This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Edgar Allan Poe) is the debut studio album by British rock band the Alan Parsons Project. It was released on 25 June 1976 in the United Kingdom by Charisma Records and 20th Century Fox Records in the U.S. The lyrical and musical themes of the album, which are retellings of horror stories and poetry by Edgar Allan Poe, attracted a cult audience. The title of the album is taken from the title of a collection of Poe's macabre stories of the same name. Musicians featured on the album include vocalists Arthur Brown of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown on "The Tell Tale Heart", John Miles on "The Cask of Amontillado" and "(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether", and Terry Sylvester of The Hollies on "To One in Paradise". The complete line-up of bands Ambrosia and Pilot play on the record, along with keyboardist Francis Monkman of Curved Air and Sky. Tales of Mystery and Imagination peaked at #38 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. The song "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" peaked at No. 37 on the Pop Singles chart, and No. 62 in Canada.
Poe + prog rock? What's not to like?
Wth this was nails Really loved Eye in the Sky, but I got way tired of it. Luckily this was different And it sure was different 4 Ok the fall is crazy wtf
I don't want to listen to something like this every day but I miss there being stuff this wierd in the at least semi-mainstream. The musical theater/operatic bombast side by side with the rock chops and occasionally cheesy effects, all worked for me.
This was a surprising album. I went into it totally blind without reading any background information so when well arranged prog about the works of Eggar Allan Poe came on I was really into it. It dissolved into a classical arrangement for the final suite giving a sense of space to the whole thing.
Super cool concept, but not really my genre.
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: The raven
Interesting. Not something I'd ever listen to again, most likely, but it wasn't unenjoyable.
I was pretty big into Alan Parsons back in the day. I still like some of their stuff, but over time their flower has faded for me. This album sort of varies between sounding like a bad musical and a movie soundtrack score. There are some good moments, but overall it's just alright for me. 3 stars.
I liked Orson Welles narration/recitals. Music was a slight step-up from rockier Jethro Tull circa “Aqualung”. Classical cinematic music was not my cup of tea.
I think I liked it! Strange.
A more approachable and reasonable prog roc delivery. The instrumental sections seem to be the strongest… as most of the singing doesn’t actually seem to make it much better. Nothing too memorable but an interesting listen.
These songs don't seem to capture the mood of the Edgar Allan Poe stories they are supposedly inspired by.
Lame and boring. I love a bit of prog, but this put me to sleep. 2/5.
Not really sure what this LP is trying to be or what APP was trying to communicate here. The individual rock and orchestral portions are done quite well (if a little standard for pieces of their time), but they mix together like water and oil with not much narrative thread to hold the abrupt shift together.
It "happened to me overnight", my brain pushed it to the background. It certainly works as an atmosphere, but beyond that it didn't stimulate me. I have a problem with all the albums that seem like scores, because since scores aren't allowed on the lists, I feel that they are convenient or deceitful to judge them equally with those that contain lyrics.