VULTURE CULTURE

For better or worse, from their debut to Ammonia Avenue each new Alan Parsons Project sounded at least somewhat new. Sure, you knew you were getting in terms of the general musical style, but at least you had some conceptual touches which made subtle but crucial differences to the atmosphere. Not so with Vulture Culture - this is basically Ammonia Avenue II: Nitrogen Neighbourhood.

If you liked the art pop stylings of Ammonia Avenue, that's not necessarily such a bad thing - you'll probably like this one. (I particularly enjoyed Let's Talk About Me, which has a bit more bite than any other song on this album or the previous one.) On the other hand, you probably won't do much more than like it. There's something to be said for making a choice between being loved by a few or liked by many - but it feels like in the mid-1980s the Alan Parsons Projects were choosing between being loved by a few or liked by a few, and chose the latter.