The Alan Parsons Project Album: “Tales of Mystery and Imagination [Deluxe Edition]”

I have three copies of the Mobile Fidelity version of this CD from 1994 (because it's so great and I got a couple of them used), but aside from that, you couldn't get the 1976 version of this album on CD until now. I'm amazed that it took so long to release this version. The remastering job that was done on this entire package is amazing, and the booklet and photos show how much care was put into this edition. Doesn't matter whether you prefer the '76 or '87 versions, they both sound phenominal.

As for me, I prefer the '76 version because it sounds much more haunting, especially "Fall of the House of Usher". I would never argue with what Orson Welles' narration brought to the newer version, it's great. I just feel that the older version was more organic and more intense. This is one of those albums to put on headphones after midnight and listen start to finish. It doesn't even seem like separate songs, it's one whole piece with so many different moods that set up each other.

For example, after the "Prelude" to "Fall of the House of Usher", cracks of thunder, an ominous organ, and then a deceptively pleasant melody for "Arrival", and then Intermezzo, which sounds eerie enough itself before "Pavane". This is such a gentle piece with mainly harpsichord and harp that sets up and gradually segues into the brutal "Fall". This part is so much more frightening on the '76 version, and part of it is due to the way it begins creeping through in the last 30 seconds of "Pavane". I'm sure you'll get a chill from "Fall", especially if you've closed your eyes and imagined the story of the "Fall of the House of Usher" through each part. Finally, after that, "To One in Paradise", which sounds like Poe's biography in four minutes. Or, as Eric Woolfson put it, an epitaph.

With some Alan Parsons fans who are only familiar with the albums from "I Robot" on, you might not know about this one because it was originally issued on another label and took so long to be released on CD (at least, the original version was). Also, it didn't really have any hit singles, even though a couple were released and didn't chart all that high. Don't miss out on this new reissue. In addition to getting both versions, you get some great bonus tracks that feature an informative interview with Parsons and Woolfson, some demos, and the great original Orson Welles voice parts.

Finally, I need to take a minute here. Kudos to a classic rock station in Kansas City, I think it was KYYS. I was there in 2004, and they not only played "System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", but they played the original version!

This set caps the re-release of the first four AP-supervised remastered titles (three more to follow in September '07, and the final three in December).

For this edition, for the first time on CD, we finally get the original 1976 mix of the album that started it all. While I definitely prefer the '87 remix, there are passages in the original I also enjoy, so it's great to finally be able to compare the two, especially in glorious, remastered form.

In the additional material, there are two excellent spoken-word pieces: One, Orson Welles' entire original recitation, sans music/effects, and also a very enjoyable 8+ minute 1976 radio interview with AP and EW.

The booklet is a wonderful, detailed labor of love, with a great essay.

If you're an APP fan, this is an absolute must-own.

What makes the first "Project" so amazing is that there had been nothing like it before and there has yet to be anything quite like it since. When I asked Alan Parsons how he saw his artistic legacy, he replied that his partnership with Eric Woolfson was somewhat trend-setting at the time. There had been producing songwriters like Lee Hazelwood who would write material for Nancy Sinatra to sing, but the concrete partnership between a producer and a songwriter was a bit of an oddity in 1975. The result was the first "producers' album" (please note the location of the apostrophe) in modern recording history. Eric Woolfson's affinity for not only the prose and poetry of Edgar Allan Poe but for the author's humanity as well culminates in the closing epic

which was written and sung from the point of view of troubled writer himself.

When I listened to the demos that Eric Woolfson created on his own prior to meeting Alan Parsons, it occured to me just how fortuitous their then-friendship would become. The songs that Woolfson composed were catchy, clever, and even witty at times, but they lacked a much needed refinement to make them appeal to a larger audience. The bonus material in this deluxe edition is every bit a testament to Parsons' ability to hone a diamond in the rough as it is to Woolfson's songwriting prowess. As an ardent fan of both artists, I'm just really thankful these two gentlemen bumped into each other in the cafeteria at Abbey Road and managed to see eye to eye.

