Vulture Culture is the eighth studio album by the Alan Parsons Project, released in February 1985 via the Arista label.
Contents
Overview
The first side of the LP (CD tracks 1–4) consists entirely of four-minute pop songs, and the second side varies widely, from the subdued funk of the title track to the bouncing instrumental "Hawkeye".
This is the only Project album that does not feature the orchestration of Andrew Powell. It was the first Alan Parsons Project album to feature Richard Cottle, who played various synthesizers on the record, including the Fairlight CMI and the Yamaha DX7.
Vulture Culture was the last Project album recorded on analogue equipment, and as with the previous two, mixed directly to the digital master tape.
Discussing the album in a 1985 interview, Parsons stated that Vulture Culture was "very definitely meant to continue with a good handful of accessible singles", and said that the album's lyrical themes centered around greed.
Release
The band selected "Let's Talk About Me" as the lead single over "Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)", which was also considered. "Let's Talk About Me" reached the top 40 in Germany (where the album was No. 1), in Switzerland (where Vulture Culture was No. 2) and in the Netherlands. The song features voice-over commentary from Lee Abrams, credited on the album as "Mr. Laser Beam" (an anagram of his name).
On the charts, Vulture Culture was a success in continental Europe, reaching the top 10 in many countries, and in Australia; whereas it was less successful in the US. It was the last album by the band to be certified Gold.
Critical reception
Music Week thought that the band achieved a "lightweight, poppy sound on Vulture Culture that signaled "a change in direction". Billboard magazine wrote that "Parson's clean yet driving studio creations remain the ultimate in AOR radio fare, while affording softer mainstream options as well." They labelled "Let's Talk About Me", "Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)", and "Separate Lives" as the album's best tracks. Cashbox characterized the album as "high-tech pop from the masterful Parsons."
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.
Vulture Culture was remastered and reissued in 2007 with the following bonus tracks:
"No Answers Only Questions" (final version) – 2:12
"Separate Lives" (alternative mix) – 4:18
"Hawkeye" (demo) – 3:18
"The Naked Vulture" – 10:43
"No Answers Only Questions" (the first attempt) – 2:56
"No Answers Only Questions" is credited solely to Eric Woolfson on the expanded edition CD notes and is one of the only songs released by the band where this occurs.
Personnel
Ian Bairnson – guitar
Colin Blunstone – vocals
Richard Cottle – synthesizer, keyboards, saxophone
Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
Mr. Laser Beam – vocals, speech/speaker/speaking part
Alan Parsons – keyboards (tracks 3, 6)
David Paton – bass, vocals
Chris Rainbow – vocals
Eric Woolfson – piano, keyboards, vocals
Lenny Zakatek – vocals
Tony Richards – assistant engineer