Customer Reviews

Poe: More Tales of Mystery & Imagination

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Anybody who thinks this album falls short of Eric's Alan Parsons Project material needs to remember that it's not a prog rock album. Trying to compare it to old Project material is comparing apples and oranges and pointless in the end since it wasn't written with old Project-files in mind. And they need to listen carefully to the lyrics and music balance and there you'll hear one element of the Project's work that made it so special. When Eric uses Poe's material, he often presents a dichotomy of styles, bright music to dark lyrics. And many of these songs showcase what many believe, namely that Eric can be one of the most clever, layered lyricists of our day. Combine these two elements and you get a pretty powerful album, one that needs many listens in order to appreciate some of the subtle nuances.

Clearly some of these songs have the stage in mind and anyone fortunate enough to have seen any of the 3 shows recently staged at Abbey Road studios comes back to this CD with an even greater appreciation of what Eric managed to meld, namely using Poe material and purpose-written biographical songs to tell the story of his life, death, and literary immortality.

There's also a nice balance of a strong lead vocal (Steve Balsamo who has an amazing voice) with two fantastic choir arrangements. In fact, one of those songs, Goodbye To All That, is possibly one of Eric's best works ever, Project or post-Project.

Probably the best comparison would be to Eric's first "techincally" post-Project work, Freudiana (which if you haven't purchased, rush out and get now--it's one of the best prog rock albums ever made). That one is definitely more "Project feeling" because of the musicians involved, but, it's also one of Eric's most complete concept pieces. In that regard, POE comes close lyrically although again, it has a much different feel in places because the music and stage aspects.

This CD is definitely worth getting and if you're patient with it, that will pay off. Expect a surround version in SACD next year and hopefully a DVD of the Abbey Road shows. THOSE will change your minds if you're a skeptic.

It is a unfortunate that Eric Woolfson chose to give the subtitle "More Tales of Mystery & Imagination". It is even more unfortunate that the marketing department decided to place a sticker on the CD cover mentioning his former partnership with The Alan Parsons Project (APP) thereby strengthening a potential musical link this CD with APP. And all the amazon editorial information indicating that connection with the legendary Abbey Road studio seems to seal the idea in one's mind that at last, the APP fan will finally get his holy grail, a sequel to the album that started it all.

As for me, the original 1976 Tales of Mystery and Imagination is my favourite APP album and to see this CD on amazon.de triggered an instant one-click order. How sorely disappointed I was.

At first on opening the CD and reading Eric's liner notes, one may get the impression that this will truly be a Tales Part II. One would expect some evolution in sound and some differences as Alan is no longer working with Eric. However, the basic idea of the original concept album would be hopefully preserved. But put the disk on the platter and what you get is a mixed bag of theater and rock opera.

Steve Balsamo is a nice enough rock singer as evidenced by "Wings of Eagles", but he is not in the same category of the classic APP vocalists such as Lenny Zakatek, Chris Rainbow, or Eric Woolfson himself. In fact, as Eric is such a wonderful singer, why did Eric himself not contribute more vocally to the album? The pieces including the choirs are truly silly. "Train to Freedom" with a chorus that goes "Woo woo" and a baritone vocalist sounding like a cartoon southerner? And how can one sing the poem "The Bells" without making it sound like a caricature?

Finally, an attempt is made to make the link with the original Tales by sampling the bit of Orson Welles narrative in the song "Immortal". Sorry, but this CD does not deserve the subtitle of "More Tales...".

This CD may be for you ... if you like to hear the music from amateur theatre. However if you like to hear the evolution of APP into the third millenium, I strongly recommend Alan Parsons The Time Machine instead.

I bought this work because of Eric's involvement in APP. Having previously purchased Freudiana, I was aware of Eric's stage leanings. If you have the Freud tribute, listen to "Sects Therapy" to get an idea of how "The Murders on the Rue Morgue" will come across in its quirkiness. Freudiana's "No One Can Love You Better than Me" is bit like "Train to Freedom". POE's "The Bells" is... well, go read the poem. If you are annoyed by how many times the word "bells" is repeated, you may be annoyed with this song. These songs are the ones I picked on first because they were clearly written with a stage production in mind, and the ones least likely to please people expecting a Project album. "Goodbye to All That" is another stage song, but for the life of me, I can't get the catchy tune out of my head. Analogous to humming "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" after watching the Wizard of Oz. For that matter, my kids love the Rue Morgue: "Play the Murder song!" they'll beg.
With that said, the rest of the album can be described as near-Projectonian. There a couple great instrumentals, "Angel of the Odd", and P&P P2. Steve Balsamo has a great voice, worthy of a Project singer. "Wings of Eagles", "Somewhere in the Audience", "Pit and the Pendulum", "Tiny Star" and "Immortal" could have been on an APP album and any faithful Project fan would have been very happy.
The pedestrian listener may not like this album for what it is, but I feel that a true music fan and the true Project fan will find plenty here to wrap themselves around and enjoy alongside classic Project albums for many years to come.

