Alan Parsons Project - Vulture Culture

2007 Digitally Remastered and Expanded Edition of the Alan Parsons Classic Album that was Originally Released in 1985. Originally Meant to Be the Second Disc of "Ammonia Avenue", this Album Ended Up Being Released a Year after that Opus. "Sooner Or Later" was to Be the Single to Market Via Top 40 Radio, but Things Didn't Turn Out that Way. This Edition Adds Five Tracks to the Original Nine with Demo and Alternate Versions to Maximize Use of the Compact Disc Format. Album Details

A welcome reissue

If memory serves, 'Vulture Culture' fell into the LP/CD transition period, and was first issued (in 1984) in both formats. The CD, however, was strangely lacking in atmosphere in comparison with the vinyl version. For me, this remastered issue restores the clarity, brightness and atmosphere of the original album, and, in keeping with others in the reissue series, adds a lot of previously-unreleased material.

'Vulture Culture' was one of the Project's more topical albums, the title neatly reversing the contemporary 'culture vulture' tag to highlight the contemporary issue of predatory greed. 'Vulture Culture' was the first Project album to lack strings, a key ingredient of previous albums - and later offerings (particularly the excellent 'Gaudi') benefited from the return of Andrew Powell's lush orchestration (I can also strongly recommend the Philharmonia's classical take on the Project, Alan Parsons Project: Played by Andrew Powell).

To me, this is not one of the Project's very best albums, but this is a strictly relative judgement - most Project albums (including this one) are far, far ahead of most other artists' material, and earlier albums (such as 'Tales', 'I Robot', 'Pyramid' and 'Eve') set an incredibly hard standard to follow. My view is that the earlier albums were best, then, and that the Project peaked with the superlative 'Turn of a Friendly Card'.

'Vulture Culture' might not (quite) match the earlier albums, but there are some great tracks here - I'd highlight 'Let's Talk About Me', the title track and 'Somebody Out There', whilst almost everyone lauds 'Hawkeye'. This remaster, presenting the album in brighter, more immediate and more atmospheric form, is very welcome.

I must emphasise that awarding only four stars is a purely relative judgement - by any standards other than those of the Project's best albums, 'Vulture Culture' would certainly merit all five. May 8, 2008

Vulture Culture

Vulture Culture marked a change in direction for the Alan Parsons Project. No longer would the album open with an instrumental track. In fact, this album has only one instrumental, "Hawkeye", which is not one of their best. It's a shame because one of the Project's greatest strengths were instrumentals. Vulture Culture peaked at #46 on the album chart. There were two singles from the album that charted: "Days Are Numbers (The Traveler)" went to #71 & "Let's Talk About Me" which went to #56.

Those of who are musicians and/or those who have ventured into the music business are there because we love music, it's a passion. That's the main reason, making money is just a bonus. Those of us that write music, we love to create something that is our own. Even those that aren't songwriters, those who cover songs, love to arrange a song & put our own twist to it in order to make it 'our own'. Unfortunately, music is a business, it's there to make money. When a profit isn't being realized then the industry cuts its losses. Another unfortunate aspect of the business is , through the years, everyone wants to sell records. There are very few who can do exactly the kind of music they wish to & still stay in the recording business. I say all this wondering if the Project made this decision on their own or was it something they were forced to do. This album made a definite shift from prog/pop into mostly pop & dance/pop.

The most unusual aspect of Vulture Culture is it averageness; there isn't a bad song nor a good song. It's a very consistent album, unfortunately, it's consistently average. Five bonus tracks have been added to the album. Only "The Naked Vulture" & "No Answers Only Questions (The First Attempt)" stand out, in fact, they're almost the best things on here, including the tracks on the original release. "Days Are Numbers (The Traveler)" & "No Answers Only Questions" are the only tracks that standout from the others. I refrain from using the word mediocre, anyone who spends the time to create music, even this type, shouldn't have that charged to them. I have way too much respect for Parsons & Woolfson to call any of their efforts mediocre; it's simply not a creative highpoint. April 25, 2008

Not 5 stars for the "APP rock" fan, but 5 stars for many others...

"Vulture Culture" was The Alan Parsons Project's (APP) 8th album. It came out originally early in 1985, and on the heels of "Eye in the Sky" and "Ammonia Avenue", a couple of pop-heavier APP discs. In brief, this is one of APP's most mellow albums. The main theme seems to be about the "me-first", and "what's in it for me" attitudes that are so common these days.

If you are an APP fan who prefers APP's progressive rock offerings, e.g., "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", "I Robot", and "Stereotomy", then this disc will probably not be one of your favorites. If, on the other hand, you favor APP's mellower side, e.g., "Eye in the Sky", "Turn of a Friendly Card", and "Ammonia Avenue" then you will almost certainly enjoy this disc.

While I do enjoy APP's progressive rock offerings, I've always favored their mellower side even more, and "Vulture Culture" is therefore one of my favorite APP albums.

The closest APP gets to rock on this disc is the opening track, "Let's Talk About Me", and it doesn't rock that hard.

This is a pop-driven effort, as evidenced by the following tracks: "Separate Lives" (OK to Good), "Sooner or Later" (Good), "Vulture Culture" (Good), and "Somebody Out There" (Good).

What makes this a top-notch album for me, however, are the mellow tracks "Days are Numbers" (absolutely tops) and "Same Old Sun" (great), and the excellent instrumental "Hawkeye."

In short, there's not a stinker in the whole list! And, consequently, I think that you will enjoy listening to the entire album.

To sum up, this ablum is a great mellow APP offering, a stance they moved away from in their 9th album "Stereotomy", which was much harder-driving.

5 stars from this 30+ year APP listener...
February 21, 2008

One of the best from APP

This is, easily, one of the best albums by Alan Parsons Project. It's not cool or easy to understand (some of the more critical reviews seem to think every album should be about horror poetry, pyramid mythology, or robots) but the lyrics offer up a pretty harsh indictment of the self-centered and, consequently, disassociated nature of individuals and the corporate-centered nature of the masses. The music is, as always, solid and the production values are, inevitably, great. The attempts at hits succeed, whatever the subject matter, because Alan Parson knows musical talent when he sees it and is a master at pulling everything together in the studio. If you like strong music, incredible production values, and lyrics that explore real issues, this is The Alan Parson Project album for you. December 21, 2007

Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Aveneue Part II

I have read that this album was supposed to be a sequel of sorts to the previous one "Ammonia Avenue". The subject matter is similar in some ways. I don't think that this is a great APP disc, but it does have its moments. "Let's Talk About Me", "Separate Lives", "Days Are numbered", and "Same Old Sun" are all good tunes. The instrumental "Hawkeye" is cool too. Overall I would say that it is an above average disc, but not quite up there with the band's best. December 8, 2007

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