Edgar Allan Poe was (1) an American poet, (2) a Spanish rock opera and (3) an italian progressive rock band (E.A. Poe). 1) Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, editor and critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantics. He is best known for his tales of the macabre and his poems, as well as being one of the early practitioners of the short story and a progenitor of detective fiction, as well as crime fiction in the United States. He is also often credited with inventing the gothic fiction story. Poe died at the age of 40, the cause of his death was the final mystery. His exact burial location is also a source of controversy. His legacy is abundant in modern pop culture. It is much alive in the city of Baltimore. Even though Poe spent less than two years there, he is now treated as a native son. In 1996, when NFL football arrived, the team took the name Baltimore Ravens, in honor of his best known poem. The team's three "winged" mascots were named Edgar, Allan, and Poe. The television show Homicide: Life on the Street, set in Baltimore, made reference to Poe and his works in several episodes. Poe figured most prominently in an episode in which a Poe-obsessed killer walls up his victim in the basement of a house to imitate the grisly murder of Fortunado by Montressor in "The Cask of Amontillado". In a disturbing scene near the end of the episode, the killer reads from the works of Poe as a dramatic effect to increase the tension. But Poe's vast influence over pop culture does not end with Baltimore. Poe's image, with his weary expression, piercing eyes and tangled hair, has become a cultural icon for the troubled genius. His face adorns the bottlecaps of Raven Beer, the covers of numerous books on American literature as a whole, and is often stereotyped in cartoons as "the creepy guy". In 1967, Poe appeared as part of the backdrop crowd of The Beatles' immensely popular album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. In one of their songs, I Am the Walrus, the lyrics include "man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe." Besides the Beatles, numerous popular movie makers and rock stars have incorporated Poe or Poe's works into their works. The Lemony Snickett books have Mr. Poe with his children Edgar and Allen as the guardian of the Baudelaire children. 2) Spanish rock opera. 3) E.A. Poe is a band from Ornago, near Milan, whose identity has been surrounded by mystery until recently, they released a beautiful album in 1974 on the Kansas label. The group had been formed around 1967 as Angelo e gli Spacemen, with the leader Angelo being much older than all 11-12 years old kids! When Angelo left the group in 1969, the otherskept playing, adopting the name E.A.Poe in 1970. The band initially had a repertoire of covers, by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple, then began composing original material, having a good live activity in their area. The album Generazioni (Storia di sempre) is a true rarity and contains the best distinctive elements of the italian prog: classical inspired keyboards, good guitar work, powerful rhythm section. As in ma...A band from Ornago, near Milan, whose identity has been surrounded by mystery until recently, they released a beautiful album in 1974 on the Kansas label. The group had been formed around 1967 as Angelo e gli Spacemen, with the leader Angelo being much older than all 11-12 years old kids! When Angelo left the group in 1969, the otherskept playing, adopting the name E.A.Poe in 1970. The band initially had a repertoire of covers, by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple, then began composing original material, having a good live activity in their area. The album Generazioni (Storia di sempre) is a true rarity and contains the best distinctive elements of the italian prog: classical inspired keyboards, good guitar work, powerful rhythm section. As in many other minor productions the voice is the weakest point, but the vocal parts are short. The album includes seven tracks, not particularly long, and the best cuts are the opening Prologo, the delicate Ad un vecchio with a fluid piano introduction and Generazioni. Bass player Maggi was involved in the album recordings and played with the band for a little time before moving to the USA. The group kept playing until the end of 1976, recording two singles for the Shark label, one under their full name Edgar Allan Poe, that includes a rendition of the Jaws film theme, the second as backing group for the singer Luca Simonelli in his Portami tante rose/È felicità single. Guitarist Roberto Bertazzi replaced Ronco, that had to do its military service, in the first of these two singles, where the mandolin, distinctive element in the music of E.A.Poe was played by Lello Foti. E.A. POE is another Italian group that tried to surf the progressive rock tide storming Italy in the mid 70's. In 1974, E.A. POE issued a single LP release named "Generazioni (Storie di Sempre)", re-issued on CD in 1991. The CD leaflet does not provide any information on the group which seems to be a four piece ensemble, drum, guitar, keyboard and bass. Wind instruments are also surfacing on some song. The record fails on musical consistency and coherence, aimless pointing to different musical genres without setting on a specific mood. Some of their songs may effortlessly be mistaken as belonging to the first BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO's records. Others have a more FLOYDesque psychedelic vein or spot a symphonic mood as PFM "Storia di un Minuto". There is some political background appearing in the text of their songs, especially in the "Intro" song declaration. The male voice is weak and cannot modulate decently. E.A. POE should be considered a minor Italian group who produced non-seminal music. However, it's still worth the purchase if you like to make your Italian prog rock collection complete. More details in Edgar Allan Poe
