A
concept album by
The Alan Parsons Project, with
Edgar Allen Poe as the subject matter. At first glance, Poe and
rock and roll seem an unlikely combination, but in the talented hands of The AP Project, the result is both
fascinating and highly
entertaining.
The listener is immediately cast into the world of Poe with the haunting and
ethereal opening track, '
A dream within a dream,' an
instrumental selection with voice-over narration by, appropriately enough,
Orson Welles. This dissolves seamlessly into the second track, '
The Raven," which captures the mood of the story by starting out with a
calm intensity that slowly builds into a frenetic
electric guitar solo, with the lyric "
Nevermore!" being sung loudly and repeatedly. The song climaxes, then quietly fades out calmly.
The third track is "
The Tell-Tale Heart," which from the outset is frenetically
claustrophobic, with percussion pointedly emphasizing each line of the
lyrics. The song takes a brief (but dark) lyrical turn with "And he won't be found at all/Nor a trace to mark his fall/Nor the stain upon the wall," which dissolves into an ethereal orchestral section before returning to the driving rock sound that the song started with.
"
The Cask of Amontillado" comes next, providing a quietly disturbing break from the hardcore rock sound; instead, "Cask" has a light groovy feel, with more orchestra than rock band, even when the music becomes more disturbing. It climaxes and fades out with an intentionally
repetitious instrumental section that emphasizes the trapped aspect of the story.
With "
(The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether," we return firmly to the rock idiom. The refrain is sung by a
basso profundo whose voice is
electronically distorted to give it a more eerie quality. Musically, the song is driven by electric guitar and percussion.
Tracks six through ten are an orchestral suite based on
The Fall of the House of Usher, with
opening narration by Welles, which again sets the approriate tone for the tracks to come. There is an almost
clichéd eeriness to the suite, but
Parsons manages to keep it from veering into
self-parody.
The album concludes with a
psychedelic number, "
To One In Paradise," with 'waa-waa'
distortion dominating the music, and a dreamy quality to the lyrics, both in their writing and in their delivery.
Track Listing
- A Dream Within a Dream
- The Raven
- The Tell-Tale Heart
- The Cask of Amontillado
- (The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
- The Fall of the House of Usher: I. Prelude
- The Fall of the House of Usher: II. Arrival
- The Fall of the House of Usher: III. Intermezzo
- The Fall of the House of Usher: IV. Pavane
- The Fall of the House of Usher: V. Fall
- To One in Paradise