Rating: *** (3 out of 4)

Availability: Widely Available

Believe it or not, there was a time when the Alan Parsons Project could rock. Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe was one of the original albums by the Parsons Project, recorded shortly before they became some sort of hovercraft. The result is an album of shocking quality.

The concept is simple: write music based on several of the stories and poems by America's master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. The result, an album featuring musical renditions of Poe's "The Raven," The Tell-tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

"The Tell-tale Heart" is an example of screeching, screaming rock, intended to convey a feeling of madness, just as the narrator of the original story builds in his madness, with a bass drum acting out the part of the dull thud of the old man's heart. Arthur Brown, the lead vocalist, is a stark, raving lunatic, while Ian Bairnson's squealing guitars add a tone of dementia and paranoia. This is music that is not so much played as it is constructed.

At this time, however, I feel inclined to point out that in the word "Amontillado," the double "l" is supposed to be prounounced as a "y," thusly: "Amon - tee - yahdo," and not "Amon - tuh - lahdo." This is information that the Alan Parsons Project would doubtless have found useful.

The central piece of the album, however, is the instrumental suite "The Fall of the House of Usher," which attempts to capture the feeling of the different events in Poe's original story. It is well-constructed, and thought has obviously been given to the feel of the story, but it somehow falls short. While it is a good song, it fails to capture in all its splendor the dark, gothic world of Poe's tale of the dark castle and its ghostly inhabitants. It is a feeling that does not translate well with early synthesizers and keyboards. Recorded on the equipment of today, "The Fall of the House of Usher" may sound better. Then again, it may not.

The opinions expressed in the above reviews are those of Glen Williams and may not represent the views of slac.com or any of its members. Compliments, complaints, and comments should be addressed to gandalf@tricon.net

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