Tales of Mystery and Imagination
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| Tales of Mystery and Imagination | |||||
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| Image:TAPP-TalesOfImagination.jpg | |||||
| Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project | |||||
| Released | May 1976 (US) June 1976 (UK) |
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| Recorded | August 1975 - January 1976 Abbey Road Studios Mama Jo's Kingsway Hall |
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| Genre | Progressive rock | ||||
| Length | 40:46 | ||||
| Label | 20th Century (US) Charisma (UK) |
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| Producer | Alan Parsons | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| The Alan Parsons Project chronology | |||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||
| Image:TalesofMystery- LP alternate.JPG LP featuring alternate artwork |
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Tales of Mystery and Imagination is a progressive rock album by The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1976 (see 1976 in music). The album's avant-garde soundscapes kept it from being a blockbuster, but the interesting lyrical and musical themes — retellings of horror stories and poetry by Edgar Allan Poe — attracted a small audience. Critical reaction was often mixed, such as Rolling Stone, whose Billy Altman concluded that the album mostly failed at reproducing Poe's tension and macabre fear, ending by claiming that "devotees of Gothic literature will have to wait for someone with more of the macabre in their blood for a truer musical reading of Poe's often terrifying works".
The Prelude of "The Fall of the House of Usher", although uncredited, is based on the opera fragment "La chute de la maison Usher" by Claude Debussy.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination peaked at #38 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" peaked at #37 on the Pop Singles chart.
In 1987 Parsons completely remixed the album for CD with some new instrumentation, and added narration by Orson Welles that was left off the original vinyl release, apparently at the request of the original record company. The CD notes that Welles never met Parsons or Collaborator Eric Woolfson, but sent a tape to them of the performance. The original 1976 mix had only ever been released in 1976, and on an MFSL gold CD until the 2007 Deluxe Edition included both versions remixed again by Alan Parsons during 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "A Dream Within A Dream" [instrumental] – 3:43
- "The Raven" – 4:01 (ft. Alan Parsons lead vocal through an EMI vocoder)
- "The Tell-Tale Heart" – 4:40 (ft. Arthur Brown)
- "The Cask of Amontillado" – 4:29 (ft. John Miles)
- "(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" – 4:15 (ft. John Miles)
- "The Fall of the House of Usher: Prelude" [instrumental] – 5:51
- "The Fall of the House of Usher: Arrival" [instrumental] – 2:36
- "The Fall of the House of Usher: Intermezzo" [instrumental] – 1:06
- "The Fall of the House of Usher: Pavane" [instrumental] – 4:44
- "The Fall of the House of Usher: Fall" [instrumental] – 1:07
- "To One in Paradise" – 4:14 (ft. Terry Sylvester)
[edit] Personnel
- Alan Parsons - Organ, Synthesizer, Guitar, Keyboards, Recorder, Vocals, *Producer, Engineer, Projection
- Eric Woolfson - Synthesizer, Harpsichord, Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Executive Producer
- Orson Welles - Narrator (1987 version only)
- Arthur Brown - Vocals
- The Alan Parsons Project - Performer
- John Miles - Guitar, Vocals
- Francis Monkman - Organ, Keyboards
- Kevin Peek - Guitar (Acoustic)
- Terry Sylvester - Vocals
- Laurence Juber - Guitar (Acoustic)
- Andrew Powell - Keyboards, Arranger
- David Paton - Guitar (Acoustic), Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
- Ian Bairnson - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
- Chris Blair - Assistant Engineer
- Peter Christopherson - Photography
- David Katz - Violin, Leader, Orchestra Contractor
- Burleigh Drummond - Drums
- English Chorale - Vocals
- Jack Harris - Vocals
- Bob Howes - Choir, Chorus
- John Leach - Percussion, Vocals, Cimbalom, Kantele
- David Pack - Guitar
- Smokey Parsons - Vocals
- Joe Puerta - Bass
- Tony Richards - Assistant Engineer
- Jack Rothstein - Leader
- Darryl Runswick - Bass, String Bass
- David Snell - Harp
- The English Chorale and Played Ti - Choir, Chorus
- Stuart Tosh - Cymbals, Drums, Vocals, Tympani [Timpani]
- Tom Trefethen - Assistant Engineer
- Leonard Whiting - Vocals, Narrator
- Pat Stapley - Assistant Engineer
- Aubrey Powell - Photography
- Storm Thorgerson - Photography
- Hipgnosis - Design, Cover Art
- Sam Emerson - Photography
- Colin Elgie - Artwork, Graphic Design, Layout Design
- Billy Lyall - Piano, Drums, Glockenspiel, Keyboards, Recorder, Fender Rhodes
- Gordon Parry - Engineer
- Jane Powell - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
- Andrew Hurdle - Bass
- Christopher North - Keyboards
[edit] Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | The Billboard 200 | 38 |
| 1976 | UK Albums Chart | 56 |
[edit] See also
- Edgar Allan Poe and music
- "A Dream Within A Dream"
- "The Raven"
- "The Tell-Tale Heart"
- "The Cask of Amontillado"
- "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether"
- "The Fall of the House of Usher"
| The Alan Parsons Project |
|---|
| Alan Parsons | Eric Woolfson | Andrew Powell | Ian Bairnson | Richard Cottle |
| Discography |
| Studio Albums: Tales of Mystery and Imagination | I Robot | Pyramid | Eve | The Turn of a Friendly Card | Eye in the Sky | Ammonia Avenue | Vulture Culture | Stereotomy | Gaudi |
| Compilations: The Best of the Alan Parsons Project | The Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Vol. 2 | The Essential Alan Parsons Project |
| Singles: "(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" | "The Raven" | "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" | "Don't Let It Show" | "What Goes Up" | "Damned If I Do" | "Games People Play" | "Time" | "Snake Eyes" | "Eye in the Sky" | "Psychobabble" | "You Don't Believe" | "Don't Answer Me" | "Prime Time" | "Let's Talk About Me" | "Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)" | "Stereotomy" |
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