APP is my favorite 'band'. Although from time-to-time I often change to a new 'favorite' for that period in my life, if you press my back against the wall and allow me to pick only one, it will always be the Alan Parsons Project.

Which is why it's actually a bit painful to tell you that Eric on his own just doesn't bring the goods. I mean, I get it: it's music based upon a play. *I GET IT.* But, it doesn't excuse massive self-indulgence. I've not purchased Eric's post-Project efforts chronologically, and only recently picked-up this one, "Poe". I am at the point where I am afraid that Eric will put out more self-produced works. ...Because I'll probably eventually buy them, out of respect for what he once brought to music, and hope that the magic will return.

Unfortunately, I think the APP's song "You Don't Believe" perfectly summed-up the relationship between Eric & Alan: They absolutely needed each other in order to obtain the notoriety they were receiving; but having done that, to whom did the actual work 'belong' to? --It's an existential question worthy of Poe, himself.

"Poe", this album, is not: don't let anyone fool you into thinking it's a continuation or 're-imagining' of the Project. They just either want to sell you the album (the record company or Eric himself) or want so hard to like it that they actually have convinced themselves that it's good from front-to-back. Believe me, I've tried. Tried hard. And Eric has a small handful of really nice ballads on "Poe", including the closer, "Immortal" (which, however, is inexplicably NOT sung by Eric; even though the song is 100% in his range and normal singing style). The intro instrumental, while evoking a little too much of "Sirius" from "Eye In the Sky", is nice and dark and 'progressive'.

It's just that (exactly like on especially "Freudiana" and "Sings the APP That Never Was") there are some downright embarrassing cuts like "Train to Freedom". ...Songs that make you want to turn the volume down quick, lest the neighbors hear what you are playing and think you're ready for the men in the white suits to pick you up.

It's pretty clear, in retrospect, that it's Eric's blinders-on obsession with stage play musicals that drove the rift between him and Eric. If I recall, Freudiana was on it's way to being the successor album to "Gaudi" when Eric nearly went of the deep end bankrolling the stage play. It is well more than misleading or a misnomer for him or anyone else to advertise or imply that these works ("Poe" included) are an extension of the APP legacy.

Moreover, especially for Poe, the MOOD is totally wrong. Whereas the wild, out-of-control lyrics & instrumental work was totally in sync with the works of Poe on the APP's original "Tales of Mystery & Imagination", this solo work by Eric just leaves you perplexed. For every song or two (mostly ballads) that take it on track and in the correct mindset & mood, there comes something like "Train.." or "Murder in the Rue Morgue" to make you jump for the remote and track-advance. You see, the APP always took itself and the listener seriously. Even on quirky tracks like "Pyromania", the compositions kept you 'tuned in' carefully and didn't make you feel like you wanted to leave. Eric takes 'quirky' on "Poe" to extremes that you just can't fathom (unless you've listened to Freudiana).

Hey, if you liked Freudiana, ...you'll love Poe. But, if you're looking for an extension of the APP, you need look no further than Alan's own post-Project releases like "Try Anything Once" or "On Air", etc. which maintain the inventiveness, the darkness, and the seriousness of composition that you loved with the APP. And, if you must have more Eric, try the extended release of "Vulture Culture", with an amazing 'lost cut' entitled "No Answers Only Questions" sung by Eric.

Here's hoping that two great legends can once again (before it's too late) give up their personal pride and form that delicate alliance that was described so distinctly in "You Don't Believe". I have a feeling, that the ball is pretty much entirely in Eric's court. He has to have the will to let someone else mold & shape his raw emotion and passion. Left to his own, the result is a woefully uneven work like "Poe" or "Freudiana"; the kind of stuff Playlists were MADE for.

I must admit, that the one thing I was really looking forward to on this release was to hear 'murder in the Rue morgue', as this is the one track that Eric Woolfson apparently sung on. He has a fantastic, rich voice and sung some of the Alan Parsons Projects best ballads. I was disappointed. When I got the CD as a birthday present, I instantly went to this track and played it....skipped through it. No Eric. Just some weird voices and a choir. I hated the song. You won't hear Eric here as you would expect. (the song has since grown on me, marginally.)
Other disappointments for me are the choir led tracks, which do little for me. Namely, 'the bells', 'goodbye to all that' and the aforementioned track. 'Train to freedom' is more successful, but I could have done with that being the only quirky track.
The reason it is such a shame, is that the other tracks are exceptional, and all feature Steve Balsamo on lead vocal. He is incredible and the tracks with the choir just get in the way of all these brilliant tracks. After the instrumental opener which is extremely effective 'Angel of the odd', we are treated to five lead vocals by Balsamo, scattered across the album. There are 3 ballads, the epic 'immortal', with fantastic vocals and what a last note. Incredible. 'Tiny star' and 'somewhere in the audience' are lovely folky ballads, reminiscent of 'nothing left to lose' from the APP album 'turn of a friendly card'. 'Wings of an eagle' has one of those memorable melody lines and begins as a ballad to build into an epic song with more great vocals. This is my fave track on the album. If Balsamo hasn't proven himself already, there is a great hard rock number 'the pit and the pendulum', which has some fantastic harsh vocals, a great prolonged instrumental passage, before the main theme returns.
It is a great album, but the two tracks with the choir which I don't care for, could and should have been replaced with Eric singing a couple of ballads like he does so well. Even with such a great singer as Balsamo, Eric is still missed as a lead singer by myself.

