Vulture Culture is the eighth studio album by the Alan Parsons Project, released in February 1985 via the Arista label.), 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.
The song "Hawkeye" is an instrumental but does contain a line from Monica, a woman working at the canteen in Abbey Road Studios (it occurs at 2:18). The line she says is: "Only what's on the menu".
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.
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 identified "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:
<OL START=9>
<LI>"No Answers Only Questions" (final version) – 2:12
<LI>"Separate Lives" (alternative mix) – 4:18
<LI>"Hawkeye" (demo) – 3:18
<LI>"The Naked Vulture" – 10:43
<LI>"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.
</OL>
Personnel
- Ian Bairnson – guitar
- Colin Blunstone – vocals
- Richard Cottle – synthesizer, keyboards, saxophone
- Stuart Elliott – percussion, drums
- Mr. Laser Beam – vocals, speech/speaker/speaking part
- Alan Parsons – keyboards, programming, vocals
- David Paton – bass, vocals
- Chris Rainbow – vocals
- Eric Woolfson – piano, keyboards, vocals
- Lenny Zakatek – vocals
- Tony Richards – assistant engineer
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
!Chart (1984–1985)
!Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| style="text-align:center;"| 32
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
!Chart (1985)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|}