tales of mystery and imagination by edgar allan poe

But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.

He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician.

This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Without any underlying theme to be pondered upon, Alan Parsons instead paints a vivid picture of one of the most alluring literary figures in history by musically reciting his most famous works in expert fashion.The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. With vocalists Terry Sylvester, John Miles, and Eric Woolfson stretched across each track, this variety of different singing styles adds color and design to the album's air. Parsons' expertise surrounds this album, from the slyness that prevails in '(The System Of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather' to the bodeful thumping of the drums that imitate a heartbeat on 'The Tell-Tale Heart.' 'The Fall of the House of Usher' is a lengthy but dazzling array of musicianship that keeps the album's persona intact, while enabling the listener to submerge into its frightening atmosphere. The EMI vocoder is used throughout 'The Raven' with the Westminster City School Boys Choir mixed in to add a distinct flair to its chamber-like sound. On the album's 1987 remix, the instrumental 'Dream Within a Dream' has Orson Welles narrating in front of this wispy collaboration of guitars and keyboards ( Welles also narrates 'Fall of the House of Usher: Prelude'). With the use of synthesizers, drums, guitar, and even a glockenspiel, Parsons' shivering effects make way for an eerie excursion into Poe's well-known classics. Tales of Mystery and Imagination is an extremely mesmerizing aural journey through some of Edgar Allan Poe's most renowned works.

Tales of mystery and imagination by edgar allan poe