Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Alan Poe by The Alan Parsons Project from 1976. The remaster from 2009 is discussed here. Another remaster dates from 1987.

The Alan Parsons Project was founded by sound engineer/producer Alan Parson and manager Eric Woolfson in 1975. Both wanted to make their own music. From a prog perspective, the early phase is interesting - art rock and progressive rock. The later, commercially very successful phase is characterized by pop rock/soft rock. Both are professionals in their field and have worked on many productions for various bands. Eric Woolfson died in 2009.

Their debut album Tales of Mystery and Imagination – Edgar Alan Poe was released in May 1976. I won’t say too much about the conception and production, there are entire treatises on the internet. It is a rocky, symphonic concept album about the author Edgar Allan Poe, using various stories, such as “The Raven” or “The fall of the House of Usher”. Production took place in Abbey Road Studios. Their relationships in the production management area resulted in a sophisticated album. None other than Orson Welles recorded the short texts as “Poe”, but only for the promotion of the LP. It was only after Welles’ death that Parson and Woolfson added the spoken texts to the 1987 remaster, and this 2009 remaster has also retained them. The list of contributors is well-stocked.

The black vinyl comes as a gatefold and is the remaster from 2009. There is a short booklet with the lyrics included, see pictures. The quality is consistently high, no egg dance on the turntable, no scratches or marks. The print of the booklet could be a little sharper, which is unfortunately noticeable in the pictures.

It starts with Orson Welles as the narrator in “A Dream within a Dream”. “The Raven”, “The Tell Tale Heart”, “The Casket of Amontiliado” and “Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” are much rockier and then move on to the instrumental, more symphonic part “The Fall of The House of Usher”. This block lasts around 16 minutes and is, for me, the real highlight of the album and creates the darker atmosphere, alongside the two short spoken passages by Orson Welles in “A Dream within a Dream” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. The last song on the LP is, for me, the poppiest song, “To one in Paradise” and I think its inappropriate.

Some reviews criticize The Alan Parsons Project for not being able to musically convey the dark melancholy and tension of Edgar Alan Poe. I agree with that to some extent, but I would like to point out that these lyrics are old and not many people are afraid of them anymore. This album has now achieved cult status, and rightly so. The coherence of the concept is highly professional, as is the production. For me, this is a groundbreaking album.

Alan Parson, Eric Woolfson, John Miles, David Patton, Arthur Brown, Stuart Tosch, Ian Bairnson, Billy Layall, Andrew Powell, Daryl Run. Spoken text Orson Welles. Reissue, Remaster, Gatefold, 180gr from 2009.

The photos are all from my LP. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.