Ammonia Avenue

{{short description|1984 album by The Alan Parsons Project}}

{{use British English|date=May 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}

{{Infobox album|

| name = Ammonia Avenue

| type = Album

| artist = the Alan Parsons Project

| cover = The Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue.jpg

| alt =

| released = February 1984

| recorded =

| studio = Abbey Road Studios, London, England

| genre = {{hlist|Progressive rock|symphonic rock|pop rock|new wave}}

| length = 40:22

| label = Arista

| producer = Alan Parsons

| prev_title = Eye in the Sky

| prev_year = 1982

| next_title = Vulture Culture

| next_year = 1985

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Ammonia Avenue

| type = studio

| single1 = Don't Answer Me

| single1date = February 1984{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/616/mode/2up|title=Great Rock Discography|page=616}}

| single2 = Prime Time

| single2date = May 1984

}}

}}

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r14920|pure_url=yes}} |title=allmusic ((( Ammonia Avenue > Overview ))) |publisher=www.allmusic.com |accessdate=26 September 2009 }}

|rev2 = Rolling Stone

|rev2score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/301828/review/5942044 |title=Ammonia Avenue : Alan Parsons Project : Review : Rolling Stone |publisher=rollingstone.com |accessdate=26 September 2009 }}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

}}

Ammonia Avenue is the seventh studio album by the British progressive rock band the Alan Parsons Project, released in February 1984 by Arista Records. The Phil Spector-influenced "Don't Answer Me" was the album's lead single, and reached the Top 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, as well as the fourth position on the Adult Contemporary chart. The single also reached the Top 20 in several countries{{Cite web |url=http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Alan+Parsons+Project&titel=Don't+Answer+Me&cat=s |title = The Alan Parsons Project - Don't Answer Me - hitparade.ch |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709173023/http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Alan+Parsons+Project&titel=Don't+Answer+Me&cat=s |archive-date=9 July 2012 |url-status=dead}} and represents the last big hit for the Alan Parsons Project. "Prime Time" was a follow-up release that fared well in the Top 40, reaching No. 34. "You Don't Believe" was the first single in November 1983, reaching #54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Since the Last Goodbye" was a minor hit.

Ammonia Avenue is one of the band's biggest-selling albums, carrying an RIAA certification of gold and reaching the Top 10 in a number of countries.{{cite web|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret%3DThe+Alan+Parsons+Project%26titel%3DAmmonia+Avenue%26cat%3Da |title=Dutchcharts.nl - the Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue |accessdate=2014-05-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527205331/http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Alan+Parsons+Project&titel=Ammonia+Avenue&cat=a |archivedate=27 May 2014 |df=dmy }}

Background and release

The title of the album was inspired by Eric Woolfson's visit to Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in Billingham, England, where the first thing he saw was a street with miles of pipes, no people, no trees and a sign that read 'Ammonia Avenue', whose portrait was used for the front cover. The album focuses on the possible misunderstanding of industrial scientific developments from a public perspective and a lack of understanding of the public from a scientific perspective.{{Cite web|last=Woolfson |first=Eric |title=Albums, Back Catalogue |url=http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/albums/ammoniaavenue.php |accessdate=28 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517122705/http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/albums/ammoniaavenue.php |archivedate=17 May 2009 |df=dmy }} This album was the second of three recorded on analogue equipment and mixed directly to the digital master tape.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

"You Don't Believe" had already been released as both a single and a new song on 1983's The Best of the Alan Parsons Project compilation.

=Promotion=

Music videos for "Don't Answer Me" and "Prime Time" were produced in 1984, the former with art and animation by MW Kaluta. The latter video is inspired by John Collier's story "Evening Primrose" and features two mannequins, a female and a male one, coming to life and falling in love with each other. About halfway through the video, a street sign for "Ammonia Ave." appears.

Reissue

Ammonia Avenue was remastered and reissued in 2008 with bonus tracks, and in 2020 as well, on Blu-Ray audio format, including a high-definition remaster in stereo and multichannel sound, and the two promotional videos of the album as a bonus.{{cite web |title=Ammonia Avenue Deluxe Box Set|url=https://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/ammonia-avenue-deluxe-box-set |website=The Alan Parsons Project|access-date=6 March 2020}} In 2024, the album was again completely remastered.

