Tales of Mystery & Imagination

Debut album released in 1976, a concept album, with the songs based on the writings of Edgar Allen Poe by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson. Parsons had just finished work on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and had produced for EMI Records. Woolfson, a songwriter and composer, was working as a session pianist. Based on Woolfson's Edgar Allen Poe concept, the two wrote the songs for this album with Parsons producing and engineering. The album was well received, with the song The Raven featuring vocals by actor Leonard Whiting. It was also the first rock song ever to use a vocoder. Includes 2 bonus tracks not on the original album, plus an 8 page booklet.

As unlikely as the idea seems today to use the suspense-filled stories of Edgar Allan Poe as the basis for an album of rock tunes, listeners in the 1970s--who were barraged with such high-flown concepts during the heyday of prog-rock--turned the record into a major hit. The Project actually scored a Top 40 hit with "(The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather." Thanks to FM radio overplay, however, "The Raven" is probably the album's best-known track today. The 1987 CD version of "ToMaI" differs somewhat from the original vinyl. Parsons dropped in synthesizer parts to modernize the album, and added an opening recitation by Orson Welles. But the integrity of the original is maintained well enough, and the album remains a classic excuse to dim the lights, pour a glass of sherry (amontillado, natch), and break out the headphones. --Daniel Durchholz