Allan Parsons Project

I love it when you take something and turn it into something else. I am not a fan of remakes but when its a poem or a story made into a rock song well then most times you got me. Today was all about transforming something into something new. Alan Parson, producer and mixer extraordinaire, took some of Edgar Alan Poe's greats and put them to a synthetic rock opera. 

One of the great things about records is the cover art for the album's. This particular record is a bit like a story book. There is an entire page about the life and times of Edgar Allan Poe.  Poe was born Jan 19, 1809 in Beantown. When he was born his name was Edgar Poe. He took the Allan when he was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan when his folks died in 1811. Turns out Poe was a bit of a pervert and he married a thirteen year old girl named Virginia when  he was twenty-seven years old eleven years later she died.  He died at forty years of age and is buried in Baltimore. 

The rest of the inside of the album has a few pages describing each piece and with the lyrics, which are Poe's words, written. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. It was produced in 1975 which was a bit before the age of synthesizers so Parson and his collaborators were ahead of their time.  

Allan Parsons Project : Tales of Mystery and Imagination of Edgar Allan Poe

• 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
• To One in Paradise

When you get a chance check this record out or any really. Allan Parson Project is like going to the symphony right from home, a rock symphony that is.  I think that Poe would enjoy this. He too was a man ahead of his time and maybe that is part of what made him go insane.