Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Parsons decided to take the works of Edgar Allen Poe and put them to music,
and I don't think it could have been done better. Poe has always been one of my
favorite writers, allowing me to sift through a human mind on its decline
through the many layers of madness. Heavy use of synthesizers creates a fantasy
world full of the moods and emotions Poe used in his writing.
Dream Within A Dream is an instrumental, nearly classical piece, with an
introductory reading by Orson Wells, a slow heavy beat of drums and bass joined
by keyboards reminiscent of a harpsichord and choir type vocal accompaniment.
The synthesized riffs are vaguely similar to the Priest's theme from The
Exorcist, an apt association of dread for this moody piece.
Dream Within A Dream blends smoothly into The Raven, probably the most
popular piece on this album. It is masterpiece of Poe's famous poem set to
music, with the vocals eerily sang using a vocoder, and the choir accompaniment
in the background. The synthesizer brings out more horn sounds, and the music,
while still eerie, has a more triumphant and powerful sound to it than Dream.
The Tell Tale Heart starts out with a scream of derangement, and brings the
album into its rock genre with a faster, pounding beat and more guitar than
keyboard. The vocals are purposefully stressed into a pitch that expertly
portrays the lunacy of the murderer's descent into madness as the old man's
beating heart refuses to stop its tormenting clamor, and incorporates some of
the actual lines from Poe's unforgettable tale of unleashed insanity. The bass
line in this song does indeed sound like a rapidly pulsing heart, louder and
louder as sanity is cast aside.
The Cask of Amontillado slows the pace back down, in a gentle melody
reminiscent of The Beatles "She's Leaving Home", with similar tune and pitch,
but more powerful in its chorale moments. I really felt that Parsons did a
tremendous job on this tune not only with the music but with the lyrics, telling
(as close as three verses possibly can) the summation of this tale of murder. Of
particular note are the echoes of the voice of Fortunato behind Montresor's in
the chorus, overlapping each other as the exchange of words between the two
within that dank cellar would have, yet eerily gentle rather than desperately
pleading.
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