of the story on the third track of "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" does full justice to its sense of lunacy masquerading as clairvoyance, and the urgency of the narrator's acts, driven by the sound of the old man's beating heart, hidden below the floor boards of his room, and symbolized here by the steady bass and drum beat underlying the entire track -- except for the deceptively serene bridge ("And he won't be found at all, not a trace to mark his fall nor a stain upon the wall"), after which it returns with all the greater force, accentuated by the grating sound of an electric guitar which, along with the bassline and drums, causes some to describe this song as more of a traditional rock song than the other parts of this album.

The album starts with an instrumental based on the poem "Dream Within a Dream," to which the brief Poe quote from 1846's "Marginalia," where "Dream Within a Dream" was also published -- spoken by Orson Welles -- was added on 1987's remastered CD (the second CD of this re-remastered edition). In many ways, this quote sets the theme for the entire album, and for Poe's work in general: "There is . . . a class of fancies of exquisite delicacy which are not thoughts . . . These fancies arise in the soul, alas how rarely . . . at those weird points of time, where the confines of the waking world blend with the world of dreams. . . . I captured this fancy, where all that we see, or seem, is but a dream within a dream. " (I owned and loved the vinyl version of this album long before the CD was released; but for the life of me I cannot understand why this quote was not included from the start -- unlike others I don't find it an intrusion but an enrichment. This double CD, however, now even affords listeners the long-awaited opportunity of a direct comparison between both the original and the 1987 recording. ) And like the quote, the entire track weaves around the listener's thoughts and thus, leads us into the rest of the album, at the end introducing the drum-enforced bassline which also dominates the next two tracks on what used to be the vinyl original's first side.

Thus, "Dream Within a Dream" blends seamlessly into the interpretation of Poe's classic "The Raven" -- the epitome of a story about a nightly visitor from hell, come to torment the narrator and to leave Nevermore. (Parsons maintains the poem's gloomy mood, although he makes little to no references to its more explanatory parts. ) And like the "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," the album's fourth track deals with a soul damned forever, setting to music the tale of "The Cask of Amontillado," that bait used by its narrator Montresor to lure and immure alive in his palace's labyrinthic vaults one pointedly named Fortunado. The song's heavily textured vocals layer Fortunado's pleas for help with Montresor's gloating, while gentle keyboard and string tunes contrast his horrifying act. Horns, guitars and a choir emphasize the story's somber end.

The tales then move on to the chillingly hilarious account of the madhouse reigned by the inmates themselves (insufficiently "soothed" by the prior system and now partying wildly) and the "System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether," administered on their former guards.

The orchestral suite "Fall of the House of Usher," the centerpiece of the vinyl album's second side, puts to music Poe's ghastly tale of an ancient mansion causing the ruin of its owners. Here again, on the 1987 CD, Orson Welles lends his voice to Poe's words, written in 1831, eight years before the tale itself but foretelling it with its references to "[s]hadows of shadows passing," "colour becom[ing] pallor, man becom[ing] carcase, home becom[ing] catacomb, and the dead [who] are but for a moment motionless. " (Again, I fail to understand why this was not already included on the vinyl version of the album -- but, again, I think proponents of both editions will be equally pleased with the direct comparison offered by this CD. ) The suite's individual movements mirror the breadth of emotions contained in Poe's tale, with (alternatively and conjunctively) wailing strings, sinuous guitars, and thundering, hard-driving drums and bassline.

And as in anyone of Poe's tales, there simply cannot be an upbeat ending -- the album's last track is a melancholy interpretation of the ode "To One in Paradise," mourning the death of the speaker's love.