The original liner notes from 1976 failed to mention

was Andrew Powell's orchestral arrangement of an unfinished composition by none other than Claude Debussy called "La chute de maison Usher" from the French. Parson's liner notes from the 1987 remaster corrected this oversight, but these new liner notes focus almost entirely on the artistic identity of The Alan Parsons Project. I wonder if any casual fan would even bother to read these, but ardent fans certainly will. In short, I think a schism can be avoided if one considers how similar the artistic identity here mirrors the artistic identity of the works of William Shakespeare. Many, like myself, believe Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, actually wrote the Sonnets, Histories, and Tragedies while William Shakespeare wrote the comedies that together comprise the Shakespearean canon. However, that analogy falters somewhat in that the identity of Edward de Vere was genuinely hidden from the rest of the world whereas Eric Woolfson's was not.

For those reluctant to spend the sum necessary to purchase the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab release of the original 1976 mix, this package does offer a nice alternative. Most audiophiles will almost certainly prefer the dynamic range of the aforementioned MFSL release as well as the 1987 remix, but for those who listen to music on smaller portable systems, in the car, or on headphones this version will likely be more than satisfactory. While I do wish that this deluxe edition was available on Sony's Super Audio CD, I'm not about to give up hope that it may someday. To hear this work of art in quadraphonic surround with the Orson Welles narrations occupying the center channel would be a

come true!

Largely misunderstood by the vacuous music press of its day, Tales of Mystery and Imagination gained the recognition it so richly deserved over time. That this work of art would be so bedevilled with such bad press seems almost too appropriate given all the misconceptions that surrounded Poe throughout his life and even more so after he died. I would strongly recommend any ardent fan of The Project also take a look at Eric Woolfson's finest musical

for a closer look at the man who would become the single most influential writer that America ever produced.

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. And, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allen Poe" was the album that got it all started.

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

The first of The Alan Parsons Project albums set the footprint for his career to follow: choose a concept and then base progressive, highly structured and immaculately produced music around it. In the case of "Tales Of Mystery," it was Edgar Allan Poe. My original copy of this was on vinyl, a reissue of the 20th Century Records release with a second version of the cover, depicting a bust of Parsons somewhat wrapped in mummy-bandages. (The long shadow on the CD cover minus the mummy photos was the original cover.) Featuring several of APP's soon to be regular cast, collaborator Eric Woolfson and members of the groups Ambrosia (Parsons produced the debut "

") and Pilot, it was the kind of album that got labeled "head music" in the seventies. Perfect for listening to with headphones or while hanging out with friends in a room full of black light posters while probably not 100% sober.

Some 30 years later and more often sober while listening to CD's, this album holds up well for its first half. The trademarks of APP appear in songs like "The Raven" and the instrumental "Dream Within A Dream." There was even a minor hit single as "The System Of Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather" slipped into the lower reaches of the top 40. The album's final Beatlesque ballad, "To One In Paradise," sounds worthy of Abby Road and is indicative of hits to come - think of "Time."

On the other hand, the 15 minute "The Fall Of The House Of Usher" is a soundtrack in search of a video accompaniment. While a younger and more - ummm... - 'stimulated' imagination might have filled in the picture, it now just sounds like background buzz. While I don't mind the stentorian narration Parsons added from Orson Welles for the 1987 CD release, the additional synthesizers and solo guitars are an irritant. They could have left well-enough alone, but since CD technology was the shiny new thing at the time, I don't blame Parsons for wanting to tweak the new version.

Now, however, you have both versions in one box. This ups my original rating from 3 stars to four, as the sonic enhancements make the twin discs sound even better. For the first time since a long OOP Mobile Fidelity Disc, you can hear the version of this album in its original context, minus the extra guitars and synths. The demos add little to the package, but the bare narration from Orson Welles (and the radio spot) are worth a smile. As soon as I saw this at a domestic price, I knew I'd have to own it, and it was worth the investment.

As far as its place in the APP discography, I probably prefer "

," "

" and "

" ahead of "Tales Of Mystery." But for shear audacity (mixing classics of literature with rock music was considered pretty risky in 1976), the Alan Parsons Project debut still can stimulate.