is an insane double album of Edgar Allan Poe readings. It contains well-known masterpieces The Raven, The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart but also other lesser known poems and stories.
"Quoth the raven, Nevermore."
The Raven is deliciously read in all its musicality. The artificial structure does not contrive the humanity of the speaker,
Christopher Walken, who delivers the words freely.
Gothic to the extreme.
"MISERY is manifold. The wretchedness of earth is multiform."
Berenice, told by bluesman
Dr. John, shines in its darkness. Dr's voice is sublime and makes the story all the more melancholic. The silence is filled with appropriate melodies, creating the most Poe-esque of atmospheres.
"I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity."
The Black Cat is read by avant-garde performance artist
Diamanda Galás. It will chill the blood of even the most wretched. The intensity of her voice coupled with Poe's writing is sexy, in a chains-and-knives way.
Other readers include Marianne Faithfull, Gabriel Byrne and Iggy Pop. It was produced by Hal Willner with cover art by Ralph Steadman.
I wish I had absinthe.