Released 40 Years Ago: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination By The Alan Parsons Project

[BravadoNJ]

Tales of Mystery and Imagination Edgar Allan Poe was the debut album by the progressive rock group The Alan Parsons Project, released in May 1976. The lyrical and musical themes – retellings of horror stories and poetry by Edgar Allan Poe — attracted a cult audience. 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.

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 No. 38 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" peaked at No. 37 on the Pop Singles chart.

TalesofMystery-_LP_alternate.jpg

[PeterG]

Here's the original LP cover for those wondering.


This album is a good example of how it was possible to produce lux items with LPs. I'm listening to it now and looking at the LP, and then as now I love the 8 page stapled-in booklet with those tissue end-papers, like the silk papers that cover illustrations in very old books.

NOW I also have a 1910 copy of Selected Tales of Mystery, illustrated by Byam Shaw, with those silk papers over the illustrations, which I've owned since the mid 70s.

The only complaint I have about the album is that it is too short at about 42 minutes, but that was the way of the single LP back then. Would a double have worked? Or would we have been bored by it?

[BravadoNJ]

Eric Woolfson recorded a sequel album; More Tales Of Mystery.... maybe some of that material was leftover from the original.
true though, very short album.

[ronmac]

Great album. I particularly like the restored opening Orson Welles reading on the remaster, even if some original instrumentation was rerecorded on that version.

[PeterG]

Are any of the CD versions longer than the LP?

[JKL2000]

My only problem is the cover art. That desert landscape doesn't correlate with ANY Poe work I can think of. It just doesn't fit, IMO, and the image isn't very compelling. The illustrations of the figure wrapped in magnetic tape is better though.

[interbellum]

Are any of the CD versions longer than the LP?

The 1987-version is slightly longer, mainly because the opening from Welles, like Ronmac wrote.

I remember hearing The House Of Usher when I was 16 in 1976, on a small portable radio. I think it was Radio Caroline or something like that and I was at one of the Dutch islands. Still impressive.

[PeterG]

The 1987-version is slightly longer, mainly because the opening from Welles, like Ronmac wrote.

I remember hearing The House Of Usher when I was 16 in 1976, on a small portable radio. I think it was Radio Caroline or something like that and I was at one of the Dutch islands. Still impressive.

Man, I miss Radio Luxembourg.

[interbellum]

Man, I miss Radio Luxembourg.

Could have been Luxembourg too, after all it's 40 years ago ;-)

[Jerjo]

Listening to the remix right now, which is the only version I have on CD. The original LP, with that sensational inner artwork, came out when I was in college. My brother and I had a number of "shared" LPs and this one of them. So over time it got lost. Pisses me off to no end. I have a vinyl copy but it's missing that lovely insert.

[PeterG]

I have a vinyl copy but it's missing that lovely insert.

I hate it when that happens. Back in the 80s, I bought a secondhand copy of Neil Young's Decade and one of the two inserts was missing, so I found another copy which had insert I needed but the one I had was missing, so I could make a complete set. And then kept the copy now with no inserts at all, as a spare for replacing any of the 3 records that might get damaged. 30+ years on & those spares still haven't needed to mobilize to rescue fallen scratched comrades.

[Mythos]

Always loved that album, I bought it when it was first released, so yeah it has the "rice paper" as I always called it. When the remixed/remastered CD came out, it sort of rekindled by interest as the Orson Wells voice is awesome and there is another song with added guitar solos that makes it sound different/better.