Alan Parson Project's "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" - just one reason why I love prog rock

[LynneSin]

Talk about a groovy, hypnotic album - and all of it is based on the stories of Edgar Alan Poe complete with narations by Orsen Welles.

My favorite has to be "The Cask of Amontillado", which happens to be my favorite Poe tale. But I love the dreamy "To One in Paradise". I was first turned on by this album by my brother, who was a big fan of "(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether".

Sure, Alan Parson put some schlock music out in the late 80s but this album is a joy to listen to (and in it's entirity to truly appreciate it!)

[LanternWaste]

1. last movement of The Fall of the House of Usher...

Last movement of The Fall of the House of Usher. Going from a high, dramatic, climactic sequence to a sweet, melodic tune in the space of a few bar. Love it.

(title track on Ammonia Avenue is pretty sweet and savvy too)

[MissMillie]

2. I'm a big fan of Ammonia Avenue

Some good stuff all around, actually.

[Frank Cannon]

3. I thought about these guys this weekend during the Super Bowl

They played "Sirius" during the introduction of the New Orleans Saints.

I hadn't heard an APP song in a long time. Man, do I miss them. TOMAI was great, but I'm more partial to Ammonia Avenue or Eye in the Sky. (And the album cover for Eve is one of the greatest of all time.)

[gmoney]

4. Yeah, I remember when that first came out...

A friend's mom worked at a radio station, so had a promo of it... I may have absconded with it at some point. :)

The Raven/Tell-Tale Heart/Cask of Amontillado were our favorite part.

[qnr]

5. I own most of their discography. I was sad to hear that Eric died recently n/t

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. You've GOTTA sign up for Last.fm...

...Pandora has more of the "expected" acts, but Last.fm introduced me to some new KILLER prog that was 100% brand new to me. I have a mix CD in the car of prog tracks that Last.fm turned me on to. If you use any of the following as search criteria or to set up your "radio station," I think you will be very pleasantly surprised:

1). SYLVAN / "Cold Suns"

2). THE WATCH / "Soaring On"

3). RWPL / "Silenced"

4). FROST / "The Other Me"

5). DEVIL'S SLINGSHOT / "Nederland"

6). THE REASONING / "Dark Angel"

7). BILLY SHERWOOD / "Lesson To Be Learned"

8). BRETT GARSED / "Breathe"

9). GAZPACHO / "Dream Of Stone"

10). SYLVAN / "Pane Of Truth"

:toast:

[eppur_se_muova]

7. I much preferred the original LP to the CD re-ssue.

To judge from the liner notes, Andrew Powell was not involved in the re-issue and his absence is painfully obvious. Some of the comments were just alarming to read -- it's like they didn't understand what had made the original collaboration work so well, and thought that "Well, now we HAVE to add synthesizers, because they exist! And new guitar solos, because it was never about the guitars before!" Sometimes, artists need to be stopped from spoiling their own work.

Still, it's kind of cool to hear Orson Welles narrate.