Vulture Culture

Vulture Culture is the eighth studio album by the Alan Parsons Project, released in December 1984 via the Arista label.^[3]

Vulture Culture
Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project
Released	December 1984
Recorded	May – July 1984
Studio	Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Progressive rock symphonic rock pop rock new wave
Length	37:59
Label	Arista
Producer	Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
Ammonia Avenue (1984) Vulture Culture (1984) Stereotomy (1985)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[2]

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".

At the beginning of 1985, the lead single "Let's Talk About Me" reached the Top 40 in Germany (where the album was No. 1^[4]), in Switzerland (where Vulture Culture was No. 2) and in the Netherlands.^[5] The song features voice-over commentary from Lee Abrams, credited on the album as "Mr. Laser Beam" (an anagram of his name).

In the charts, Vulture Culture was a success in continental Europe, often reaching the Top 10,^[6] and in Oceania; whereas it was less successful in North America. 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. 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.

Vulture Culture was the last Project album recorded on analogue equipment, and as with the previous two, mixed directly to the digital master tape.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Side one

No.	Title	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Let's Talk About Me"	David Paton	4:29
2.	"Separate Lives"	Eric Woolfson	4:38
3.	"Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)"	Chris Rainbow	4:52
4.	"Sooner or Later"	Eric Woolfson	4:24

Side two

No.	Title	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Vulture Culture"	Lenny Zakatek	5:22
2.	"Hawkeye"	(Instrumental)	3:48
3.	"Somebody Out There"	Colin Blunstone	4:54
4.	"The Same Old Sun"	Eric Woolfson	5:26

Vulture Culture was remastered and reissued in 2007 with the following bonus tracks:

9. "No Answers Only Questions (final version)" – 2:12
10. "Separate Lives (alternative mix)" – 4:18
11. "Hawkeye (demo)" – 3:18
12. "The Naked Vulture" – 10:43
13. "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.^[7]

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, guitar, vocals
• Chris Rainbow – vocals
• Eric Woolfson – piano, keyboards, vocals
• Lenny Zakatek – vocals

Charts

Chart (1984–85)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[8]	32
Canada RPM^[9]	25
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)^[10]	17
Norway	9
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[11]	2
UK Albums Chart	40
US Billboard 200	46

Year-end charts

Chart (1985)	Rank
Canada ^[12]	94

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[13]	Gold	50,000^^
Germany (BVMI)^[14]	Gold	250,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "allmusic ((( Vulture Culture > Overview )))". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
2. Rolling Stone Music | Album Reviews 14 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Rollingstone.com.
3. Alan Parsons Project, The – Vulture Culture at Discogs. Discogs.com (03 February 2018).
4. charts.de^{[dead link]}. charts.de.
5. The Alan Parsons Project – Let's Talk About Me. hitparade.ch.
6. The Alan Parsons Project – Vulture Culture. dutchcharts.nl.
7. https://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/vulture-culture
8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 229. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
9. "RPM Top 100 Albums - April 27, 1985" (PDF).
10. "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 28 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Alan Parsons Project".
11. Salaverri, Fernando (2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
12. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985 - December 28, 1985" (PDF).
13. "Canadian album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – Vulture Culture". Music Canada.
14. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alan Parsons Project; 'Vulture Culture')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.