Track listing

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

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Prime Time

| extra1 = Eric Woolfson

| length1 = 5:03

| title2 = Let Me Go Home

| extra2 = Lenny Zakatek

| length2 = 3:20

| title3 = One Good Reason

| extra3 = Woolfson

| length3 = 3:36

| title4 = Since the Last Goodbye

| extra4 = Chris Rainbow

| length4 = 4:34

| title5 = Don't Answer Me

| extra5 = Woolfson

| length5 = 4:11

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Dancing on a Highwire

| extra1 = Colin Blunstone

| length1 = 4:22

| title2 = You Don't Believe

| extra2 = Zakatek

| length2 = 4:26

| title3 = Pipeline

| extra3 = Instrumental

| length3 = 3:56

| title4 = Ammonia Avenue

| extra4 = Woolfson

| length4 = 6:30

}}

;2008 Bonus Tracks

  1. "Don't Answer Me" (Early Rough Mix)
  2. "You Don't Believe" (Demo)
  3. "Since the Last Goodbye" (Chris Rainbow Vocal Overdubs)
  4. "Since the Last Goodbye" (Eric Guide Vocal – Rough Mix)
  5. "You Don't Believe" (Instrumental Tribute to The Shadows)
  6. "Dancing on a Highwire/Spotlight" (Work in Progress)
  7. "Ammonia Avenue Part 1" (Eric Demo Vocal – Rough Mix)
  8. "Ammonia Avenue" (Orchestral Overdub)

Personnel

Charts

{{col-start}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"

!Chart (1984)

!Peak
position

scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=229}}

| style="text-align:center;"| 16

{{albumchart|Austria|5|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=Ammonia Avenue|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
{{albumchart|Canada|29|chartid=6733|rowheader=true|access-dateJuly 30, 2024}}
{{albumchart|Netherlands|1|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=Ammonia Avenue|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
scope="row"|European Albums (European Top 100 Albums){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1984/M&M-1984-04-16.pdf#page=4|title=European Top 100 Albums|magazine=Music & Media|date=April 16, 1984|page=12|access-date=May 17, 2022}}

| style="text-align:center;"| 3

{{albumchart|Germany4|1|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=Ammonia Avenue|id=79|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi){{cite web|url=http://www.musicaedischi.it/classifiche_archivio.php|title=Classifiche|work=Musica e Dischi|language=it|access-date=July 30, 2024}} Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Alan Parsons Project".

| style="text-align:center;"| 5

{{albumchart|Norway|5|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=Ammonia Avenue|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
{{albumchart|New Zealand|8|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=Ammonia Avenue|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE){{Cite book|last=Salaverri|first=Fernando|title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002|publisher=Fundación Autor-SGAE|year=2005|isbn=84-8048-639-2|location=|pages=}}

| style="text-align:center;"|2

{{albumchart|Sweden|8|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=Ammonia Avenue|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
{{albumchart|Switzerland|1|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=Ammonia Avenue|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
{{albumchart|UK2|24|date=19840304|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}
{{album chart|Billboard200|15|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"

!Chart (2020)

!Peak
position

{{albumchart|UKIndependent|31|date=20200403|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1984)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| 79

scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria){{cite web|url=https://austriancharts.at/year.asp?cat=a&id=1984|title=Jahreshitparade Alben 1984|website=austriancharts.at|language=de|access-date=May 17, 2022}}

| 25

scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1984&cat=a|title=JAAROVERZICHTEN - Album 1984|language=nl|website=Dutch Charts|access-date=May 17, 2022}}

| 17

scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade){{cite web|url=https://hitparade.ch/charts/jahreshitparade/1984/alben|title=Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1984|website=hitparade.ch|language=de|access-date=May 17, 2022}}

| 8

scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855368?imw=Y|title=Top Pop Albums of 1984|magazine=Billboard|date=December 31, 1984|access-date=May 17, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121231160407/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855368?imw=Y|archive-date=December 31, 2012}}

| 86

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{certification Table Top}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Canada|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=Ammonia Avenue|award=Gold|relyear=1984|certyear=1984}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=France|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=Ammonia Avenue|award=Platinum|certyear=1984| relyear=1984}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Germany|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=Ammonia Avenue|award=Gold|relyear=1984|certyear=1984}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Netherlands|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=Ammonia Avenue|award=Gold| relyear=1984|certyear=1984}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=Ammonia Avenue|award=Gold| relyear=1984|certyear=1984}}

{{Certification Table Bottom}}

References