Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive version of "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" , October 7, 2007
The definitive edition of "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" has finally been released. While I liked the 1987 remix with Orson Welles' narration, I prefer the 1976 version because that's the version I grew up listening to. Alan Parsons has gone back and remastered the original analog tapes for this edition for the 1976 and the 1987 from the digital remix tape for that edition as well.
This edition does lack the dynamic range of the original CD (and record for that matter)and does suffer from some compression issues but the content is still five star material. If you want the original mix of the album and can't find the Mo-Fi, this is the way to go just be aware that this is louder than the older editions.
Although the bonus tracks are hardly essential, it does show where Eric Woolfson (who came up with the concept, was an essential part of the Alan Parsons Project--as Parsons pointed out it could as easily have been called the Eric Woolfson Project but Parsons was better known, Woolfson acted as Parsons manager and co-wrote the bulk of the material with him except for one song that Woolfson wrote solo)developed many of the ideas that ended up on the final album. The first disc is the 1976 edition and the 1987 is the second with each having bonus tracks. Some of the bonus tracks consist of Welles' unused narration, the radio spots, a compilation of Eric's guide vocals for each track, various sound experiments and Eric's original demos for "The Raven" and "Edgar" (which wasn't used). We also get a very good 8 minute interview that says much of what is written in the booklet.
The booklet has all the lyrics (and much of the original artwork from the 1976 booklet), credits, mention of what's different about each track (some were just digitally remixed while others have additional instruments recorded or new guitar solos). There's also an essay about the making of the album, biographies of both Parsons and Woolfson as well as a brief mention of what each of the musicians are best known for outside of their contributions to the APP.
A good remaster and the definitive combination of BOTH versions of the album, I'd highly recommend this edition to fans who missed out on purchasing the Mofi Gold Version that is currently selling for nearly $100.00.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally......, July 16, 2007
I have three copies of the Mobile Fidelity version of this CD from 1994 (because it's so great and I got a couple of them used), but aside from that, you couldn't get the 1976 version of this album on CD until now. I'm amazed that it took so long to release this version. The remastering job that was done on this entire package is amazing, and the booklet and photos show how much care was put into this edition. Doesn't matter whether you prefer the '76 or '87 versions, they both sound phenominal.
As for me, I prefer the '76 version because it sounds much more haunting, especially "Fall of the House of Usher". I would never argue with what Orson Welles' narration brought to the newer version, it's great. I just feel that the older version was more organic and more intense. This is one of those albums to put on headphones after midnight and listen start to finish. It doesn't even seem like separate songs, it's one whole piece with so many different moods that set up each other.
For example, after the "Prelude" to "Fall of the House of Usher", cracks of thunder, an ominous organ, and then a deceptively pleasant melody for "Arrival", and then Intermezzo, which sounds eerie enough itself before "Pavane". This is such a gentle piece with mainly harpsichord and harp that sets up and gradually segues into the brutal "Fall". This part is so much more frightening on the '76 version, and part of it is due to the way it begins creeping through in the last 30 seconds of "Pavane". I'm sure you'll get a chill from "Fall", especially if you've closed your eyes and imagined the story of the "Fall of the House of Usher" through each part. Finally, after that, "To One in Paradise", which sounds like Poe's biography in four minutes. Or, as Eric Woolfson put it, an epitaph.
With some Alan Parsons fans who are only familiar with the albums from "I Robot" on, you might not know about this one because it was originally issued on another label and took so long to be released on CD (at least, the original version was). Also, it didn't really have any hit singles, even though a couple were released and didn't chart all that high. Don't miss out on this new reissue. In addition to getting both versions, you get some great bonus tracks that feature an informative interview with Parsons and Woolfson, some demos, and the great original Orson Welles voice parts.
Finally, I need to take a minute here. Kudos to a classic rock station in Kansas City, I think it was KYYS. I was there in 2004, and they not only played "System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", but they played the original version!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece reimagined..., September 17, 2007
The very concept might be daunting to most musicians...but then, Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson aren't (and never were) most musicians. For a first effort from such an outfit, they don't come much better or more ambitious than Tales of Mystery & Imagination. Putting works of literature to music is a task not everyone is up to--Camel attempted something like this with Paul Gallico's novel "The Snow Goose," but their work was entirely instrumental (and gave the record company fits for that very reason, although it has truly stood the test of time). Here, the APP adapt the words of these works as lyrics; we hear Alan Parsons through Vocoder on "The Raven" along with Leonard Whiting (actor best known for his role as Romeo in Franco Zeffirelli's filmed version of "Romeo and Juliet" from 1968) delivering that poem detailing the events of a "midnight dark and dreary." We get Arthur Brown's ("Fire," his big from 1968) tortured delivery of "The Tell-Tale Heart," and the quieter (yet no less tortured) John Miles on the always-chilling "The Cask of Amontillado." "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the true tour de force here, a genuinely scary piece of music. Both that track and the album opener "A Dream Within a Dream" are plenty chilling even without Orson Welles' narrative on the original 1976 album, but Welles' narrative adds something that is undeniably dramatic and certainly adds to the atmosphere on the 1987 remix.
Add here the 8 bonus tracks--4 on each disc--that give some insights into the creative process behind the album, and you've got a Deluxe Edition truly worthy of that appellation. Highly recommended.
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