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is a quintessential concept album; the auspicious debut of that "anonymous outfit that never play[ed] gigs," as Parsons wrote in the liner notes of the remastered CD; a "project" whose name was initially not intended to be the name of the band but rather their product, the album itself. In addition to close contributor and keyboardist Eric Woolfson, Alan Parsons recruited a talented group of individuals: conductor Andrew Powell, who later produced Kate Bush's first albums, scored Richard Donner's Ladyhawke and worked with artists as diverse as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Leo Sayer, Chris de Burgh, Kansas and the Philharmonia Orchestra; guitarist Ian Bairnson (now known for his cooperations with George Martin, Mick Fleetwood and again, Kate Bush); actor Leonard Whiting (Romeo the 1968 Zeffirelli film), Elton John's bassist David Paton, 10CC drummer and Bairnson ex-co-Pilot Stuart Tosh, Tina Turner sidekick-to-be John Miles, and Terry Sylvester, Graham Nash's replacement in the Hollies.

In addition to both versions of the album, this double CD offers bonus material such as excerpts from (spoken) interviews and an extensive booklet which contains, inter alia, the lyrics to all songs, reproductions of the original album's artwork, artist biographies, as well as a detailed essay.

If you didn't know this is Parsons's and his "Project"'s first album, you certainly wouldn't be able to tell this from the record's tight, first-rate production and musicianship. I am not the world's greatest fan of electronic music -- but this album has so much more to offer than synthesizers and vocoders. It has been one of my all-time favorites ever since its 1975 release, and I still listen to it with great regularity.

Also recommended:
Essential Alan Parsons Project
Edgar Allan Poe : Poetry and Tales (Library of America).

A particularly welcome reissue
This 2-disc remastered resissue contains both the 1976 and the 1987 versions, together with a great deal of interesting bonus material. 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination', a concept album based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe, first appeared on LP in 1976, reappearing (in remastered form) on CD in 1987. Hitherto, the 1976 version had never appeared on CD.

Inclusion of the original 1976 version makes this a particularly welcome reissue because, in my opinion, the 1987 version was significantly weaker than the original, lacking much of the bite of the 1976 production. Originally intended not as the name of a band but, rather, as a one-off exercise, the Alan Parsons Project went on to become one of the most successful and original of prog rock acts, but this is where it all began. From the very first cadences to the end, this is a gripping and enjoyable album of remarkable originality and power. Superb stuff, and the sonic quality of this reissue is excellent. Enjoy!.

This is the right place to start your adventure with the Alan Parsons Project!
And, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allen Poe" was the album that got it all started. The team of Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons - the heart of The Alan Parsons Project (APP) - produced what is arguably one of the best string of rock/pop concept albums ever.

This offering includes both the original version of the album released in 1976 and the remastered version released in 1987.

I was introduced to APP music in early 1977, mere months after the original version of this album was released. Having read a good deal of Edgar Allen Poe's work, I thoroughly enjoyed APP's adaptations of several of Poe's stories. APP's mixture of vocal and instrumental tracks has become, at least for me, their trademark.

The album includes hard driving rock (e. g. The Tell-Tale Heart, and Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether), moody instrumentals (e. g. , Fall of the House of Usher - in 5 parts), and calm, reflective songs (e. g. , To One in Paradise).

The 1987 remastered and revised version of the album includes Orson Welles narration as part of "A Dream Within a Dream", and the addition of heavier duty guitar licks to some of the other tracks.

I bought the vinyl LP when it came out, followed by an audio cassette of this album (1976 version). Then I kept an eye out for this music to be released on CD. When it was in 1987 I snapped it up, not knowing about the additions and revisions to many of the songs. It was, but was not my old friend. That is why I find this 2-CD set to be such a great option. It provides both the original and the revised versions of this great album.

I believe that even if you are not a fan of Poe's work, you will enjoy APP's music.

By the way, APP relies heavily on electronic manipulation to achieve the desired result in this album, and it is used to very good effect.

If you are just testing the APP water, I suggest that this is the best place to start.

5 stars all the way. I've had this music in one format or another for over 30 years now, and it still finds its way into my music playlists!

Alan Holyoak - 30+ year APP fan.

You can see a complete list of all The Alan Parsons Project discography, or go back to the The Alan Parsons Project tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.