Tales of Mystery and Imagination
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| Tales of Mystery and Imagination | ||
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| Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project | ||
| Released | June 1976 | |
| Recorded | August 1975 - January 1976 May 1987 - June 1987 Mama Jo's (Hollywood, California) |
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| Genre | Progressive rock | |
| Length | 40:46 | |
| Label | Charisma | |
| Producer(s) | Alan Parsons | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| The Alan Parsons Project chronology | ||
| Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976) |
I Robot (1977) |
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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 magazine, 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 has only been released in 1976, and on an MFSL gold CD.
[edit] Track listing
- "A Dream Within A Dream" [instrumental] – 3:43
- "The Raven" – 4:01
- "The Tell-Tale Heart" – 4:40
- "The Cask of Amontillado" – 4:29
- "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" – 4:15
- "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
[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
- 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
