LIVE AT THE ZENITH

Archive - Live At The Zenith (8/10)

Beggining as a trip-hop act, among many others in the prolific britsh scene back in the 90's, Archive took a radical shift from it's roots with the superb 2001 album "You look all the same to me" with a truly original blending of emotional prog (with quite a gilmourish accent) to the repetitive and chilling beats of trip-hop. From then on they worked on the same formula in the albums "Noise" and "Lights". This live record is a picture of that period since most of the songs came from those three albuns. The production is crystal clear and balances the mood of the crowd with a clockwork instrumental, even too much clockwork since there's no improvisations or different "colours" in the sound, it goes almost like the studio album with the audience support. If by one hand it don't really add much to their discography the vibe of the album is awesome, and the well chosen setlist balance perfectly the most mellow moments like "Veins" from the explosive anger of tracks like "Fuck U" . But the cherry on the top of this pie are the long songs "Again" and "lights", both trespassing 15 minutes of psychdelic highs and lows (the trip-hop beats really add a powerful mood to the album), although the band is listed as "crossover" there's a huge post-rockish feeling with a superb balance between mood and energy, like on the "Lights" track with it's 5 minutes of intro that are really hard to skip. A great live album wich fits for a car ride or pointless streetwalking, just relax and let the vibe take you far away. Higly recommended for Post-rock or psychedelic fans who aren't afraid of eletronic beats.

I first heard of this British band when Alex suggested them in a PORCUPINE TREE thread on this site. The video he added for us to check out was a live version of "Again" and I liked it instantly. This cd i'm reviewing is from a concert held in Paris, France in 2007. I should mention that these guys started out as a Trip-Hop band with a rapper helping out before dropping him. They then became a Pop band before settling in here to an atmospheric, Alternative sounding style that brings PINK FLOYD and RADIOHEAD to mind. Man this album has some amazing music on it but it also has a lot of tracks that do nothing for me. Very much a fifty / fifty split, hence the 3 stars.

"Lights" is slow to get going but I like the atmosphere. Drums kick in at 4 1/2 minutes as that repetitive keyboard melody continues. Guitar 8 minutes and vocals after 9 minutes reminding me of BAUER. Emotion. Great track. "Noise" kicks in with strummed guitar and vocals right away. A beat and atmosphere follows. It's an okay tune. "Bridge Scene" is melancholic with reserved vocals. It kicks in hard before 3 minutes. Back to that beat with vocals as contrasts continue. Good song. "Veins" is poppy and doesn't do much for me. "You Make Me Feel" is fairly heavy but it settles when the female vocals come in each time. Not bad.

"Fuck U" drops the F-bomb many, many times. This song reminds me a lot of THE CHURCH. "Black" has a repetitive rhythm with vocals throughout. "Sane" is a catchy tune with some vocal melodies. "Sit Back Down" has a heavy beat with organ as the vocals join in. Very well done. "Again" like the opening track is over 15 minutes in length and a slow burner. It does pick up after 5 1/2 minutes and we get some harmonica too. It continues to settle then pick back up. Excellent track. "Pulse" ends it and while I don't think much of the beginning of this one I do like when she sings that repetitive vocal melody over and over to the end.

Before I reviewed this I watched that video again and thought to myself how can I not give this 4 stars ? So I listened to the cd one more time, and while it hits some real highs several of these tracks are average at best. A hit and miss affair for yours truly.