Thursday, July 24, 2014

The Alan Parsons Project: Vulture Culture (1985)

 
The release of Vulture Culture in 1985 heralded the decline of The Alan Parsons Project. The best description of this album might be boring, though there are two songs that manage to rise above that description.  

Let's Talk About Me is okay, but it sounds so 80s--and 80s in a bad way--that I'm afraid I can't really like it too much. The other song that resonates somewhat with me is the rather peaceful Days are Numbers. It's unoffensive, perhaps charming, possibly a bit too anemic, but calming, soothing, and quaint.

I gather that the theme of Vulture Culture is summed up by the title. We live in a selfish society. I wonder when that description has not been true. I like the cover image of an Ouroboros, a serpent eating its tail. But, if the theme of the album is our parasitical society, I am not sure that the image works because I think this symbol is meant to suggest cycles. Maybe I don't know enough about the symbol or the deeper meaning of the songs on the record. In any case, here are the two best songs, in my humble opinion.

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