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| Vitals |
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· Year: 1988
· Contributors: Edgar Allan Poe (author), Basil Rathbone (narrator)
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| Track list |
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1. The Raven
2. Annabel Lee
3. Eldorado
4. To -----
5. The Masque of the Red Death
6. Alone
7. The City in the Sea
8. The Black Cat
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| Information |
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· This form of this album was released in 1988, but it was recorded prior to Rathbone's death in 1967.
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| Synopsis |
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Narrator Basil Rathbone reads eight classic Poe stories.
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With an utter lack of musical accompaniment, it falls entirely to Basil Rathbone to relay eight of the macabre tales of Mr. E. A. Poe of Baltimore, Maryland. This task he accomplishes with aplomb, using an emotional range that varies from utter disconnectedness to blitheness to the height of melodramatic rage. His performance at the end of "The Raven" deserves particular note; from Rathbone's voice flows a vitriolic combination of rage and sadness and self-loathing. Through all of Poe's remarkable tales--and some are nothing less than brief literary masterpieces; let us not forget to praise the creator as we praise the interpreter--Rathbone displays a remarkable sense of pacing and poetic rhythm; rarely has Poe's alliteration seemed more alive or his choice of words so meticulous. Highly recommended.
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