YOU ALL LOOK THE SAME TO ME

I suppose that like most progheads, we started noticing Archive with this album when it came out in 02, and most likely heard their lengthy Again track. I had heard of these guys as Trip-Hop group and I although I appreciate the odd group in that type of music, I must say that I had never bothered to find out what they sounded like. And to my discredit, I must say I am still not heard what Archives did before this album, but what I heard on this album has not pushed me to investigate their previous work yet, some four years later. I did hear part of what they've done since, though.

I must say that over the first few tracks after this lengthy (but unrepresentative) again, I was sort of pleasantly intrigued, but over the full length of the album, fatigue, disinterest and boredom had set in. But before we get to the end of the album, let's start it, for a beginning!

Past this lengthy (16-min+) pleasant Floydish (mostly the keyboard layers) opening track, there are some rather energetic but introverted tracks such as Numb and the very repetitive other epic (15-min+) Finding It So Hard that still have Trip-Hop roots or the intimate Meon (few letters missing in there to spell the instrument featured at the second half the track) or the depressingly Radiohead-ish Goodbye. Actually, it is probably this last influence, especially in the Yorke-copied tone vocal that gets eventually on the nerves. I do not know about you, but I've had my fill of Radiohead-influenced bands lately. Also noteworthy is Fool.

Overall, Archives managed half a surprise, but in the end, their music , which is bound to please a majority of progheads, is not very surprising or groundbreaking and slightly too derivative to be really remembered for posterity. Not bad, worth a listen, even! But nothing essential in my book!