Tales of Mystery and Imagination Edgar Allan Poe, is the debut album by the progressive rock group The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1976. The title of the album is taken from a popular title for a collection of Poe's macabre tales of the same name, Tales of Mystery & Imagination, first published in 1908 and reprinted many times since. -Review by Wikipedia
As it was said the concept of the album revolves around the work of Edgar Allan Poe through 7 songs, including two instrumentals "A Dream Within A Dream" and "The Fall of the House of Usher".
His original idea was to make an album in which Parsons and Woolfson would provide the instrumental part. Whilst a number of known guest singers would contribute with the vocals. The inaugural presentation of this work in 1976 caused a big sensation when it was presented at the Planetarium Griffith Park Observatory in England, accompanied by a laser show lighting.
The guest vocalists for this show were Arthur Brown, John Miles and Terry Sylvester. What makes the album unique is that, unlike the later albums, even with all the technology used and the concept of progress that characterizes "Alan Parsons Project", the album sounds wonderfuly ancient and totally away from modernism. The cover is the work of "Hipgnosis". -Review by THE ALAN PARSON PROJECT
Release history
Originally simply called The Alan Parsons Project, the album was successful enough to achieve gold status. The identity of The Alan Parsons Project as a group was cemented on the second album, I Robot, in 1977.
The original version of the album was available for several years on vinyl and cassette, but was not immediately available on CD(the CD technology not being commercially available until 1982).
In 1987, Parsons completely remixed the album, including additional guitar passages and narration (by Orson Welles) as well as updating the production style to include heavy reverb and the gated reverb snare drum sound, which was popular in the 1980s. The CD notes that Welles never met Parsons or Eric Woolfson, but sent a tape to them of the performance shortly after the album was manufactured in 1976.
The first passage narrated by Welles on the 1987 remix (which comes before the first track, "A Dream Within a Dream") is sourced from an obscure nonfiction piece by Poe – No XVI of his Marginalia (from 1845 to 1849 Edgar Allan Poe titled some of his reflections and fragmentary material "Marginalia.") The second passage Welles reads (which comes before "The Fall of the House of Usher" (Prelude), seems to be a partial paraphrase or composite from nonfiction by Poe, chiefly from a collection of poems titled "Poems of Youth" by Poe (contained in "Introduction to Poems – 1831" in a section titled "Letter to Mr. B-----------"; the "Shadows of shadows passing" part of the quote comes from the Marginalia.
In 1994 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) released the original 1976 version on CD (UDCD-606), making the original available digitally for the first time.
In 2007, a Deluxe Edition released by Universal Music included both the 1976 and the 1987 versions remastered by Alan Parsons during 2006 with eight additional bonus tracks. - Review by Wikipedia
CD 1:
01. A Dream Within A Dream (Instrumental)
02. The Raven
03. The Tell-Tale Heart
04. The Cask Of Amontillado
05. (The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether
06. The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Instrumental): I Prelude
07. The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Instrumental): II Arrival
08. The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Instrumental): III Intermezzo
09. The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Instrumental): IV Pavane
10. The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Instrumental): V Fall
11. To One In Paradise
12. The Raven (Original Demo)
13. Edgar (Demo Of An Unreleased Track)
14. Orson Welles Radio Spot
15. Interview With Alan Parsons And Eric Woolfson (1976)
CD 2:
01. A Dream Within A Dream (1987 Remix)
02. The Raven (1987 Remix)
03. The Tell-Tale Heart (1987 Remix)
04. The Cask Of Amontillado (1987 Remix)
05. (The System Of) Dr. Tarr And Professor Fether (1987 Remix)
06. The Fall Of The House Of Usher - Prelude (1987 Remix)
07. The Fall Of The House Of Usher - Arrival (1987 Remix)
08. The Fall Of The House Of Usher - Intermezzo (1987 Remix)
09. The Fall Of The House Of Usher - Pavane (1987 Remix)
10. The Fall Of The House Of Usher - Fall (1987 Remix)
11. To One In Paradise (1987 Remix)
12. Eric's Guide Vocal Medley
13. Orson Wells Dialogue
14. Sea Lions In The Departure Lounge (Sound Effects And Experiments)
15. Gbh Mix (Unreleased Experiments)
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