TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION

The first album I heard from Alan Parsons Project and one of the first prog rock albums that I enjoyed. That was some years ago (not many, really. Probably, four of five years) and in that time I wasn't ready to listen to Larks' Tongues or The Wall. I was almost a child and I wouldn't understand them (in fact, I wasn't even interested in music). So I could say that this album was my introduction to progressive.

Why am I telling my life here? Well, it's important to understand what this album is about: a boy can hear it and like it, from beggining to end. Anyone can enjoy this album. It's the perfect album for that. The songs are attractive. The sound is attractive. Even the topic of the album is attractive. It has something special. I can't say what is it, but it's special. Something that, in your first listening, catches you and don't let you leave until the album is finished. It's really a good album to prog starters. What does not mean that it is superficial or bad.

The album is perfect in its songs. The instrumental intro of A Dream Within A Dream, the psychedelic The Raven, with that digital effect in the voice; the more rocker The Tell-Tale Heart, the relaxed The Casl of Amontillado, the catchy Doctor Tarr and the final orchestral track, The Fall of the House of Usher. They are all perfect, no defects. Just one bad thing can be said about this album: it's supposed to be a tribute to Allan Poe, a romanthic, tetric writer. The songs just don't match to that idea. The songs are too happy, not dark at all. Maybe a more gothic band could make this sound more similar to Allan Poe's books. But, if you forget this detail, you have a perfect album, filled with amazing songs that can be heard either by neofits or by old prog rockers.

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