Prior to meeting Alan Parsons back in the early 1970s, Eric Woolfson had written a number of songs inspired by the poetry, prose, and life of Edgar Allan Poe. When the two eventually decided to collaborate with one another on many of the songs as well as the overall concept that Eric conceived, the result was the uniquely innovative Tales of Mystery and Imagination by The Alan Parsons Project. Any fan of that album, provided he or she is not hopelessly prejudiced against musicals, would really enjoy listening to Eric Woolfson's "POE: More Tales of Mystery and Imagination." The musical focuses on Poe, himself, and the direct relationship many of his creative inspirations had with actual events in his, more often than not, tragic life. While this new Woolfson release is intended to support future stagings of his musical, in many ways it behaves very much like a studio "Project" release. The musical itself premiered in Studio Two of Abbey Road in November of 2003, and, moreso than any recent musical, truly deserves a full production in the finest theaters London, New York, and Los Angeles have to offer. Having seen a recording of that premiere in its entirety, I can honestly say that few musicals tell their story as well as POE! Not only is the music itself fantastic, but the storytelling is as close to flawless as any musical storytelling is going to get!

The part of Edgar Allan Poe is performed by the full three-and-a-half octave vocal wonder Steve Balsamo. There are few performers who can sing the tenderest ballads with the gentleness they require as well as the most demanding crescendo with the dynamics it demands, but Steve Balsamo not only does it all, he does it well! I whole-heartedly recommend those who enjoy musicals to not only pick up this studio recording, but also the dvd of the London performance in Studio Two of Abbey Road. While that was a live performance, this polished studio production should appeal to both fans of musical theater as well as those of The Alan Parsons Project.

Eric Woolfson's favorite songs: Somewhere In The Audience & Immortal
Alan Parson's favorite song: Somewhere In The Audience
My favorite songs: Somewhere In The Audience, The Bells, Goodbye To All That & Immortal

As an avid APP fan, I go to great lengths to buy everything connected with them. Poe by Eric Woolfson was no exception. The album started out with an excellent instrumental called Angel of the Odd, which had haunting overtones of "Voyager", "A Dream Within A Dream" and "I Robot." The next piece is called "Wings As Eagles." Call me biased but this song was worth the price of the CD to me. It ranks right up there with the best of APP. The vocals are incredible and you'll want to press the "repeat" button over and over with this one. Unfortunately, this is the high point to me, the piece called "The Bells" is good and the other works are fine, but none speak out like the original "Tales Of Mystery" did. If you're a die hard like me, it's worth the money just for "Wings As Eagles." If not, this album won't make you an avid fan, buy the original or Gaudi, or any of the older works and leave the driving to Alan.

Eric Woolfson the creator of this astounding album said of performer Steve Balsamo,'at last I have found my voice.' praise from the highest, and he is without doubt absolutely perfect for the part, this album is filled with Gothic darkness, shot through with an underlying humour, and what a wonderful swansong for mr Woolfson to bow out on, mr Balsamo's voice will astound you with its purity,emotion and incredible range, the final track on the album, 'immortal' will have the hairs on the back of your neck,if not your entire head,standing on end, the last note and incredible feat of vocal dexterity...after you buy this album,buy the dvd....you will watch it time and time again.

I have loved this album so much. The music is great and complex, I have listened that, when I listen for second time, the songs turn much better. You need pay attention them, so you'll see that is a great album. It's not equal to APP, but a reinvention, a new fantastic point of view. Balsamo really have a brilliant voice.
I have enjoyed this album, and if you want something new and love APP, why not try this? There are some review very hard to this album, but I advice you, only you can judge it, so listen a preview on web and decide yourself. I do that, and I found it GREAT!

I've followed the works of Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons from the very beginning and I consider myself a big fan. I haven't heard anything from Eric since Freudiana(which I thought was very good) If your looking for the trademark "Project sound" you'll find some of it here on Poe, his latest release.
The opening track "Angel of the odd" reminds me a lot of "Sirus" from "Eye In The Sky". Eric mentions in the CD that "Poe" was first a musical, and when you hear "Train to freedom" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" you'll see why.
While Steve Balsamo is an incredible vocalist, the only real dissapointment of this CD is the lack of Eric Woolfsons voice. He only sings on one of the tracks(and even then it doesn't really sound like him) For those of us who live in the US, Freudiana and Poe are imports. If you can only afford one, get Freudiana. If you're a collector and you have to have them all(like me)then you also need to buy Poe. While this was a decent start, I can only hope that if Eric chooses to make more sequels to classic APP material, he performs on them as well.