Vulture Street

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vulture Street
Vulture Street cover
Studio album by Powderfinger
Released Flag of Australia July 4, 2003
Flag of the United Kingdom October 6, 2003
Flag of Canada April 13, 2004
Flag of the United States November 9, 2004
Recorded 2003
Genre Rock
Length 44:21
Label Universal
Producer Nick DiDia
Professional reviews
Powderfinger chronology
Odyssey Number Five
(2000)		 Vulture Street
(2003)		 Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger
(2004)
Singles from Vulture Street
  1. "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind"
    Released: November 10, 2003
  2. "Since You've Been Gone"
    Released: 22 March 2004
  3. "Love Your Way"
    Released: May 25, 2004
  4. "Sunsets"
    Released: June 4, 2004

Vulture Street is the fifth studio album by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, released by Universal Records on 29 July 2003.[1][2] Produced by Nick DiDia, Vulture Street was certified platinum, and spent 47 weeks on the ARIA Charts and peaked at #1.[2] Singles from the album included "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind", "Since You've Been Gone", "Love Your Way" and "Sunsets".

The album received nominations for ARIA Awards in five different categories in 2003, which included "Album of the Year", "Best Group" and "Best Rock Album". Vulture Street also received the award for "Best Cover Art", which featured Czech supermodel Eva Herzigová.

Vulture Street was described by certain critics as "a rawer, louder, but by no means unrefined" album. The title of the album was taken from a street in the Brisbane bohemian inner suburb of West End, Queensland, a city in which all Powderfinger members grew up in.

Contents

[edit] Recording and production

Powderfinger did not enter the recording studio with a specific plan on what they wanted Vulture Street to be. Instead, they said they "felt that we wanted to write a rock album". Guitarist Darren Middleton said the band didn't intend for the album to be "stuff that makes you want to jump around and feel good about yourself" - that just happened as a result of the recording process. Drummer Jon Coghill agreed, adding that the band wanted to make an album that was fun to perform live (most of the songs on the album were performed and released live on These Days: Live in Concert).[3]

In producing Vulture Street, Powderfinger moved in a different direction to their previous works, especially Odyssey Number Five,[3] starting with opening song "Rockin' Rocks", which was written according to Middleton after "a couple of months trying really hard to write this new rock album" but not making anything they really liked. He also said the band could easily have written lots of "The Metre"-like songs, but didn't do that "for our own interest in the band and music".[3]

Like Powderfinger's two previous albums, Vulture Street was produced by Nick DiDia, and mixed by Brandon O'Brien, who had worked with Powderfinger inspiration Neil Young.[2] Middleton explained that DiDia loosened his control over the band in recording this album, to allow them to play more "spontaneously". Middleton said this improved the overall sound, as "that's when you're thinking less and just playing". Most of the material on the album was thus produced in jam sessions, rather than in writing sessions as had been done on previous albums.[4]

In an interview with ninemsn, lead singer Bernard Fanning said the band "tapped more into that energetic rock thing and made it really different from our other albums" when creating Vulture Street. He also said the band were a lot more serious when making this album, and this was partly due to "the way we've matured as musicians".[5]

[edit] Album and single releases

Vulture Street was released on 29 July 2003 in Australia.[6] A special edition DVD was included with selected early copies of Vulture Street. The DVD included a documentary with all of the albums' songs and several music videos.[7] Vulture Street entered the ARIA Charts in Australia at #1, and the RIANZ Charts in New Zealand at #17.[8]

Vulture Street's first single, "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind", was released on 10 November 2003. It entered the ARIA charts at #9 on 29 June 2003, and spent 13 weeks in the top 50.[9] The song was nominated for "Song of the Year" and "Best Video" at the 2003 ARIA Awards, but won neither.[10] The second single, "Since You've Been Gone", was released on 22 March 2004.[11] It wasn't as successful as its predecessors, and failed to make the ARIA top 50. "Since You've Been Gone" was written by Fanning as a tribute to his brother.[12]

"Love Your Way" was released as the third single on 25 May 2004 from Vulture Street, and spent two weeks on the ARIA charts, entering at #37.[13] The fourth single, "Sunsets", was released on 4 June 2004. It earned the band a nomination for "Best Group" at the 2004 ARIA Awards, but again was unsuccessful.[10] "Sunsets" charted better than most of its predecessors, reaching #11 on the ARIA Chart, and entering the RIANZ Chart in New Zealand at #38, the first single from Vulture Street to do so.[14][15]

[edit] Response

Vulture Street was generally received well by critics. All Music Guide's Jason MacNeil gave the album four stars, stating the opening notes of the album had a "great rock flavor to them". He described "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" as reminiscent of "Stereophonics rehashing old-school rock for a contemporary feeling", and said "Since You've Been Gone" was an "uplifting gospel-tinged effort". MacNeil's main criticism was for "Roll Right By You", a song he described as "run-of-the-mill". However, MacNeil said that overall the album was "an outstanding piece of work".[16]

The Sydney Morning Herald's Bernard Zuel approved of the album, giving it four stars, and calling Vulture Street a "rawer, louder, but by no means unrefined, album". He said that throughout the album, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug "dominated in a way they haven't since their 1994 debut, Parables for Wooden Ears". Zuel drew several connections to Powderfinger's early work, but noted "a superior intellect" in this album. Zuel summarised by saying it was easy to "just enjoy Vulture Street's power and passion. And the rock."[17]

Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the album positively, writing of a return to Powderfinger's "bar-band roots", while still featuring some "sharp pop hooks under the riffs". He drew references to early Radiohead and Bad Company, whom he argued Fanning was inspired by on "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind". The review was summarised by Burr describing Vulture Street as "good company".[18]

MusicOMH reviewer Simon Evans said Powderfinger added "a real punch to songs...far removed from your standard rock and roll fare" in Vulture Street, praising the emotion and seriousness of "Since You've Been Gone" and "How Far Have We Really Come?", and the "fun" in "Don't Panic". Evans praised producer Nick DiDia for his work on the album, which he summarised as "a quantum leap from its rather passionless predecessor, Odyssey Number Five".[19]

[edit] ARIA Award nominations

See also: List of Powderfinger awards

Vulture Street received numerous nominations for ARIA Music Awards from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) in 2003 and 2004. To date, the album has received eight nominations in six categories, four of which they had won the award for.

Year Award Work Result[10]
2003 Album of the Year Vulture Street Won
Best Group Vulture Street Won
Best Rock Album Vulture Street Won
Best Cover Art Vulture Street Won
Highest Selling Album Vulture Street Nominated
Song of the Year "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" Nominated
Best Video "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" Nominated
2004 Best Group "Sunsets" Nominated

[edit] Charts

Year (2007) Peak
position
ARIA Albums Chart 1[20]
RIANZ Singles Chart 17[21]

[edit] Personnel

Powderfinger

Additional players

  • Tony Reyes – keyboards, guitar and backing vocals
  • Shauna Jensen and Maggie McKinney – backing vocals
  • Lachlan Doley – hammond organ and piano
  • Nick DiDia – tambourine and anüsaphone

Production

  • Nick DiDia – producer, engineer
  • Tony Reyes – producer
  • Brendan O'Brien – mixer
  • Anton Hagop – additional engineer
  • Catherine Claire – assistant engineer
  • Paul Piticco, Brian Quinn, Annette Perkins, Janne Scott and Jean Reid – managers
  • Steven Gorrow – art and direction
  • Christopher Morris – photographer

[edit] Track listing

[edit] CD

  1. "Rockin' Rocks" – 3:04
  2. "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" – 3:20
  3. "Since You've Been Gone" – 4:12
  4. "Love Your Way" – 4:31
  5. "Sunsets" – 3:49
  6. "Don't Panic" – 3:09
  7. "Stumblin'" – 3:46
  8. "Roll Right by You" – 4:15
  9. "How Far Have We Really Come?" – 4:00
  10. "Pockets" – 5:46
  11. "A Song Called Everything" – 4:23

[edit] Vulture Street Blues

A special edition DVD was included with selected early copies of Vulture Street. The DVD included a documentary with all of the albums' songs, with the song "Sunsets" featuring twice. The DVD also included the music videos for "On My Mind", the acoustic version of "Sunsets" and as hidden bonus features, the videos for the song "Pockets" and the keyboard version of "These Days".[22]

  1. Documentary
    1. "Sunsets"
    2. "Rockin Rocks"
    3. "Stumblin'"
    4. "Pockets"
    5. "On My Mind"
    6. "Since You've Been Gone"
    7. "Sunsets"
    8. "Love Your Way"
    9. "Don't Panic"
    10. "How Far Have We Really Come?"
    11. "Rita"
  2. "On My Mind" (video)
  3. "Sunsets" (acoustic video)
  4. Hidden extras:
    • "Pockets" (video)
    • "These Days" (keyboard version)

[edit] See also

Music of Australia Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ Vulture Street. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
  2. ^ a b c Hector. Powderfinger, Vulture Street. Undercover.com.au. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
  3. ^ a b c Cashmere, Paul. Powderfinger, Interview. Undercover. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
  4. ^ Klein, Jeffrey G.. Vulture Street. Static Multimedia. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  5. ^ Tomas, Juan-Carlo. Keeping it together: Powderfinger eye a decade of living the music. ninemsn. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  6. ^ Vulture Street. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  7. ^ Powderfinger: Hindley Site (discography). Hindley Site. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  8. ^ Powderfinger - Vulture Street. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  9. ^ Powderfinger - On My Mind. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  10. ^ a b c Winners by Artist: Powderfinger. History. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
  11. ^ Since You've Been Gone. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  12. ^ Zuel, Bernard (July 11, 2003). Powderfinger, Vulture Street. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
  13. ^ Powderfinger - Love Your Way. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  14. ^ Powderfinger - Sunsets. ARIA. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  15. ^ Powderfinger - Sunsets. RIANZ. charts.org.nz. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  16. ^ MacNeil, Jason. Vulture Street - Review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
  17. ^ Zuel, Bernard (July 11, 2003). Powderfinger, Vulture Street. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
  18. ^ Burr, Ty. Vulture Street | Music Review. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  19. ^ Evans, Simon (2003). Vulture Street: album review. OMH Media. Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
  20. ^ Powderfinger - Vulture Street. ARIA. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  21. ^ Powderfinger - Vulture Street. RIANZ. charts.org.nz. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  22. ^ Powderfinger: Hindley Site (discography). Hindley Site. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.


v • d • e
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning · Darren Middleton · Ian Haug · John Collins · Jon Coghill
Steven Bishop (former)
Studio albums
Extended plays
Other releases
These Days: Live in Concert (Live album) · Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994-2000 (Compilation album) · Sunsets (DVD single)
Singles
Other songs
Related articles