TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is the first studio album by Alan Parsons Project and it was released in 1976. It is an interesting record. Alan Parsons was a well known producer of music and the project was a cooperation with a lot of people amongst which the keyboardist Eric Woolfson is ione of the most important. I count to more than twenty nine musicians that perform here so it's now strange that this turns up to be inspiring and huge symphonic rock music. The cover pisture is mostly green and you could open the "book" and read both the lyrics and a lot of others. This record is inspired by the poem's of Edgar Allan Poe and it starts my journey through Alan Parsons Projects world.

The music has similarities with the powerful, keyboard driven music of Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The musical world showed here is mysterious and very intriguing. It has some classical approach, especially in "The Fall of the House of Usher" with all its parts and different themes. The album is though very rocky and future oriented, still with lyrics refering to wide ranges of age. "To one in Paradise" is a mild and whispering closer just as "A dream within a dream" starts the record with magic in its every tune. "The Raven" refers to on of Poe's most famous poems and here it sounds like APP experiments with auto tune or something. The three next coming song on the first side is powerful rock songs with eternal lyrics. "Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" is lovely in it's catchy coherence.

There are so many musicians on this record but they don't play in the same time, fortunately. The music is amazing, top class and just want I expect music to give me. The vocalists who sing here do a fantastic job such as everybody else. This was a big surprise for me and I am glad to give a record the highest rating tonight. A most hear recording for every proger!